Update on the Atlantic Hurricane Season by Steph Ball
At the start of the year the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued their pre-season predictions of an active 2007 hurricane season. They predicted a total of 13-17 storms, with 7 -10 becoming hurricanes, of which 3-5 would be major hurricanes.
The season was late in spawning any hurricanes, with Dean the first to develop mid-August. Dean became a Category 5 hurricane and went on to make landfall at that strength along Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on August 21st.
September saw activity increasing with eight tropical storms being named, three of which became hurricanes, though only Hurricane Felix strengthened into a major storm. This amount of storms was above average for September and equalled 2002 for the record for the most storms forming during the month. However the National Hurricane Centre in its September summary, using its own measure of combined strength and duration, classed it as below average. This was because most of the storms were relatively short-lived.
So far October has seen no storm activity. The 2006 season saw no activity after the 3rd October though this was put down to a strengthening El Niño. The year was a relatively quiet one with no hurricanes making landfall at all in the US.
At present the number of hurricanes spawned is below that predicted. However with the season running until the end of November, there is still the chance we will see a further upsurge in activity.
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