Active Hurricane Season Predicted

The United States is in for another rough hurricane season, with an above-average number of storms and at least three severe hurricanes, federal weather researchers in Washington announced. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting at least 11 named tropical storms--two more than the 20th century average--and seven hurricanes, of which three will have winds above 110 mph. In that kind of “active” year, two or three hurricanes typically strike the U.S. mainland. If present global climate conditions continue, including the lingering pool of abnormally cool water in the mid-Pacific called La Nina, they are likely to generate hurricanes that are “stronger and more long-lasting” than average, said NOAA administrator D. James Baker. The June-to-November season last year witnessed as much as $7 billion in hurricane-related damage, NOAA estimates. There were 12 named storms and eight hurricanes, of which five were severe. “Fifty to 58% of the population of the United States is on the eastern coastline,” said James Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “That’s an awful lot of people at higher risk.”.