New hurricane season outlook predicts 17 remaining storms could develop in Atlantic
In addition to Alex, Bonnie and Colin, another 17 named storms could develop in the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season
CSU latest hurricane outlook has no changes, active season still expected
New hurricane season outlook from CSU predicts 17 remaining storms could develop in the Atlantic.
FORT COLLINS, Co. – A little more than a month into the Atlantic hurricane season, forecasters with Colorado State University have released an update to their outlook for 2022 and still expect 20 named storms.
Previously, CSU updated its forecast on June 2, predicting 20 named storms, including 10 hurricanes with five becoming Category 3 or stronger with winds of at least 115 mph. The new outlook released Thursday accounts for the three named storms that have already formed, meaning 17 additional tropical cyclones could develop throughout the rest of the season.
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This forecast from CSU depicts another record season for the Atlantic Basin, calling for tropical storm and hurricane activity to be well above average.
CSU and NOAA's Atlantic hurricane season outlooks for 2022 compared to the 30-year average (1991-2020) and the 2021 season.
(FOX Weather)
CSU forecasters partially attribute the above-average season to La Niña, which is forecast to persist through the remainder of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Phil Klotzbach, lead author of the forecast, said sea-surface temperatures across the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean are "generally warmer than normal, while far eastern subtropical Atlantic remains warmer than normal."
THE HISTORY OF THE CSU ATLANTIC HURRICANE FORECAST
Forecasters with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center are predicting 14 to 21 named storms, six to 10 hurricanes and three to six major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale). These numbers are greater than the 30-year averages (1991-2020) of 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.
If the outlook verifies, this will mark the seventh-consecutive above-average Atlantic hurricane season, NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad said.
Early in the Atlantic hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center has crossed off three names from the 2022 list – Alex, Bonnie and Colin. The season is running about a month ahead of average, as the third named storm doesn't typically form until Aug. 3.
Hurricane Bonnie started as a potential tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Ocean and then crossed Central America, emerging into the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first major hurricane in the Eastern Pacific this year as a Category 3 storm off the coast of Mexico.
A table showing an alphabetical list of the 2022 Atlantic tropical cyclone names as selected by the World Meteorological Organization. The official Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.
(FOX Weather)
About the CSU seasonal forecast
This is the 39th year CSU has released a forecast for the tropical weather season.
"It all got started with Dr. Bill Gray, who basically was the first one anywhere to do these season hurricane predictions for the Atlantic," Klotzbach says.
The Colorado State team was founded by the late Dr. William Gray, who led the program for decades.
"He made fundamental contributions to all sorts of tropical meteorology," Klotzbach says about Gray. "He was like Wikipedia before there was Wikipedia. He was kind of an online encyclopedia."
Gray was able to associate the amount of hurricane activity with climate patterns.
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Because of his discovery of the correlation, the program as well as his forecasts became world-renowned. Now, nearly 40 years later, Klotzbach and the CSU tropical weather and climate research team continue the legacy and issue the forecast annually.