NOAA predicts intense hurricane season in Atlantic Ocean with at least 3 major storms | National news

NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said the agency expects there will be 14 to 21 named storms, with 6 to 10 storms turning into hurricanes.

Three to six of these hurricanes are expected to turn into major storms reaching category 3 or higher – if winds reach speeds of 111 to 129 miles per hour and deal destructive damage.

The likelihood of another active and likely catastrophic hurricane season in the Atlantic marks another challenging year for emergency officials across the United States.

“We have just experienced two extremely active hurricane seasons, marking the first time in history that two consecutive hurricane seasons have exhausted a list of 21 storm titles,” Spinrad told a news briefing in New York.

Similar to 2021

The forecast for the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season shows that the number and severity of tropical storms will be similar to last year’s, during which 21 storms were named in the United States, including seven hurricanes, four of which developed wind speeds of at least 111 mph. .

Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Dean Chriswell used the annual forecast to urge residents across the country, not just coastal areas that regularly experience tropical storms, to prepare for emergencies, including evacuations.

“We’re considering another similar season for hurricane preparedness, but that doesn’t mean we should treat it lightly,” she said. “As we found out in the Sandy superstorm, there doesn’t even have to be a hurricane to cause such destruction of communities.”

Chryswell warned that FEMA has noticed that these tropical storms are developing faster and more often, which means state and local emergency managers have less time to warn the public.

This means that the population has less time to gather the necessary materials and evacuate or head to shelter from the storm.

This year’s NOAA forecast as probable factors that will keep the number, refers to the current picture of La Niña weather and low atmospheric stability, “sea surface temperature in the Atlantic and Caribbean above average, weaker tropical Atlantic trade winds and the strengthening of West African monsoon.” storms are high.

Climate change

Climate change is one of the reasons that the seasons of hurricanes in the Atlantic, as well as other climatic and weather phenomena are becoming more frequent and serious, although Spinrad warned that forecasters “can not just point to a particular storm – or it’s a strong storm like Ida or any other – and say it’s climate change ”.

“Attribution is more about patterns, trends, the way we are,” he said, noting that all the NOAA factors listed in his forecast are components of climate change.

Criswell said FEMA is working with communities to decide how climate change affects their residents during hurricane season.

“We are seeing such drastic changes in the types of weather we are facing as a result of climate change that we really need to get ahead of it,” Criswell said. “One of the biggest things FEMA is doing is putting a lot more emphasis on other parts of our mission of preparedness and mitigation.”

Chryswell also noted that individual preparation for the official start of the hurricane season on June 1 is crucial to ensure the safety of people and property during hurricanes and the storm surges that often accompany them.

“Most of the deaths we see from hurricanes come from storm surges,” Chriswell said. “Again, it’s incredibly important that people take the time to understand what their risk is.”