Updated Hurricane Season Forecast

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - The experts at Colorado State issued their updated 2021 hurricane season outlook on Thursday. They increased their number of named storms by 2 to 20 for the season. We have already seen 5 so they are expecting 15 more named storms through the end of November. They are expecting 9 hurricanes (8 more) and 4 major hurricanes. The reason for the increase in the number of storms is because we remain in an era of above average hurricane activity in the Atlantic basin as well as we are in neutral El Niño conditions. El Niño typically reduces Atlantic hurricane activity through enhanced vertical wind shear. In addition, sea surface temps in the Atlantic are slightly above average in the tropical Atlantic and warmer than average in the subtropical Atlantic. Also, according to the experts, ‘while early season Atlantic hurricane activity is typically not associated with the remainder of the season’s activity, hurricanes in the tropical Atlantic and eastern Caribbean (e.g., Elsa) are typically associated with very active Atlantic hurricane seasons.’

You can read the complete forecast from the experts at Colorado State here...

Hurricane Season Forecast - July Update

The next season update to the forecast will be on Thursday, August 5th.