Alabamians may need to brace for more big storms than normal in the coming months.
Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released an update to their projections for the 2020 hurricane season on Thursday, and it warns of an “extremely active” season.
NOAA is now predicting a total of 19-25 named storms, of which seven to 11 are projected to be hurricanes, and three to six of those could be major hurricanes. A major hurricane is classified as category 3 or stronger.
The hurricane season lasts from June to November, with a peak from the middle of August until the middle of October.
There have already been nine named storms during the current season, a pace that the agency describes as “record-setting.”
In an average season, the ninth named storm does not appear until the first week of October.
The conditions causing the active season are “warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, reduced vertical wind shear, weaker tropical Atlantic trade winds and an enhanced west African monsoon,” according to NOAA.
All projections are done by the Climate Prediction Center, a division of the National Weather Service.
The administration cautions that their “hurricane season outlook is for overall seasonal activity and is not a landfall forecast.”
“Landfalls are largely determined by short-term weather patterns, which are only predictable within about a week of a storm potentially reaching a coastline,” the organization added.
The Alabama Emergency Management Agency has a dedicated website with relevant resources to prepare for and deal with hurricanes, as does Alabama Power.
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.