Where to go for Hurricane updates and information
The 2008 Hurricane season is less than a week away, and forecasters are calling for 15 named storms with eight developing into hurricanes, and at least one expected to strike the U.S. coast.
According to the Colorado State University forecast team, led by William Gray, at least four hurricanes are expected to develop into major storms reaching to Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.
The same team predicted that 2007 would be a "very active" season, with as many as 17 named storms and nine hurricanes, five of which would be major storms.
The National Hurricane Center archive shows those predictions held with 17 storms in 2007, but only 15 named and only six hurricanes. Of those six, only two were categorized as major storms. Hurricane Dean (Aug. 13-23) made landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula and Hurricane Felix (Aug. 31-Sept. 5) struck Nicaragua. Both storms were ranked as Category 5.
Typically Hurricane season runs between June 1 and November 31. This season the National Weather Service is pulling from this list of names:
Arthur
Bertha
Cristobal
Dolly
Edouard
Fay
Gustav
Hanna
Ike
Josephine
Kyle
Laura
Marco
Nana
Omar
Paloma
Rene
Sally
Teddy
Vicky
Wilfred
To find all your up-to-date weather information and tips for preparing for the upcoming hurricane season, visit EmeraldCoast Hurricane 2008.