FORT COLLINS, CO. (KXAN) – A top expert released his predictions for the upcoming 2020 Atlantic hurricane season this morning, and is expecting a busier than average season for the fifth consecutive year.
2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast (Colorado State University)
- 16 named tropical storms (average: 12)
- 8 hurricanes (average: 6)
- 4 major hurricanes (average: 3)
Dr. Philip Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University specializing in Atlantic basin seasonal hurricane forecasts, cited warmer than normal waters in the tropical Atlantic as a reason for anticipated above-normal activity, along with low atmospheric wind shear due to the absence of an El Niño pattern. Low wind shear creates a more favorable environment for hurricane formation and intensification.
Last year was a busier than average Atlantic hurricane season with 18 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes. Hurricane Dorian with 185-mph sustained winds was the strongest hurricane to ever impact the northwestern Bahamas, and Tropical Storm Imelda became the 5th-wettest tropical cyclone on U.S. record after it dumped 44″ of rain east of Houston.
Stay with the First Warning Weather team through hurricane season, beginning June 1.