Forecasters Predict Below-Average 2014 Hurricane Season
(MIAMI) CBSMiami – Hurricane season begins June 1 and top forecasters with Colorado State University are predicting a quiet year.
Meteorologists Philip Klotzbach and William Gray with the university's Tropical Meteorology Project released their predictions for the Atlantic hurricane season saying only three storms will become hurricanes.
A typical season has 12 tropical storms and seven hurricanes.
Klotzbach and Gray predict 9 named storms, and 3 hurricanes with only one storm reaching the category of a major hurricane.
They put the probability of a storm striking Florida at 20% - which is down from the typical average of 31%.
The forecasters said an El Niño is expected to develop during the summer and fall of 2014. Typically, an El Niño year means a below-average hurricane season.
However, forecasters don't want the public to believe their predictions mean a hurricane or tropical storm will not strike. They are quick to remind people that even one storm impacting a community means it is an active season for that area.
Hurricane season ends November 30.
