Forecasters predict more storms this hurricane season

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We hope the predicted worse-than-usual hurricane season won't get this bad: this satellite image shows Hurricane Sandy as it barreled up the coast off the Carolinas. — Photo courtesy of NOAA

In its 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook Update, NOAA’s National Weather Service said that there is a 70 percent chance of 12 to 17 named storms.

“We’ve raised the numbers because some conditions now in place are indicative of a more active hurricane season, such as El Niño ending, weaker vertical wind shear and weaker trade winds over the central  tropical Atlantic, and a stronger west African monsoon,” said Gerry Bell, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “However, less conducive ocean temperature patterns in both the Atlantic and eastern subtropical North Pacific, combined with stronger wind shear and sinking motion in the atmosphere over the Caribbean Sea, are expected to prevent the season from becoming extremely active.

“Given these competing conditions, La Niña, if it develops, will most likely be weak and have little impact on the hurricane season,” added Mr. Bell.