NOAA Says 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season is Far From Over

Current Atlantic Tropical Activity. (Remnants of TS Emily)

Just before the beginning of every hurricane season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, issues its hurricane outlook, a prediction of the number tropical cyclones in a given season. The typical Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. In a report released yesterday, the administration has updated its initial predictions for the 2011 Atlantic Hurricane season, as it typically does every August.

The agency says that the Atlantic now features perfect hurricane forming conditions from August through October and that storms will most likely be more stronger as the 2011 Hurricane Season goes on. NOAA is also more confident now than at the beginning of the season that this year will be an above average year in terms of tropical cyclone activity.

Here are the updated projections for the entire season (June 1 - Nov. 30) directly from NOAA:

A total of:

14 to 19 named storms (currently at five)

7 to 10 hurricanes 

3 to 5 major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher)

Time to wait and see if updated NOAA's predictions come true. While I agree it will be an active rest of the 2011 Atlantic Hurricane season, I will not be making any predictions of how many storms there will be! Way to tough to predict something like that, but I will, of course, keep you informed of the latest storms that develop!

As a reference, tropical storms have top wind speeds of at least 39 miles per hour. A cyclone is considered a hurricane when maximum winds reach 74 miles per hour or higher. A major hurricane has top winds of at least 111 miles per hour. 

Below is the Saffir-Simpson scale which shows how the different categories of hurricane are determined:

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