How many hurricanes does it take to changes a person’s life?
Just one.
Well, the renowned Dr. Gray with the Colorado State University Tropical Meteorology Project has come out with an updated tropical storm forecast for 2007. A very active cyclone seasons is expected with 17 named storms. Strange, this time last year these folks were forecasting 17 named storms for the 2006 season. How did their crystal ball line up with reality? There were only 9 named storms. Two of these made landfall on the US mainland as tropical storms.
Where did these scientific guess makers go wrong and why should we believe them this year? From the comparison of last year’s forecast with observations:
Our 2006 seasonal hurricane forecast was not successful. We anticipated a well above-average season, and the season had activity at slightly below-average levels. We did catch this downward trend beginning with our early August update We attribute a large portion of this forecast over-prediction to a late-developing El Niño and increased mid-level dryness in the tropical Atlantic.
and from the recent forecast:
This early April forecast is based on a newly devised extended range statistical forecast procedure which utilizes 40 years of past global reanalysis data and is then tested on an additional 15 years of global reanalysis data. Analog predictors are also utilized. We have increased our forecast from our early December prediction due largely to the rapid dissipation of El Niño which has occurred over the past couple of months. Currently, neutral ENSO conditions are observed. We expect either neutral or weak-to-moderate La Niña conditions to be present during the upcoming hurricane season. Tropical and North Atlantic sea surface temperatures remain well above their long-period averages.
As usual, those misbehaved meteorological children, El Niño and La Niña, cause the Weather Man much chagrin. It’s easy to laugh at last year’s gaff, but I’ll laugh later. In my novice opinion, this year’s forecast is probably right on track. It was by God’s grace that no major hurricane made US landfall and the fiercest storms blew themselves out in the icy waters of the North Atlantic last year. Join me in praying He will do the same again this season!
Let’s all hold our breath until we can have another laugh at Dr. Gray’s expense.