New forecast calls for quieter storm season

| 05/07/2018 | 21 Comments

(CNS): Just one month into the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season, experts from Colorado State University have reassessed their seasonal predictions downwards and are now calling for a lot less storm action in our region over the next five months. In its July update, the team, led by Philip Klotzbach, said there remains some uncertainty but they now estimate that 2018 will see ten named storms, four of which will be hurricanes. “The tropical Atlantic is much colder than normal,” the forecasters stated, explaining that this means less fuel for developing tropical cyclones.

“Also, the odds of a weak El Niño for the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season in 2018 have increased,” the team reported, noting that If El Niño develops, it would tend to lead to more vertical wind shear in the Caribbean, extending into the tropical Atlantic, tearing apart hurricanes as they are trying to develop and intensify.

Regardless of this prediction, residents are reminded that it only takes one hurricane making landfall to make it an active season and everyone needs to fully prepare.

A final seasonal update for the 2018 Atlantic basin hurricane forecasts will be issued next month, but two-week forecasts for Atlantic TC activity will be issued during the peak of the season from August to October.

In the meantime, the National Hurricane Center is currently watching a small area of low pressure and a tropical wave located between the Cabo Verde Islands and the Lesser Antilles, which forecasters said remained well organised, and a tropical depression could form at any time.  This disturbance was forecast to move westward or west-northwestward at 15 to 20 mph over the tropical Atlantic Ocean, but upper-level winds were expected to become unfavorable, with the system forecast to become a trough of low pressure before it reaches the Lesser Antilles.

Here in Cayman, the local weather service is calling for isolated showers in and around the Cayman area, moving towards the west to northwest on Thursday, with the outlook of similar weather through the weekend.

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Category: Science & Nature, Weather

Comments (21)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Yes, I am eating less baked beans this summer.
    You’re welcome.

    – Who

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    • Anonymous says:

      Your sense of humor is about as good as your political opinions. ????

    • Anonymous says:

      Won’t make you any less full of hot air.

    • Anonymous says:

      I hope this means that the insurance companies that they have already added on to my house policy. They Also sent a little note that my house should be revaluated and the premium increased because in the event it is destroyed the payout will be negatively effected. It won’t be destroyed, at least the walls and floor will be there. I wish I had self ensured and put all the money I spent on premiums into a bank account. Heck if I had all that money I could move to a gated neighborhood. I have double glazed windows as well as shutters. I am thinking strongly of dropping insurance. It is now a toss up between paying house insurance, medical insurance and food.

      • Anonymous says:

        Correction, I meant to say ” I hope this means that the increase on my insurance policy that they already added on will be rolled back” I was having a senior moment there.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Regardless, always be prepared…Tropical Depression 2 , shortly to be Beryl is in the mid atlantic and whilst it looks like it will be torn apart before it gets to the lesser Antilles, there are a lot more tropical waves following that…wind sheer may tone down (according to forecasts) in August, so better watch all the time, whatever they say…it only takes one storm

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  3. Anonymous says:

    Don’t be fooled! This is a climate change Trojan horse! The climate will get you, as long as you are breathing out Co2. Don’t wait until the last minute of the climate Armageddon and sell your water front property now! We buy any water front property for 1/100th of the Appraised value! Don’t wait until your property is 20 feet below the rising oceans. Act today.

    • pete says:

      has nothing to do with climate change. has to do with the El Nino cycle and a cooler than normal atlantic

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  4. Anonymous says:

    knew it…we are untouchable again!….
    bring on 2019!

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  5. Anonymous says:

    The real question here is whether it will partly sunny or partly cloudy this weekend?

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  6. Anonymous says:

    Damn goat mouth! Only now we screwed!

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  7. Anonymous says:

    They say it’s gonna be a slow one?
    Now I know I better be prepared for the big one.
    Why do they even do this? Trying to pretend to predict the future whether.

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  8. Anonymous says:

    mosquitoes?

  9. Speak no Evil says:

    These weathermen are flip flopping more than our Speaker of the House.
    In other news; local forecast indicates that when standing under trees there’s a 95% chance you get crapped on by a green iguana. Now that’s a fact!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Actually it’s not

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    • Anonymous says:

      That’s what science does and it’s awesome because of it. When new data and information come in it changes current data sets to account for it. If only humans did the same…

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