Hurricanes in the North Atlantic basin are the main hazards for the East Coast of the United States. On the other hand, no storms form in the South Atlantic basin. The hurricane season for North Atlantic Season begins on June 1 and ends on November 30, however, there are no bounds as such and they can occur before and after.
As far as the year 2017 is concerned, it was quite a hectic season for the United States as storms did exceed numbers. There were some quite devastating hurricanes last year including Harvey, Irma, Maria which caused catastrophic destruction.
Usually, a hectic hurricane season is followed by a smoother one. However, this upcoming hurricane season may not be as smooth.
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) issues its hurricane forecast in May. However, other agencies have already started giving their forecasts. Thus, as per their forecast, 14 named storms are expected against an average of 12. Out of these, seven are likely to be hurricanes, while three out of these are expected to become Cat 3 hurricanes or more.
The frequency of these hurricanes is linked with El Nino and La Nina conditions. In case of an El Nino, the formation of these hurricanes is suppressed. Meanwhile, if a La Nina condition occurs, they strengthen to quite an extent.
At present, we are in the La Nina phase, and soon La Nina will be on the devolving mode. However, since El Nino is missing, the upcoming hurricane season is expected to be a strong one.
As far as the naming of these hurricanes, like the Pacific and the Indian seas, hurricanes have a set patterns to be named. For instance, this time, the first hurricane will be named Alberto, followed by Beryl, Chris, Debbie, Ernesto, Florence, Gordon, Helene and so on.
Every seventh year, an alphabetical list is prepared for the names of hurricanes for the next six years. Each list is used every year sequentially. No storms are named with the letters Q, U, X, Y, Z which leaves it with 21 hurricane names each year. If the number exceeds 21, Greek letters are used which are 24 in number.
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