Experts think mild hurricane season ahead

A study released by Colorado State University’s Tropical Meteorology Project says that the 2017 Hurricane Season has a chance to be below average in terms of tropical activity.

The report forecasts 11 named storms for the hurricane season, including four that will be hurricanes.

Those numbers sit below the average season, which historically sees 13 or 14 named storms.

But the report stresses that the forecast should be taken with a

grain of salt.

According to Colorado State University’s forecasters, it’s impossible to be 100 percent accurate when dealing with weather patterns this far away from the season, which begins on June 1 and ends on November 30.

The report also goes into detail about where hurricanes may hit, giving percentage points to identify places most likely to see a landfall.

According to Climatologist Philip Klotzbach, who was the main author of Colorado State’s report, Louisiana stands a 26.3 percent chance of being hit by a hurricane in 2017 – one of the highest probability points in the country.

The report continues and says that there is a 42 percent chance of a major hurricane making landfall somewhere in the United States during the season and a 48 percent chance of a tropical storm brushing the Gulf Coast.

The reason for the prediction of a weaker than normal season has to do with conditions in the atmosphere.

Weather experts say that the tropical Atlantic is colder than normal, which may prohibit storms from forming off the coast of Africa.

The report also predicts the current El Nino pattern to remain at moderate levels throughout the summer and into the peak months of the season.