Predictions for the 2007 Hurricane Season

What are the predictions for the hurricane season of 2007 ? Will there be more of those terrible category fours or fives ? We have already had one major hurricane in the season, hurricane Felix, making landfall in Central America with the energy of a category five hurricane and 160 mile an hour winds. Hurricane Katrina was also a category five. Here is more of what some of the weather agencies are predicting for the coming 2007 hurricane season.

Colorado state weather forecasters say we will have seventeen tropical storms. Of this number nine are supposed to major storms with a category of over three and winds over 110 miles per hour. A London based agency named "Tropical Storm Risk" predicts about the same with four of the storms being intense for the 2007 season.

The NOAA or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, predicts an eighty five per cent chance of above normal tropical storm activity over the atlantic for 2007. An alarming statement by the NOAA is that this season is supposed to be tenth above normal hurricane season since what they are calling the "active hurricane era". NOAA predicts thirteen to sixteen "named" storms, seven to nine hurricanes, and three to five major hurricanes.

NASA has warned the upcoming 2007 hurricane season can be a "wild one". According to NASA, the El Nino pattern prevented many hurricanes from developing during 2006. This year, El Nino has disappeared. It is quite possible the La Nina pattern could develop during the late Summer, creating very good conditions for major hurricanes to develop in the Atlantic ocean.

Colorado State has focused on the disappearing El Nino status and also predicts a "very active" hurricane season. These predictions are from September, 2007 on to the end of November, with four "intense hurricanes" total predicted for the year. The folks from AccuWeather predict thirteen or fourteen named storms with up to seven hitting the United States.

Unfortunately most all the forecasters seem to agree that 2007 will be an active hurricane season. How many of these predicted storms will likey slam the US ? Colorado State says there is a 49 per cent chance that a major storm packing 111 mile an hour winds or higher would hit the gulf coast. The AccuWeather Hurricane Center Chief forecaster basically agrees with that.

He says storms will be "on the prowl" in the Gulf of Mexico. Many of the the leading forecasters mentioned above missed the mark last year by a wide margin, but nevertheless, they are the most knowledgeable when it comes to predicting our hurricane season this year in 2007. The time span for the hurricane season is from the first day of June until the last day of November, with the most likely activity just at the end of the season. Hurricane Katrina hit at the end of August, two years ago.