Experts at Colorado State University’s Tropical Meteorology Project have updated their seasonal outlook for the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season to include even more storms than before. The new forecast boosts the expected number of total named storms from 16 to 19 in the last seasonal outlook released in April.
The outlook endeavor at CSU is led by Research Scientist Dr. Phil Klotzbach. He received his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from CSU in 2007. Klotzbach has been employed in the Department of Atmospheric Science for the past nineteen years and was co-author on the Atlantic basin hurricane forecasts with Dr. William Gray through 2005. He became first author on the seasonal hurricane forecasts in 2006. Klotzbach developed the two-week forecasts currently being issued during the peak months of the hurricane season between August-October. He has published over two dozen articles in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Climate and Weather and Forecasting.
The updated outlook, available online for viewing, also warns about increased odds of a U.S. landfall. “We anticipate an above-normal probability for major hurricanes making landfall along the continental United States coastline and in the Caribbean,” the study suggests. But study authors also caution that it just takes one storm to create a large disaster: “Coastal residents are reminded that it only takes one hurricane making landfall to make it an active season for them, and they need to prepare the same for every season, regardless of how much activity is predicted.”
The 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season runs through November 30, 2020. The season has already produced Arthur, Bertha, and Cristobal, which are included in this CSU update.
