Colorado State University hurricane researchers are expecting an extremely active 2024 hurricane season. Their initial forecast calls for 23 named storms, eleven hurricanes and five major storms. Isaac Schluesche is the on the research team and he says they’ve never predicted 11 hurricanes before a season started
“It’s highest number of hurricanes for an April outlook, which began in 1995,” Schluesche said.
Schluesche says record warm sea surface temperatures and the return of La Nina is why they anticipate such a busy hurricane season.
“La Nina acts to reduce the vertical wind shear over the Atlantic and that makes it a much more conducive environment for tropical storms and hurricanes.” Schluesche said.
Tropical Systems including hurricanes thrive in warm waters and Schulesche says Sea Surface temperatures are outside the realm of anything he’s seen.
“Some of the metrics right now are similar to what we expect to see in June and so that is leading to above average confidence,” Schluesche siad.
Schulesche also says tradewinds over the Atlantic that typically cause cooling of the water are predicted to be weak.
