2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast

The 2007 Atlantic hurricane season should be very active with nine hurricanes and a good chance that at least one major hurricane will hit the U.S. coast according to a top researcher. He expects 17 named storms in all this year, five of them major hurricanes with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater. The probability of a major hurricane making landfall on the U. S. coast this year is 74% compared with the average of 52 percent over the past century. Last year they didn't have as many as were predicted. This was contributed to by an unexpected late El Nino, a warming in the Pacific Ocean. This can even change the wind patterns in the eastern Atlantic, which can disrupt the formation of hurricanes there. The devastating 2005 season set a record with 28 named storms, 15 of them hurricanes. Four of those hurricanes hit the U.S. coast, the worst among them was Katrina which devstated New Orleans and leveled parts of the Gulf Coast Region. Government forecasters plan to release their prediction in late May.