Atlantic Hurricane Season 2016 Forecast

It's the last day of Hurricane Week and this is probably the article you've been looking forward to. This year's Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be a busy one, which is forecast to be more active than at least the past five seasons.

The Atlantic hurricane season always begins June 1st and goes through all of meteorological Summer and Fall, ending November 30th. The peak of the season is in September, when both hurricanes and tropical storms are most active. This is because the environment is the most conducive on average at this time and ocean temperatures are at their warmest.

The exact numbers from NOAA are not out yet of how many tropical system we can expect, but everyone, including me, is forecasting for there to be an above average hurricane season. On average, there are 12 named storms every year, 6 of those becoming hurricanes and 3 becoming major hurricanes, which are category three or higher.

There are many factors that play a role in this year's seasonal forecast. This includes the sea-surface temperatures, which are above average now in much of the Atlantic, and are expected to remain that way throughout the season.Another important factor that had to be considered with this year's forecast is the developing La Niña in the Pacific Ocean. Last year and during this year's Winter, there was the El Niño. Now the La Niña is starting to form, which is unusually cold ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific. In past years when La Niña was around, most hurricane seasons in the Atlantic were more active than normal.

With all this said, an above normal Atlantic hurricane season is ahead this year. In case you were wondering what this year's names are for the Atlantic, here they are:

The name, Alex, has already been used this year by the way, which was a rare, January hurricane of the western coast of Africa.

Be sure to follow Jackson's Weather during the entire hurricane season for updates when needed and follow us on social.

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