Forecasters to make predictions about 2009 hurricane season

Forecasters to make predictions about 2009 hurricane season

Top federal weather forecasters on Thursday will be announcing their eagerly anticipated predictions for this year's Atlantic hurricane season -- a season likely to be as active as last year.

Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and others will make their forecast public at a news conference to be held at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in northern Virginia.

On hand will be Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco and Bill Read, NOAA's National Hurricane Center director, along with a host of other federal officials.

Government forecasters were right on the mark with their 2008 predictions -- a very active hurricane season. The numbers: 16 named storms, eight hurricanes, five of them major.

Scientists had projected that the 2008 season would bring 12 to 16 named storms that would grow into six to nine hurricanes, two to five of which would be Category 3 or stronger.

Gerry Bell, NOAA's lead seasonal Atlantic hurricane forecaster, has said the gradual warming of the Atlantic Ocean, combined with an active tropical era of storms that began in 1995, will likely mean busy hurricane seasons in the future.

Florida was spared the worst of last year's hurricane season. Only Tropical Storm Fay struck the region hard.

That was not the case for our Caribbean neighbors. Cuba and Haiti got pounded by a succession of major hurricanes and storms, resulting in heavy damage and lost lives.