TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Add scientists at Florida State University to the growing chorus of forecasters expecting an above-average hurricane season.
The Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies released their expectations for the 2013 Atlantic basin hurricane season, which begins Saturday.
COAPS calls for a high probability of experiencing 15 named systems of tropical storm strength, with 10 of them reaching hurricane status.
This is the COAPS scientists' fifth annual forecast release, based on a data set of 50 seasonal atmospheric forecasts using ocean water temperatures predicted by a NOAA climate model.
Associate research scientist Tim LaRow also cites evidence of less upper-level wind shear with the absence of the El Nino weather pattern as a reason of higher-than-usual tropical activity in the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. Less wind shear provides a more-favorable atmospheric environment for sustaining the structure and development of tropical disturbances.
