FORT COLLINS, Colo. (WTXL) -- William Gray, the researcher from Colorado State University who started releasing seasonal hurricane forecasts in 1984, will step aside from those duties at the end of this year.
Gray launched the Tropical Meteorology Project as a means of analyzing factors that affected the amount and strength of tropical cyclones within the Atlantic basin. His forecasts were initially based upon his previous research, along with detailed factors involving wind patterns near the equator, ocean surface water temperatures, and the presence of the El Niño global weather pattern.
The research team continued to grow in the years that followed. Then-graduate student Phil Klotzbach joined Gray in 2000 and has conducted further research and hurricane forecasts releases along with Gray. Klotzbach will lead the research team and author future forecasts starting in 2016.
According to a statement, Gray will shift his focus to climate change research and its impact on tropical weather, while still lending support and advice to the Tropical Meteorology Project on an informal basis.
