A forecast team from Colorado State University has predicted an above-average level of activity in the Atlantic basin this hurricane season.
The CSU Tropical Meteorology Project says there will be an average of 17 named storms, with eight of those storms developing into hurricanes in the Atlantic this season, which runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.
The team predicts:
- A 69 percent chance at least one major hurricane will make landfall on the U.S. coastline in 2021 (the long-term average probability is 52 percent).
- A 45 percent chance a major hurricane will make landfall on the U.S. East Coast, including the Florida Peninsula (the long-term average is 31 percent).
- A 44 percent chance a major hurricane will make landfall on the Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle west to Brownsville (the long-term average is 30 percent).
The team predicts 2021 hurricane activity will be about 140 percent of the average season. By comparison, 2020’s hurricane activity was about 170 percent of the average season. The 2020 hurricane season had six landfalling continental U.S. hurricanes, including Category 4 Hurricane Laura, which battered southwestern Louisiana.
Florida residents are reminded to take the proper precautions and to remember that it takes only one landfall event nearby to make this an active season.
Clay Electric Cooperative offers lots of information to help its members prepare for the possibility a hurricane may strike North Florida, including a Hurricane Preparedness Guide. Copies of the 2021 Preparedness Guide are available online and at the cooperative’s six district offices in June.