NOAA Predicts 'Above Average' 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season, 6-10 Hurricanes
MIAMI - In its initial outlook, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting an above-average 2022 Atlantic hurricane season when we kick it off on June 1st.
NOAA is predicting we'll see 14-21 named storms, of which 6-10 will become hurricanes and 3-6 will strengthen into major hurricanes.
NOAA is forecasting a 65 percent likelihood of an above-average hurricane season, a 25 percent chance of a near-normal season, and a 10 percent chance of a below-normal season.
This is the seventh consecutive year they've forecast an above-average hurricane season.
An average hurricane season has 14 named storms, seven hurricanes, and three major hurricanes.
When the busy 2021 Atlantic hurricane season came to an end, there had 21 named tropical storms and hurricanes, which was the third-most for any hurricane season, behind only 2020's record 30 storms and the 28 storms that formed in 2005.
The season included seven hurricanes with four of those becoming major hurricanes reaching Category 3 strength.
Of the 21 named storms, only two impacted South Florida. Elsa and Fred, both tropical storms while near South Florida, were mostly rainmakers and gave the area brief tropical-storm-force winds.
Louisiana was hit hard again when Hurricane Ida made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on the 16-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall.
The 2021 season was the second year in a row that exhausted the list of storm names. Dissipating in early November, tropical storm Wanda marked the 21st named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season.