HURRICANE GUIDE 2020
Forecasters say forces of nature will pile on BY JOSH FIALLO
Times Staff Writer
Hurricane researchers have predicted the last thing we need in 2020: An active storm season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual forecast predicts up to 19 named storms will form in the Atlantic Ocean this year. That is sobering news as Tampa Bay and Florida grapple with the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. The agency predicts 13 to 19 named storms, with six to 10 reaching hurricane status. The forecast calls for three to six of those storms to become major hurricanes, which is any storm Category 3 and above on the SaffirSimpson Hurricane Wind Scale with sustained winds of at least 111 mph. An early forecast from Colorado State University is similar: 16 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major ones. An average season has 12 tropical storms, six of which are hurricanes. In 2019, there were 18 named storms, six hurricanes and three major ones, ful-
6HUS
|
Sunday, May 31, 2020 |
2020 Atlantic tropical cyclone names Arthur Bertha Cristobal Dolly Edouard Fay Gonzalo
Hanna Isaias Josephine Kyle Laura Marco Nana
Omar Paulette Rene Sally Teddy Vicky Wilfred
filling early predictions of an abovenormal season. The most devastating storm last year was Hurricane Dorian. It devastated the Bahamas, taking dozens of lives, leaving thousands homeless and causing billions worth of damage. At one point, its maximum sustained winds reached 185 mph. It was the most powerful Category 5 storm recorded in the open Atlantic. Florida was fortunate that Dorian slowed to a Category 3 as it turned north and skirted the east coast with See FORECAST, 9
Tampa Bay Times
DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times (2016)
A sampling of the damage to the Mantanzas Innlet Restaurant in St. Augustine, after Hurricane Matthew raked Florida’s east coast in 2016.