JACKSON, Miss.- Hurricane season is quickly approaching and the National Weather Service has made its predictions on what Mississippians’could see coming from the Atlantic Ocean.
It looks like a near-normal Atlantic hurricane season as experts are saying there is a 70% chance of 10 to 16 named storms that could appear in the 2016. The season officially started on June 1 and will end on November 30.
“Overall the forecast should be right around average; the normal expectation for topical storms and hurricanes,” Chad Entremont, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson, said.
Entremont said that the waters are entering what is called a La Nina, or a cooler water temperature. That is the opposite of last year’s season, being an El Nino, or warmer water temperature, year. Often times this drastic change in temperature can create an uncommonly high amount of storms but Entremont says that due to other factors that is highly unlikely this year.
“To be honest this weather pattern, going from an El Nino to a La Nina, doesn’t happen very often. It’s pretty rare,” said Entremont.
For Mississippi residents, the most common time for hurricane activity is from the beginning of August through the end of September, with a spike around September 14th.
Entremont encourages Mississippians to stay prepared at all times for serious weather, like a hurricane or tropical storm. Tune into the National Weather Service alerts for any changing weather conditions.
