ATLANTA — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its forecast for the 2022 hurricane season on Tuesday.
NOAA is calling for an above-average hurricane season across the Atlantic Basin, which starts on June 1 and runs through Nov. 30.
NOAA's 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast calls for anywhere from 14 to 21 named storms with six to 10 of those storms becoming hurricanes and three to six hurricanes becoming major hurricanes.
An average season typically produces 14 named storms with seven becoming hurricanes and three becoming major hurricanes with a classification of category three or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
In 2021, the Atlantic Basin produced 21 named storms with seven becoming hurricanes and four becoming major hurricanes.
While there were 21 named storms, only three impacted north Georgia last year. Remnants of the tropical systems Claudette, Fred and Ida brought strong wind, tornadoes and flooding to our region in 2021.
The Atlantic Basin hasn't had any named storms form as of late May and if we continue this trend into June 1, this will be the first time since 2014 we have had no named storms this late into the year, according to Dr. Philip Klotzbach of Colorado State University.
Dr. Klotzbach and a team of expert tropical meteorologists with Colorado State University released their forecast for the 2022 hurricane season in early April, which comes into line with what NOAA has forecast.
The CSU forecast calls for an above-average hurricane season with 19 named storms, nine becoming hurricanes and four major hurricanes.
If this forecast of an above-average season verifies, it would be the seventh above-average season in the Atlantic in a row.
When our first system of the year is named, it will be called Alex.
It is important to note just because this season is starting off quiet, it doesn't mean it will stay that way.
The frequency of tropical cyclones doesn't typically peak until Sept. 10 in the Atlantic Basin.
Whether we have an above-average, or below-average season, be sure to prepare in advance as it only takes one storm to cause serious damage.