Forecast for 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season Predicts Above-Normal Activity

Today the Colorado State University’s (CSU’s) Tropical Meteorology Project released its Extended Range Forecast of Atlantic Seasonal Hurricane Activity and Landfall Strike Probability for 2021. The researchers anticipate above-normal activity for the upcoming season, which runs from June 1 to November 30. The researchers predict there will be 17 named storms – those reaching the criteria for hurricanes, tropical storms, or sub-tropical storms – and that there is a 69 percent chance of at least one major hurricane making landfall somewhere on the entire U.S. coastline (with a 45 percent chance on the U.S. East Coast, including Peninsula Florida, and a 44 percent chance for the U.S. Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle to Brownsville, Texas). This is the 38th year the CSU team has issued the forecast, which is intended to provide a best estimate of activity to be experienced during the upcoming season – not an exact measure. The team reminds entities in coastal locations that it only takes one hurricane making landfall to make it an active season for them. It encourages them to prepare the same for every season, regardless of how much activity is predicted. Access the report at CSU.