The hurricane season in the Atlantic is expected to be extremely "active" and worse than expected, with between 7 to 11 hurricanes, US weather services estimated Thursday. Due to oceanic and atmospheric conditions, "this year we expect stronger and longer than average storms , " said Gerry Bell, chief hurricane forecaster at the U.S. Oceanic and Atmospheric Observation Agency (NOAA ). NOAA, which had already warned in May that the Atlantic would experience a 2020 season probably "above normal", has revised its forecasts upwards.
The institution, which predicted between 13 and 19 storms, now expects between 19 and 25 tropical depressions, of which 7 to 11 could turn into hurricanes. Between three to six of them could reach category 3 or more, carrying winds of at least 178 km / h. “This is one of the most active seasonal forecasts that NOAA has issued in 22 years of existence,” said US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. The season officially lasts from June 1 to November 30, with a peak in August and September. The annual average is six hurricanes, three of which are major.
It has already started, with nine storms, including two hurricanes, which hit the southern United States and the Caribbean. Tropical storm Isaias thus swept through the Dominican Republic, Haiti and the Bahamas a few days ago before moving up the east coast of the United States, killing at least 9 people in its path, and depriving hundreds of thousands of people of electricity.