VERO BEACH – Storm experts predict a quiet season for 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season in Sebastian, Vero Beach and the rest of Florida.
The reason behind this slower than unusual hurricane season is the potential El Nino, and that’s good news for Indian River County.
To make the case, forecasters at AccuWeather anticipate 10 named storms, five of which will become hurricanes, three of which will become major hurricanes. These are signs of a quiet season for our area.
Forecasters believe that El Nino will arrive sometime during the summer and will continue all the way through the storm season.
Experts at Colorado State University also released their predictions, which are similar. They predict less activity, citing the possibility of “weak or moderate El Nino conditions by the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season.”
The Colorado State prediction is for 11 named storms, four hurricanes, and two major hurricanes. They anticipate that there’s a 42 percent chance of a Category 3, 4, or 5 storm will hit somewhere along the entire U.S. coastline in 2017.
The 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season had 15 named storms.
There’s only a 24 percent chance that a major hurricane will strike Florida.
While experts release their predictions, they remind everyone that there is no way to predict with absolute certainty how a hurricane season will play out.
Stronger winds are predicted this season in the tropical Atlantic. Those stronger winds limit the development of tropical storms.
Hurricane season begins June 1 and runs through Nov. 30.
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