Warning of bad hurricane season

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Hurricane Katrina killed about 1,500 people in 2005

Experts are again predicting a busy Atlantic hurricane season, with

up to 17 named tropical storms forming - nine of which could become

hurricanes.

At least one major storm is expected to make landfall in the US

during the 1 June-30 November season, Colorado State University

forecasters said.

 

Last year, leading forecasters wrongly predicted a bad hurricane

season.

 

However the record-breaking 2005 season saw 15 hurricanes, including

Katrina which devastated New Orleans.

 

Another forecaster, London-based Tropical Storm Risk, has likewise

predicted 17 tropical storms, nine of them hurricanes, for the 2007

season.

 

'Very active season'

 

" We have increased our forecast for the 2007 hurricane season,

largely due to the rapid dissipation of El Nino conditions, " Colorado

experts Philip Klotzbach and William Gray said in a statement.

 

" We are now calling for a very active hurricane season. Landfall

probabilities for the 2007 hurricane season are well above their long-

period averages, " they said.

 

The researchers said the upsurge in storm activity could be

anticipated because of an end of warm-water El Nino activity in the

Pacific, which resulted in milder weather on the US Atlantic coast

last year and a downturn in hurricane activity.

 

" Tropical and North Atlantic sea surface temperatures remain well

above their long-period averages, " they said.

 

The 2005 season broke records with a total of with 28 storms and 15

hurricanes. Hurricane Stan, which hit Guatemala, killed at least

2,000 people.