Get ready for another hurricane season.
The last few Atlantic hurricane seasons have been a disaster for nearly every natural force as well as a lot of human-caused ones. Experts warn that the season that begins Wednesday is like another note in an epic refrain. All of those ingredients are still strong enough to cause disaster.
These factors, they say, point to, but don't promise, more trouble ahead: La Nina's natural climate event, human-caused global warming, warmer ocean waters, the Gulf of Mexico’s deep hot Loop Current and increased storminess in Africa.
Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher at Colorado State University, said that "it's everything and your kitchen sink."
Forecasters have run out of names for storms in the last two years. It has been a costly rogue gallery of major hurricanes with winds of at minimum 111 mph (171 kph) -- striking Land in the last five years: Harvey (Irma), Maria, Florence and Michael), Dorian, Humberto Laura, Teddy, Delta Zeta Eta, Iota Grace, Ida.
"That's the pattern we've been locked in. What a statistic! National Hurricane Center Director Ken Graham spoke in front of two Hurricane Hunter planes, which fly into storms, in an Associated Press interview.
Graham said the same thing as most experts and all pre-season forecasts: "We've got another busiest one" The Atlantic set a new record last year for six consecutive above-average hurricane seasons, breaking the previous record of three. Forecasters are now anticipating a seventh.
Contrary to popular belief, however, a storm did not form prior to the official start of hurricane season on June 1, 2014. Forecasters are still monitoring the Eastern Pacific's record-setting Hurricane Agatha, which is expected cross over land and become Alex in the Gulf of Mexico this week.
Here are some things that could make this Atlantic season chaotic:
LA NINA
Half a world from Atlantic hurricane seasons is the temporarily cool waters of the equatorial Pacific. This natural cyclical phenomenon, called La Nina (or El Nino), has a significant influence on Atlantic hurricane season. It's more dangerous than the US flip side.
La Nina can alter weather around the world, making it more likely that hurricanes will develop in the Atlantic. It begins in the Sahel region, Africa. Here are the seeds of many of the most powerful mid-season hurricanes (called Cape Verde storms). This often dry area is often wet and stormy during La Nina, which aids in early formation.
High cross winds, also known as shear, are a weather feature that can either decapitate storms and prevent them from forming. Kristen Corbosiero, University of Albany Hurricane Researcher, said that La Nina "deadens shear", which is "a major factor" in storm activity.
