Climatologist: 3rd Month of Hurricane Season May Bring More Storms

Today marks the third month of the 2018 hurricane season. Three storms have been named so far and State Climatologist Barry Keim predicts an increase in storms towards the end of this month.

“We get into August, the sea surface temperatures continue to increase along the North Atlantic Basin and this makes the conditions much more conducive for tropical storms and hurricanes to form.”

Keim says this hurricane season is expected to be below-average or near-normal, but that isn’t an indication of storm severity.

“From the group from Colorado State, they’re forecasting ten named storms. Twelve is considered an average season, but just note that we have been hit in some relatively quiet years.”

While the real heart of hurricane season occurs in September, Keim warns this is no time to let your guard down.

“We have has some notorious storms that have hit Louisiana in the latter part of August such as Hurricane Andrew, Hurricane Camille, and Hurricane Katrina. August can be a very busy tropical month in the state of Louisiana, so it is definitely time to start paying attention.”