Hurricane season off to a typically slow start

Hurricane season off to a typically slow start


2009 ATLANTIC HURRICANE NAMES

Ana
Bill
Claudette
Danny
Erika
Fred
Grace
Henri
Ida
Joaquin
Kate
Larry
Mindy
Nicholas
Odette
Peter
Rose
Sam
Teresa
Victor
Wanda

Source: National Hurricane Center


By Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
The first month of the Atlantic hurricane season ended with a whimper Tuesday: No named tropical storms or hurricanes formed in June.

However, that's not unusual, as the average date of the first named storm doesn't occur until July 10, according to Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Feltgen also reports that the average date of the first Atlantic hurricane is Aug. 14.

Since the naming of storms began in 1953, the latest an Atlantic storm has formed was Anita on Aug. 29, 1977. On average, based on records that go back to 1851, a tropical storm forms every other June in the Atlantic basin, which also encompasses the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration predicted in May that there would be nine to 14 named storms in the Atlantic this year, of which four to seven could become hurricanes, including one to three major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5).

A quiet June doesn't necessarily presage a quiet remainder to the season, reminds Feltgen. In 2004, a year that had 15 named storms — including Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne — the first storm didn't form until July 31.