Dear Tom,
The forecast is for an active hurricane season. Is that for the United States?
Al Bertrand
Dear Al,
Not specifically, but the National Weather Service’s Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook is widely (and erroneously) interpreted that way. Issued a week ago, the 2007 outlook calls for a 75 percent chance of an above-normal hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin, and the National Weather Service describes 75 percent as a “very high” probability.
The outlook is based on the expectation of more and stronger hurricanes across the entire North Atlantic basin, of which the U.S. Gulf and East coasts are only a small portion. An active basin season does not necessarily mean the same for the United States, but it does increase the chance of U.S. strikes.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
