Among the nine hurricanes of 2020, four – including the two most powerful storms Laura and Teddy – can be traced back to Africa, where the seeds for their destructive power were first laid. (BBC)
Given 23 named storms have formed already, CSU researcher Phil Klotzbach said the chances are good that 2020 will surpass 2005 for named storms but not for hurricanes and major hurricanes. (USA Today)
Emerging research is showing that the climate crisis will make storms move more slowly and higher temperatures will allow them to carry more water (National Geographic).
According to hurricane historian Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University, Laura tied for the fifth strongest hurricane to ever make landfall in the continental United States. (NASA)
States bordering the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico face a greater risk this year of a hurricane strike, according to the forecast from CSU’s Department of Atmospheric Science (USA Today).
Rapid intensification has taken Hurricane Laura from a tropical storm with sustained winds of 65 mph early Tuesday to a Category 3 with 115-mph winds on Wednesday morning (CNN).
“We’re seeing not only just warmer sea surface temperatures, we’re also seeing lower sea level pressures,” said Jhordanne Jones, a graduate research assistant with CSU’s Tropical Weather and Climate Research Group (Scientific American).
CSU hurricane scientist Phil Klotzbach said there have been only two occasions in the last 150 years when there have been two systems in the Gulf of Mexico where both were at least of tropical storm strength (Ars Technica).
Colorado State University — the standard bearer for seasonal hurricane forecasts — released the most dire forecast in their 37-year history (CBS News).
The Tropical Meteorology Project team is increasing their Atlantic basin seasonal hurricane forecast to 24 named storms in 2020, including the nine that have already formed.