Forecast for 2005: Another Busy Hurricane Season

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Deadly Hurricanes of 2004 Will Save Lives

On the heels of one of the most deadly hurricane seasons in memory, a top forecaster is calling for another busy year in the Atlantic basin for 2005.

"We foresee a slightly above-average hurricane season for the Atlantic basin in 2005," Colorado State University forecaster William Gray said Friday. "Also, an above-average probability of U.S. major hurricane landfall is anticipated. We do not, however, expect anything close to the U.S. landfalling hurricane activity of 2004."

The odds of at least one major storm hitting the U.S. coast is 69 percent, he said.

This year's hurricane season, when ended Nov. 30, saw a whopping 15 named storms, nine hurricanes, and six major hurricanes.

Gray has for 22 years been making long-range hurricane predictions, based on such factors as multi-year trends, current sea surface temperatures in the tropics, and factors seemingly far away like rainfall in Africa and the El Nino cycle in the Pacific. The forecast will be revised periodically up to and even into next season.

The Atlantic Basin season next year begins, as always, on June 1.

Robert Roy Britt
Robert Roy Britt

Robert is an independent health and science journalist and writer based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is a former editor-in-chief of Live Science with over 20 years of experience as a reporter and editor. He has worked on websites such as Space.com and Tom's Guide, and is a contributor on Medium, covering how we age and how to optimize the mind and body through time. He has a journalism degree from Humboldt State University in California.