Photo by Lindy Savelle
By Clint Thompson
Another active tropical season awaits the Southeast this summer.
While not as active as last year, predictions by Colorado State University are for 17 total named storms in the Atlantic Basin, nine hurricanes and four that are Category 3 or higher. In comparison, there were 18 storms in 2024, 11 hurricanes and five that were at least Category 3.
Pam Knox, University of Georgia (UGA) Extension agricultural climatologist, discussed this season’s projections.
“We know that when we have neutral conditions, we’re more likely to see an active tropical season. All of the forecasts that have been coming out on the tropical season for this year do indicate an increased chance of above normal number of storms,” Knox said. “That doesn’t tell us anything about where they’re going to go. We can’t forecast that, that far ahead. It seems unlikely to me that Georgia’s going to get hit by two really bad tropical systems this year, but there’s no way to tell. There’s not really any relationship between what happens in one season to what happens the next season.
“I think it’s (also) a good reminder that as we go into tropical season, people need to be getting prepared. If a tropical storm or hurricane does hit, people are going to have to have their documentation in place. You don’t want to have to be doing that when the roof is coming down around you. This is a good time for people to take stock of what worked last year and what they think they should have done and maybe take care of that earlier this year.”
On Average
The average number of named storms is 14; hurricanes is seven and Category 3-plus hurricanes is three.
Last year was an extremely active and costly tropical season. Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton devastated the Southeast.