By Clint Thompson
Specialty crop producers should be aware that the peak hurricane season is approximately a month away. Weather experts have already increased the number of hurricanes expected this year. The current warm waters felt in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean are reason for concern in the Southeast.
Pam Knox, University of Georgia Extension agricultural climatologist, discussed the hurricane season and what can be expected over the next couple of months.
“The update says they have slightly raised the number (of hurricanes), and that’s because they think this warm water is going to really contribute to the development of more storms. If it’s a marginal storm, the warm water could be enough to push it into a tropical storm, whereas in some years, if the water wasn’t quite as warm, you would expect to have fewer storms develop,” Knox said.
“Peak season normally starts around mid-August and goes until mid-to-late October. Quite often we have a lull in storm development in mid-to-late July through the first couple of weeks in August. I was a little worried some this year, because we had two storms develop really early. But that has since gone back to a more typical situation in spite of the warm weather.”
Knox noted in her blog in early July that Colorado State University released its third forecast for the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season. They increased the number of storms expected and called for an above-average Atlantic basin hurricane season in 2023.