Study: Hurricane Landfall for East, Gulf Coasts Probable in 2018
Hurricane season is almost upon us. The Hurricane Genesis & Outlook (HUGO) Project at Coastal Carolina University predicts a "normal to above normal" hurricane season in 2018 (June 1 through Nov. 30), with a high probability of a landfall on both the U.S. East and Gulf coasts. The HUGO study anticipates between 11 and 18 named tropical storms, of which most likely seven will become hurricanes. The study predicts a landfall probability range of zero to two for both the U.S. East Coast and the U.S. Gulf Coast. Despite the scientific rigor of the HUGO study, scenarios for the 2018 hurricane season are dependent on many factors. “The key issues at this point in time are 1) how the El Nino will develop and 2) how warm the upper ocean of the North Atlantic will become later in the season,” said Lean Pietrafesa, research professor in CCU's Burroughs & Chapin Center for Marine and Wetland Studies and leader of the HUGO team. HUGO will release updated outlooks later in the season as more data become available.