Not Again: Busy 2013 Hurricane Season Forecast

Legendary forecaster in Wednesday prediction: above-average 2013 Atlantic basin hurricane season due to 'anomalous' ocean warming

As the Jersey Shore continues its recovery from Superstorm Sandy, a Colorado State University professor who is widely considered a national authority on tropical weather prediction has released his team's first forecast for the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season – and the news isn't good for coastal residents. This year's hurricane season, which begins June 1, will be above average, the team led by Dr. William Gray predicted in a forecast issued Wednesday. The forecast team calls for 18 named storms during the hurricane season, nine of which are expected to become hurricanes and four of those major hurricanes, meaning they will reach category three status or higher. Storms receive a name when they reach tropical storm status, meaning they pack…

• Photos (1)

Hurricane Sandy

JCP&L Readies for Sandy

Utility cautions that using generators can be dangerous

JCP&L is getting ready for Hurricane Sandy, with extra staff on standby and a lot of lessons learned. JCP&L clearly has not forgotten the criticism it took after Tropical Storm Irene ravaged New Jersey in August 2011. Utility officials learned from it, made a wide array of improvements in technology, communications and planning and they're ready to put that to the test, said JCP&L spokesman Ron Morano. "We've made improvements to how we provide customer information," Morano said, adding the company is doing all it can to prepare for Sandy and to plan on how to keep officials and residents informed and well-served. For starters, JCP&L is doing what everyone else is doing: closely watching weather forecasts, trying to figure out when and …

•  2 Comments
• Photos (1)
• Documents (1)

Thanks to El Nino, Tropics Tamer in 2012

Less chance of a hurricane impacting the Shore this year

While the number of named tropical weather systems this year is, thus far, about equal to 2011, most of the storms that formed fizzled out or were swept to sea before having had a chance to impact land. One potential reason: a weather pattern known as El Nino. El Nino, Spanish for "the little boy" because it often is identified near Christmas, is a warm phase characterized by high pressure over the Pacific Ocean. It occurs about every five years, and has been identified as happening this year. The phenomenon is powerful enough to affect weather patterns here and around the globe. Last year, El Nino's opposite pattern – La Nina – was in effect, which brought low pressure to the Pacific. "Upper level winds over the tropics are strong," said …

• Photos (1)

Tropical Storm Emily Could Track up the Atlantic Coast

Storm could be a hurricane by Monday; meteorologists say Shore may see little more than big surf

Tropical Storm Emily is currently beating a path across the Caribbean, and while forecasters warn that the storm could track her way up the country's southern Atlantic coast over the weekend, meteorologists here say Emily will likely bring nothing more than big surf to the Jersey Shore. The fifth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Emily is now 180 miles southeast of the Dominican Republic, bringing sustained winds of 50 miles per hour to the area, according to the National Weather Service. The storm is expected to hit to the Dominican Republic and Haiti today, possibly dumping up to 10 inches of rain on the island of Hispanola, which is made up of both countries. But Emily will weaken as it travels northwest across the …

• Photos (1)