The Met Office is predicting an ‘above normal’ 2025 hurricane season with a possibility that there could be as much as 21 named storms.
Director of Met Service, Dale Destin, told a news conference on Monday that there may be as much as nine hurricanes up to five of which could be classified as ‘major storms’.
Destin noted that this year the phenomenon referred to as El Nino, the warming of a large body of water in the Pacific Ocean and which have had the effect of disrupting the strengthening of hurricanes, is not in effect this year so that this natural barrier to the strengthening of hurricanes is not present this year. However, he noted that water temperature is not as warm as they were this time last year.
Against this background, Destin is urging the nation to be prepared as much as possible.
NODS Preparedness and Response Manager, Anderson Tuitt emphasized the need for families and businesses to develop their own disaster plan. “For a business, everyone in the organization should be familiar with the disaster plan to know what role they should play in the event of a hurricane or other disaster. Each employee down to even the cleaner must be familiar with the plan and know what to do in times of disasters without having to be told,” he explained.
The US National Hurricane Centre said the seasonal activity is expected to fall within these ranges in 70% of seasons with similar conditions and uncertainties to those expected this year. These ranges do not represent the total possible ranges of activity seen in past similar years. These expected ranges are centered above the 1991-2020 seasonal averages of 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes, and 3 major hurricanes. Most of the predicted activity is likely to occur during August-September-October (ASO), the peak months of the hurricane season.
The North Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from June 1st through November 30th. This outlook will be updated in early August to coincide with the onset of the peak months of the season (ASO). NOAA’s outlook for the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season indicates that an above-normal season is most likely, with a moderate probability that the season could be near-normal and lower odds for a below-normal season. The outlook calls for a 60% chance of an above-normal season, along with a 30% chance for a near-normal season and only a 10% chance for a below-normal season.
