Hurricane season officially begins on June 1st

HAVANA, Cuba, May 31 (acn) The Hurricane Season officially begins on June 1st in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico with predictions of normal to active, although Cuba will remain prepared in case of any contingency.

Dr. in Meteorological Sciences, TeresitaLlamesMonteagudo, and head of the Prediction Center of the Meteorological Institute said that it is not likely for a hurricane to hit the island but this does not exclude being hit by a tropical depression or storm.

She announced the formation of 12 tropical storms (tropical storms and hurricanes) in the northern Atlantic region, 7 which can reach hurricane category during the season that ends on November 30th.

In the case of the Atlantic region, 8 tropical storms are predicted although there is a ten percent probability that one will originate or intensify in the Caribbean and 50 percent (moderate) chance that one originating in the Atlantic penetrate the Caribbean.

The majority of the meteorological models estimate an evolution towards neutral conditions of the El Nino-Oscillation of the South (ENOS) phenomena in the eastern equatorial Pacific.

However, there are possibilities of moving towards the La Nina conditions (cooling of the waters of equatorial Pacific) in the second half of the year.

This suggests that the superior tropospheric circulation (10 to 12 kilometers) will be a favorable factor in the development and intensification of the tropical storms in the Atlantic basin.

It will also contribute to the increase the fact that the waters of the tropical Atlantic region will remain warm.

The Committee of the Hurricanes in the 4th Region of the World Meteorological Organization, with 191 member states and main headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, have announced the names of the hurricanes for the tropical Atlantic.

The names are Alex, Bonnie, Colin, Danielle, Earl, Fiona, Gastón, Hermine, Ian, Julia, Karl, Lisa, Matthew, Nicole, Otto, Paula, Richard, Shary, Tobías, Virginie y Walter.