The 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season was one we will never forget. The average number of named storms during a hurricane season averaged 14 from 1991 to 2020. Last year the number climbed all the way to 30 named storms. Still kind of unbelievable.

The many prediction centers are hard at work right now as we move through the spring to take a long look at what may be occurring in the Atlantic later this year, and the forecast is looking very much like last year.

Can you imagine being one of the thousands of Texans overcome by the mighty Catagory 4 Hurricane that made landfall in the middle of the night before any official warning system had ever been established? It was also the first storm of the Hurricane season that year and who could have predicted the 6000-8000 deaths it would cause. Some say as many as 12,000 died. It remains the largest loss of life on American soil to this date.

Hurricanes are nothing to mess with. We remember having to send out warnings to our listening audience 5 different times during the 2020 season, and we are hoping not to be nearly as busy this year. The first Meteorologists to release a study on the 2021 season comes from Colorado State University who presented their findings at the recent National Tropical Weather Conference according to CrossroadsToday.com. The leading researcher from the University is Dr. Phil Klotzbach.

His prediction calls for a total of 17 named storms. 8 of them are expected to become Hurricanes according to Klotzbach. Of the 8, 50% of those storms are expected to develop into dangerous category 3,4, or 5 hurricanes. 

LOOK: The most expensive weather and climate disasters in recent decades

Stacker ranked the most expensive climate disasters by the billions since 1980 by the total cost of all damages, adjusted for inflation, based on 2021 data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The list starts with Hurricane Sally, which caused $7.3 billion in damages in 2020, and ends with a devastating 2005 hurricane that caused $170 billion in damage and killed at least 1,833 people. Keep reading to discover the 50 of the most expensive climate disasters in recent decades in the U.S.

 

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