Accuweather has released its forecast for the 2006 hurricane season, according to this wire story:
Experts at AccuWeather, based in State College, Pa., predicted this year’s hurricane season won’t quite top last year’s record number of named storms and 14 hurricanes.[...]
The AccuWeather meteorologists also stressed that the Northeast is overdue for a “powerful hurricane.” Weather cycles and above-normal ocean temperatures make it a question of when, not if, they said.
The meteorologists likened current weather cycles and ocean temperatures to those in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, particularly the pattern that led to a 1938 hurricane that struck Providence, R.I., and killed 600 people.[...]
AccuWeather said Northeast hurricane damage could rival or surpass that caused by Katrina, which inundated New Orleans and was the costliest storm in U.S. history. The company plans to release a more detailed forecast, including landfall and strength predictions, in May.
While I don’t doubt that this will likely be another “fun” hurricane season, and I don’t want to downplay the risk of a storm to the northeast given the region’s relative unpreparedness…I can’t help but wonder if AccuWeather is engaging in a bit of fear-mongering, or is seeking a bit of free advertising via headlines.
This is, after all, the organization that’s been accused of getting Senator Santorum of introducing proposals to gag NOAA, leaving weathercasting for public consumption in the hands of private meterologists…particularly Accuweather.