{"id":16335,"date":"2012-08-09T12:12:53","date_gmt":"2012-08-09T17:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=16335"},"modified":"2012-08-09T12:12:57","modified_gmt":"2012-08-09T17:12:57","slug":"new-hurricane-outlook-shows-increased-chance-of-storms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/08\/09\/new-hurricane-outlook-shows-increased-chance-of-storms\/","title":{"rendered":"New Hurricane Outlook Shows Increased Chance of Storms"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Scott Olson\/Getty Images<\/p>

The sun rises behind the Storm Memorial in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike on September 18, 2008 in Galveston, Texas. The sculpture was dedicated to remember the 6,000 killed when a hurricane hit the island in 1900.<\/p><\/div>\n

Texas finds itself in the peculiar position of needing just the right storms this summer. Perhaps a light tropical depression that would bring rain to the parched parts of the state, but not bring damage to the coast. So it’s with a keen eye that the state looks to the updated summer hurricane forecast<\/a> out this morning.<\/p>\n

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center<\/a> says we may have a “busy second half” of the summer for hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin. “The updated outlook still indicates a 50 percent chance of a near-normal season,” the agency writes on its site today. But there’s a 35 percent chance of an above-normal season.<\/p>\n

The agency predicts anywhere from five to eight hurricanes this season (including the ones we’ve already seen, Chris and Ernesto), and anywhere from twelve to seventeen named storms (with winds that reach 39 mph or higher). Of those hurricanes, two or three of them could be “major,” NOAA says, which means category three or higher, with winds of at least 111 mph (Chris and Ernesto were both category one).<\/p>\n

So why did NOAA increase the odds of major storms from their initial outlook in May?<\/p>\n

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