Surprise: Higher Frequency Of Tropical Systems Due To Better Observation, Not Hotcoldwetdry

Who would have seen this coming? Somebody is going to have to do some serious walking back of reality once the Cult of Climastrology starts coming after him (via Watts Up With That?)

Should the hurricane season begin earlier?

The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on 1 June. But over the past six years, significant storms have been forming earlier than this. So does the hurricane season need to start earlier – and is climate change to blame?

At a regional meeting of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) this week, meteorologists and officials will be discussing a possible change to how the hurricane season is defined.

“The 2020 hurricane season was one of the most challenging in the 40-year history of [the] WMO’s Tropical Cyclone Programme,” says WMO Secretary-General Prof Petteri Taalas.

“The record number of hurricanes combined with Covid-19 to create, literally, the perfect storm.”

The hurricane season has officially started on the 1 June since the mid-1960s, when hurricane reconnaissance planes would start routine trips into the Atlantic to spot storm development.

Over the past 10 to 15 years, though, named storms have formed prior to the official start about 50% of the time.

Must be due to you eating lots of burgers and taking fossil fueled trips

And the way they are defined and observed has changed significantly over time.

“Many of these storms are short-lived systems that are now being identified because of better monitoring and policy changes that now name sub-tropical storms,” Dennis Feltgen, meteorologist at the US National Hurricane Center (NHC) told BBC Weather.

Certainly, even 20 years ago, there were not as many ways to identify systems. Going back 50 years? Way, way less. Before the late 70’s most were identified by ships and planes, not satellites, which have become better and better.

Is climate change playing a role?
The number of named storms has increased over the decades, but there is no real evidence this is the result of a warming world.

Dr McNoldy notes “the big shift in counts is simply that there were several inactive seasons from 1981-1990 and several active seasons from 2011-2020”.

“Once that inactive period drops out of the average, and is replaced by the active, it will increase the numbers”

The overall increase from 1961 is also likely to be due to better technology, along with observations over the Atlantic Ocean.

Since satellites came along in the 1980s, we can spot and monitor the development of tropical cyclones and name them when they meet the threshold.

We are simply able to record more.

I’m sure the climate cultists will find a way to say this is all bunk and your fault.