An “active to extremely active” hurricane season is expected for the Atlantic Basin this year according to the seasonal outlook issued by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center – a division of the National Weather Service. As with every hurricane season, this outlook underscores the importance of having a hurricane preparedness plan in place. Across the entire Atlantic Basin for the six-month season, which began June 1, NOAA is projecting a 70 percent probability of the following ranges:

• 14 to 23 Named Storms (top winds of 39 mph or higher), including:
• 8 to 14 Hurricanes (top winds of 74 mph or higher), of which:
• 3 to 7 could be Major Hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5; winds of at least 111 mph)

In May 2010, IS-324.a Community Hurricane Preparedness was revised to update information on hurricane science and National Weather Service forecast products. In addition a section on Emergency Management was added. For more information, click here.

Coming off a strong El Niño winter weather pattern, portions of the western United States will enter the 2010 fire season drier than normal, according to the annual Fire Season Outlook released by the Predictive Services group at the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). The drier conditions suggest higher than normal wildfire potential for the Northern Rockies of Montana and Idaho; parts of eastern Washington; northwestern Wyoming; and a portion of south-central Oregon stretching down into the northeastern corner of California. For more information, click here.