Federal forecasters today warned everyone to get ready for what's expected to be a busy hurricane season.
"We are predicting an above average season once again for 2025," National Weather Service Director Ken Graham announced from the Jefferson Parish Emergency Operations Center in Gretna.
He forecasts "13 to 19 named storms, that's when we get to 39 miles an hour... of these six to ten are forecast to become hurricanes, and that's when you get to the 74 mile an hour mark. Three to five is the number of major hurricanes. That's Cat. Three and above."
What are the factors that have forecasters expecting all of this activity?
"Warm sea surface temperatures are probably the number one contributor to the whole thing," Graham explained. "Not much wind shear. Wind shear tears the storms apart. We do not expect a lot of wind shear."
Graham and his boss from the National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration issued the forecast in Jefferson Parish as part of the observance of the upcoming 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katriana.
Acting NOAA administrator Laura Grimm worked to reassure everyone that federal budget cuts will not impact the government's ability to forecast tropical weather and protect lives and property this hurricane season.
"The Hurricane Center is fully staffed up, and we are ready to go," she insisted. "Weather prediction, forecasting, modeling is a top priority."
Grimm touted new computer modeling that is outperforming previous systems and talked about having improved satellite data.
She did not comment on how the staffing and budget cuts will impact local National Weather Service offices and the impact on the accuarcy on local forecast.
Graham also expressed confidence and added that Hurricane Hunters from the federal government and the US military are also ready to go, providing key data.
Graham worked at the National Weather Service Office in Slidell during Hurricane Katrina. They issued the forecast in Jefferson Parish as part of the observance of the upcoming 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.