Forecasters: Hurricane season heating up

Published 5:10 pm Thursday, August 24, 2017

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VALDOSTA — With a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico churning up concern, forecasters say the second half of the Atlantic hurricane season could be more active than originally feared, with South Georgia residents urged to be on the lookout.

Hurricane Harvey quickly gained strength Thursday and was expected to hit the Texas coast Friday evening as a Category 3 storm, packing winds from 111-129 miles per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center.

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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — parent organization for the National Weather Service — originally predicted 11-17 named storms when the hurricane season started in May. Now NOAA officially expects 14-19 named storms.

David Samuhel, senior meteorologist with the private forecasting firm AccuWeather, said he would expect about 15 named storms to form.

“Just because we’ve reached the halfway mark in the season doesn’t mean we’ve had half our storms,” he said.

The hurricane season, in fact, is expected to peak in mid-September, he said.

Valdosta sits only about 80 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, and residents need to keep an eye on storms at this time of the year because of the increased chance of a “recurve,” Samuhel said.

Hurricanes in the northern hemisphere generally travel from east to west, gradually spiraling northward, he said. On occasion, a hurricane can be absorbed or influenced by other storm systems, causing hurricanes to turn eastward. 

The last major hurricane to come close to South Georgia was Opal in 2001, Samuhel said. Opal hit the Alabama coastline as a Category 4 storm before heading north and east toward north Georgia, where thousands in the Atlanta area were without power for as much as a week.

South Georgia itself escaped Opal’s wrath, only receiving a few inches of rain.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.