2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season will be Active, Have more US Landfalls

"AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center meteorologists, led by Meteorologist and Hurricane Forecaster Paul Pastelok, are predicting an active season for 2011 with more impact on the U.S. coastline than last year.

The team is forecasting a total of 15 named tropical storms, eight of which will attain hurricane status and three of which will attain major hurricane status (Category 3 or higher)."

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The future state of the ongoing La Niña

La Niña is a phenomenon that occurs when the surface waters in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific are colder than normal. La Niña results in low wind shear, especially in the main tropical development area in the Atlantic. Shear refers to strong winds that are high in the atmosphere. Wind shear is a "hurricane killer," in that it can hinder storm development as well as break up existing storms.

"Currently, right now we still are in a La Niña scenario, but it is starting to weaken," Pastelok said. "The signal is starting to show some signs of going neutral. That could have an impact on the westerly wind component down in the tropical Atlantic as well as the Caribbean. Stronger westerlies would prohibit major storms or a lot of storms, so it is a critical factor."

Source: AccuWeather.com click here to read more