Utilities beware: Hurricane season starts early

By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

Earth Networks has released its 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast.

The company's WeatherBug Meteorology Team is forecasting a near-normal Hurricane Season in the Atlantic Basin even though the season started early with the formation Tropical Storm Alberto on the northeast Florida Coast in May. Hurricane season typically starts in June.

Also part of the Earth Neworks' forecast:

• The Atlantic hurricane season will see a total of 11 to 13 named storms form in the Atlantic Hurricane Basin, right in line with the 30-year average of 12 storms.

• Six or seven of these storms could become hurricanes with two to four of them becoming full blown, high-category hurricanes with winds in excess of 111 mph.

"Overall weather patterns are expected to be closer to normal this summer, indicating a near-normal threat for a land-falling hurricane to impact the U.S. this year," said Earth Networks Senior Meteorologist James Aman. "This is in contrast to last year, when the majority of tropical systems remained well offshore out in the Atlantic Ocean."

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