Researchers revise down hurricane report

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

Hurricane researchers at Colorado State University said Thursday that this year's hurricane season won't be as bad earlier predicted and said a monster storm like Katrina is unlikely.

"The probability of another Katrina-like event is very small," said Phillip Klotzbach, lead forecaster for the hurricane research team.

The researchers reduced the number of likely hurricanes from nine to seven and intense hurricanes from five to three.

And

"This year it looks like the East Coast is more likely to be targeted by Atlantic basin hurricanes than the Gulf Coast, although the possibility exists that any point along the U.S. coast could be affected."

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According to the article this all has to do with ocean temperatures not being as warm as expected, which, given the double-barreled shotgun blast we got here in Louisiana last year, is fine by me. Still, one can't really say he's dodged the hurricane bullet until the season is over, and, even though a category five storm hitting the Gulf Coast this year seems unlikely, weaker hurricanes, and even tropical storms, as Houston learned with Allison back in 2001, can pack quite a punch. I worry about the levees in New Orleans, too. I keep hearing conflicting reports about whether they're ready. If they are, the Bush administration's record on quality is nothing to write home about. Nonetheless, this revised report is good news. Makes me a little less nervous.

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