Earlier start to hurricane season under discussion

Traditional June 1 kickoff could be moved to mid-may.

PALM BEACH, FLA. — A recent spate of overly eager tropical cyclones may lead to an earlier start to hurricane season, pushing up the official first day to May 15 from the traditional kickoff of June 1 — a date that has been custom for more than five decades. The jump-start in dates

will be discussed at a World Meteorological Organization meeting this month and could mean daily tropical weather forecasts issued by the National Hurricane Center will begin as early as May 15 this year.

Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman for the NHC, said an official change in the start date would come only after a com- mittee looked at storm data and examined the need and “potential ramifications of moving the beginning of the hurricane season to May 15.” But because the findings would have to be presented at a future WMO meeting for review, the date change is unlikely this year.

The discussion on moving up the start date of hurricane season and issuance of tropical forecasts was ini- tiated in December at the National Oceanic and Atmo- spheric Administration’s hurricane conference, which followed the most active hurricane season on record with 30 named storms.

The 2020 season also was the sixth consecutive year when named storms formed before June 1.

Since the late 1960s, when satellites began identifying tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, 19 named storms have formed before June 1, according to Colorado State University researcher Phil Klotzbach.

Klotzbach worries about moving the start date to May 15 when the most dangerous storms typically don’t occur until late August through mid-october. “People can only prepare for things for so long before they just say ‘forget it,’” he said.