2023 hurricane season officially underway

MIAMI (WITN) - The 2023 hurricane season has officially begun.

The six-month season runs until November 30th.

NOAA says it expects the season to be “near-normal” with between 12 and 17 named storms. Between five and nine of those would actually become hurricanes, with one to four major hurricanes predicted.

Another forecast to watch is from researchers at Colorado State. They are predicting a slightly below-average season for 2023 with 13 names storms, six hurricanes, and two of those becoming major hurricanes.

This year, the National Hurricane Center is rolling out a new storm surge model that director Mike Brennan said “helps push real-time storm surge prediction out to 72 hours in advance of the storm” in hopes of getting life-saving information to emergency managers regarding evacuation orders.

In addition, tropical weather outlooks have been extended from five days out to seven days, providing “an additional heads up” for residents to make decisions about whether to evacuate in advance of a storm, Brennan said.

Here are this year’s names for storms: