Hurricane Season Is Expected To Be Above Average This Year & Here's What It Means For Canada
Canadians are being told to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season.
A hurricane as seen from space in 2017.
It's almost hurricane season and a new forecast with predictions about what will happen has implications for some parts of Canada.
On May 24, the Canadian Hurricane Centre released its outlook for 2022 and it's expected that there will be "another above-average hurricane season" this year.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's forecast for the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season predicted 14 to 21 named storms, six to 10 hurricanes and three to six major hurricanes which are category three or stronger.
For context, the Canadian Hurricane Centre responds to three or four tropical cyclone events every year, with one or two making landfall in Canada and two or three threatening waters offshore.
Hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean officially starts on June 1 and runs until November 30 since that's when the water is warm enough to produce tropical cyclones, aka hurricanes.
"Typically, hurricanes are of greater concern in Canadian waters later in the season," the Canadian Hurricane Centre said.
According to The Weather Network, the weather phenomenon La Niña is likely to continue in summer and possibly into the fall as well which is when hurricane activity in the Atlantic could be enhanced.
It's predicted that June will have heavier rainfall in eastern parts of North America along with "an increasingly favoured track" over the east coast.
The Weather Network said people in Atlantic Canada should take note of this because that pattern "increases the potential for tropical storm impacts" for the region.
Even though an active season doesn't guarantee that storms will impact Canada since it depends on the specific storm track, it does mean that the potential for impacts is increased this year.
People in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada should begin planning for potential tropical storm impacts and keep up to date with forecasts, The Weather Network advised.
Environment Canada meteorologists have also encouraged Canadians to get prepared for the hurricane season.
In recent years, Canada has been impacted by quite a few storms including Hurricane Sam, Hurricane Larry, Hurricane Teddy, Hurricane Sally and Hurricane Dorian.