Climatologist Dale Destin Predicts Very Busy 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season

Early Prediction: Very Busy 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast

This hurricane season will most likely be another very busy one, exhausting the primary list of named storms, once again. My early forecast for the 2022 Season is out, and it calls for 21 named storms, 9 hurricanes and 4 major hurricanes.

In addition to being a very busy season, it is most likely to be an active season. Recall that the accumulated cyclone energy index (ACE) is the universally accepted metric used to classify the overall activity of a hurricane season. The ACE forecast for this year is 182, 30 above the threshold for an active season, based on 1991-2020 data.

A super hyperactive season is also possible. There is a 36 percent chance of the ACE exceeding 223. Further, there is a 49 percent chance of more than 19 named storms; 30 percent chance of more than 11 hurricanes and 29 percent chance of more than 6 major hurricanes.

If the forecast pans out, this season would be the third most active since 2017, in terms of ACE, and the tied with 1998 for the 10^th most active on record dating back to 1851. It would also tie 2021 for the third highest number of named storms.