Hurricane Forecast Downgraded Yet Again

Global warming just is not cooperating with the Atlantic hurricane season, and the experts have downgraded their expectations for the season once again:

Hurricane forecaster William Gray's team downgraded its expectations for the 2006 Atlantic storm season Friday, calling for a slightly below-average year, with only five hurricanes instead of the seven previously forecast.

Two of the hurricanes will be intense, according the team, based at Colorado State University.

It was the second time they had downgraded their forecast in a month.

Last spring, Gray's team called for 17 named storms to form in the Atlantic basin during the June through November hurricane season. As of Friday, five had formed, including Tropical Storm Ernesto, which briefly became the season's first hurricane last week and was moving through North Carolina on Friday.

The average for the Atlantic basin is 9.6 named storms, 5.9 hurricanes and 2.3 intense hurricanes per year.

No wonder Al Gore's "so ronery".