Updated 2007 Hurricane Forecast, Hybrid

Our official, updated 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season forecast (PREMIUM | PRO) is being issued as we speak at the 2nd Annual AccuWeather Hurricane Summit in Houston, Texas.

The short of it: "We're in for a Rough Year," Says AccuWeather.com's Bastardi. this season's hurricanes and tropical storms to pose a far greater threat to lives and property than last year's, with significantly more storms striking the US... six or seven storms will strike the US coast... The majority of these landfalls are projected for the Gulf Coast... [more]"

And how timely, with a possible hybrid tropical storm system off the Southeast Coast. The only way it could have been more ironic would have been if the storm were in the Gulf. According to an email I received today from NOAA, "The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will release the 2007 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook on May 22, 2007."

I posted model tracks earlier for the storm off the Southeast coast. Since it has stayed away from the buoys, there have been no further reports of 40-foot waves or 80 mph winds like there were yesterday. The National Hurricane Center has declared the storm a non-tropical system and says they won't send an aircraft in to investigate it until tomorrow at the earliest (at which time it will be weaker). Below are the thoughts from AccuWeather.com Professional's Joe Bastardi's [BIO] (PRO) morning blog, regarding that storm system. JB, of course, heads up the team of long-range forecasters that produce the hurricane forecast here at AccuWeather, and is live at the event today.