The 2001 Atlantic Hurricane Season has Begun
09:45 AM EDT - 01 June 2001

The 2001 Atlantic Hurricane Season Starts today, with nothing of note going on. The most active times for hurricanes is between August 15 and October 15th. Early June storms are relatively rare, and I don't expect to see any named systems this month. July is another issue, but the number of storms isn't. For example, Hurricane Andrew in 1992 didn't form until late August. It only takes one to cause problems, and the lack of storms now has absolutely nothing to do with what may happen in the later season.

The last day of the Atlantic Hurricane Season is on November 30th.

As Hurricane Season starts, a recent Red Cross poll conducted on coastal residents in hurricane prone areas finds that only 58% of us are concerned about the systems, and about half actually have a plan for evacuation. Of those with plans, 80% of them have taken into account their kids and 64% have for their pets.

The numbers will mean roughly half of the folks in storm prone areas may be blind-sided if a major hurricane does make landfall on them.  

Here is the first Tropical Outlook for the 2001 Atlantic Hurricane Season:

000
ABNT20 KNHC 010906
TWOAT 
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
530 AM EDT FRI JUNE 01 2001

FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC...CARIBBEAN SEA AND THE GULF OF MEXICO...
 
TODAY MARKS THE FIRST DAY OF THE ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON...WHICH
WILL RUN UNTIL NOVEMBER 30TH.  LONG-TERM AVERAGES FOR THE NUMBER OF
NAMED STORMS AND HURRICANES ARE 10 AND 6...RESPECTIVELY.
 
THE LIST OF NAMES FOR 2001 IS AS FOLLOWS...
 
NAME          PRONUNCIATION      NAME          PRONUNCIATION
------------------------------------------------------------
ALLISON                          LORENZO
BARRY                            MICHELLE 
CHANTAL       SHAN-TAL           NOEL    
DEAN                             OLGA
ERIN          AIR-IN             PABLO         PA-BLOW
FELIX         FEEL-IX            REBEKAH 
GABRIELLE     GAH- BREE-EL       SEBASTIEN     SAY-BAS-TYAN 
HUMBERTO      OOM-BAIR-TOE       TANYA         TAHN-YA
IRIS          EYE-RIS            VAN
JERRY                            WENDY
KAREN
 
THIS PRODUCT...THE TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK...IS ISSUED FOUR TIMES A
DAY...AT 530 AM...1130 AM...530 PM...AND 1030 PM EASTERN TIME.  IT
BRIEFLY DESCRIBES SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF DISTURBED WEATHER AND THEIR
POTENTIAL FOR TROPICAL STORM DEVELOPMENT.
 
A SEPARATE PRODUCT...THE SPECIAL TROPICAL DISTURBANCE STATEMENT
...MAY BE ISSUED AT ANY TIME TO DESCRIBE STRONG...FORMATIVE WEATHER
SYSTEMS THAT HAVE NOT YET REACHED TROPICAL DEPRESSION STATUS.  THE
SPECIAL TROPICAL DISTURBANCE STATEMENT IS ISSUED UNDER THE WMO
HEADER WONT41 KNHC AND UNDER AWIPS HEADER MIADSAAT
 
A STANDARD PACKAGE OF PRODUCTS...CONSISTING OF THE TROPICAL CYCLONE
PUBLIC ADVISORY...THE FORECAST/ADVISORY...THE CYCLONE DISCUSSION...
AND THE STRIKE PROBABILITIES...IS ISSUED EVERY SIX HOURS FOR ALL
ONGOING TROPICAL CYCLONES.  IN ADDITION...A SPECIAL ADVISORY PACKAGE
MAY BE ISSUED AT ANY TIME TO ADVISE OF SIGNIFICANT UNEXPECTED
CHANGES OR TO MODIFY WATCHES OR WARNINGS.
 
ONE ADDITIONAL PRODUCT...OF WHICH USERS MAY BE LESS FAMILIAR...IS
THE TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE.  THE TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE IS A BRIEF
STATEMENT TO INFORM OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN A TROPICAL CYCLONE OR
TO POST OR CANCEL WATCHES OR WARNINGS.  IT IS USED IN LIEU OF OR TO
PRECEDE THE ISSUANCE OF A SPECIAL ADVISORY PACKAGE. TROPICAL CYCLONE 
UPDATES...WHICH CAN BE ISSUED AT ANY TIME...CAN BE FOUND UNDER WMO 
HEADER WTNT61 KNHC...AND UNDER AWIPS HEADER MIATCUAT.
 
THIS MORNING...THERE ARE NO AREAS OF DISTURBED WEATHER THAT POSE A 
THREAT OF TROPICAL STORM FORMATION THROUGH SATURDAY.
 
FORECASTER FRANKLIN/PASCH/AVILA