NOAA REVIEWS RECORD-SETTING 2005 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON
Active Hurricane Era Likely To Continue

Nov. 29, 2005 �

NOAA images from the Washington, D.C., news conference held on Nov. 29, 2005, reviewing the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Please credit “NOAA.”
(Click NOAA image for larger view of NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher addressing reporters at a Washington, D.C. news conference. Click here for high resolution version. Please credit “NOAA.”)	“This hurricane season shattered records that have stood for decades—most named storms, most hurricanes and most category five storms. Arguably, it was the most devastating hurricane season the country has experienced in modern times,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “I’d like to foretell that next year will be calmer, but I can’t. Historical trends say the atmosphere patterns and water temperatures are likely to force another active season upon us.”
(Click NOAA image for larger view of NOAA National Weather Service Director David Johnson addressing reporters at a Washington, D.C. news conference via satellite from the NOAA National Hurricane Center in Miami. Click here for high resolution version. Please credit “NOAA.”)	"Evidence of this active cycle was demonstrated this year as the Atlantic Basin produced the equivalent of more than two entire hurricane seasons over the course of one. Because we are in an active hurricane era, it's important to recognize that with a greater number of hurricanes comes increasing odds of one striking land," said retired Air Force Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, director of the NOAA National Weather Service.
(Click NOAA image for larger view of NOAA lead hurricane forecaster Gerry Bell addressing reporters at a Washington, D.C. news conference. Click here for high resolution version. Please credit “NOAA.”)	“Because we’re 11 years into an active hurricane era, it’s reasonable to expect ongoing high levels of hurricane activity for many years to come and, importantly, ongoing high levels of hurricane landfalls for the next decade and perhaps longer,” said NOAA lead hurricane forecaster Gerry Bell.
(Click NOAA image for larger view of NOAA National Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield addressing reporters at a Washington, D.C. news conference via satellite from the NOAA National Hurricane Center in Miami. Click here for high resolution version. Please credit “NOAA.”)	With six months until the official start of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, NOAA urges hurricane-prone residents to take proactive measures during this time. "The battle against the hurricane season is won during the off season. Winter and spring is the time to conduct hurricane preparations, such as stocking supplies, assembling a safety kit that includes a NOAA Weather Radio and preparing an evacuation plan," said Max Mayfield, director of the NOAA National Hurricane Center.

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Relevant Web Sites
Noteworthy Records of the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season

NOAA Attributes Recent Increase in Hurricane Activity to Naturally Occurring Multi-decadal Climate Variability

NOAA 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Outlook

NOAA Atlantic Hurricane Outlook and Summary Archive

NOAA National Hurricane Center

NOAA Climate Prediction Center

2004 Atlantic Hurricane Season

NOAA Hurricanes Page

NOAA 2005 Satellite Images (NOAA Environmental Visualization Lab)

NOAA 2005 Satellite Images (Operational of Significant Event Imagery, or OSEI)

Media Contact:
Chris Vaccaro, NOAA National Weather Service, (301) 713-0622 ext. 134