Home-grown storms will be common in hurricane season

Tropical Storm Beryl brought down trees, damaged some property, and flooded streets. It may have even caught you off guard, developing on Memorial Day Weekend.

Beryl and Tropical Storm Alberto provided an early start to the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane season.

WOKV's Chief Meteorologist, Accuweather Meteorologist Heather Zehr says the storms could prove to be a sign of coming attractions this summer.

"What we're really looking at right now is not a particularly active season in terms of the number of storms but perhaps a season where we will see some homegrown storms. That is storms that fire up fairly close to the coast, like Alberto did. We should be a little more aware of the early part of the season, perhaps than normal, because these fronts are more likely to affect us during the early part of the season when we still have a chance to get these stronger fronts into the southeast part of the country".

We know steering currents and our coastline help protect us. This season Heather says we'll have to watch for storms that fire up right off the coast.

"Most of the time this will happen to the east of us and out over the western Atlantic. Those storms generally move out to sea. But this can also happen over the Gulf of Mexico and when that happens, a lot of times those storms will move up along those fronts and have created a pathway in the atmosphere. That can mean that these storms move across our area with heavy rain and gusty winds. That's where we generally get our biggest impact from tropical systems".

And so it's less likely we see the big one. Still, government forecasters predict between nine and 15 storms, four to eight of those hurricanes. One to three that could become major.

And 2012 features some changes by the government weather officials, tweaking the top wind speeds for Cateogries three through five. There are no changes to categories one and two.

You'll see forecast cone look slightly smaller. The track starts at 120 hours and continues until the 12 hour forecast period.

And it's worth a reminder that lead times for watches and warnings were increased in 2010. Watches are now issued 48 hours in advance. Warnings come three days out.

Government forecasters predict between nine and 15 storms, four to eight of those hurricanes, one to three that could become major.

This season marks the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew's catastrophic landfall in South Florida as a Category 5 storm.

Last year marked the sixth consecutive year without the U.S. landfall of a major hurricane, which are classified as Category 3 storms with sustained winds of 111 mph or higher.

And 2012 features some changes by the government weather officials, tweaking the top wind speeds for Cat's three through five. No changes in cat one and two.

You'll see forecast cone look slightly smaller. The track starts at 120 hours and continues until the 12 hour forecast period.

And it's worth a reminder that lead times for watches and warnings were increased in 2010--Watches are now issued 48 hours in advance--Warnings come three days out.