NOAA's Climate Prediction Center is forecasting a 40% chance for a near-normal Atlantic hurricane season — June 1 to November 30, 2019 — determining a 70% likelihood of 9-15 named storms, of which 4-8 could become hurricanes.
The backdrop: This year's outlook comes after 2018's devastating season, with Cat. 5 Hurricane Michael hitting the Florida Panhandle. The average hurricane season produces 12 named storms, of which 6 progress to hurricanes status and 3 turn into major hurricanes.
The Missouri Department of Public Safety said 3 people died in a storm that struck the southwest region of the state, and the National Weather Service confirmed a "violent tornado" struck Jefferson City late on Wednesday, as severe thunderstorms continued to hammer the Central U.S.
What's new: NOAA issued a severe thunderstorm outlook calling for an "enhanced" risk of severe storms again on Thursday in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, as well as the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. There is a continued threat for heavy rain in already flooded areas of the Central U.S.
Prior to the 1950s, there was no uniform way to name hurricanes. Some used saints' names, others used longitude and latitude. In 1953, that all changed when the U.S. started using female names to identify storms. By 1979, the use of female and male names was adopted for storms in the northern Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.
Why it matters: Naming hurricanes stemmed from the need to make communication about such destructive storms more salient and less confusing, especially if two storms were happening at the same time.
A Chinese Long March-4C rocket failed during launch on Thursday morning from north China's Shanxi Province, according to China's state run media organization Xinhua.
Why it matters: The rocket was carrying the remote-sensing Yaogan-33 satellite, which is thought to be one in a series of government spy satellites.
