Newswise — The Atlantic hurricane season officially starts June 1 (and runs through Nov. 30), and, like every summer, we’re expecting any weather condition to occur. Here at the University of Georgia, we’re predicting you’ll need quotes, and we’re ready with your severe weather experts.

Whether you need someone to discuss the dangers of summertime heat, the psychology behind people’s reactions to a storm warning or how climate change could be affecting hurricane strength, UGA faculty members are here to help.

We’ve included a few quotes below to help you get a head start on your story. When you need more information, we’ve also listed our experts’ contact information below. You may notice a theme forming: A major hurricane hasn’t made landfall in the U.S. since 2005.

Marshall Shepherd, director, UGA Atmospheric Sciences Program, and Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences• Expertise: International expert on weather and climate, remote sensing, urban weather-climate, mesoscale weather processes, precipitation, tropical weather hazards and satellite remote sensing. Shepherd was the 2013 president of American Meteorological Society.• Contact: 706-542-0517 or [email protected]

Quote: “Hurricane season starts in one week, and many of us are concerned about hurricane amnesia. A major (Category 3 or above) hurricane hasn't made landfall in the U.S. since 2005. For perspective, that is before Twitter or iPhones. A new generation of coastal residents may be caught off guard by what looks to be a normal to active season.”

David Stooksbury, associate professor, College of Engineering, and graduate coordinator, UGA Atmospheric Sciences Program• Expertise: Climate, coastal systems, wind and solar energy resource assessment, statistical modeling of systems impacted by weather and climate• Contact: 706-583-0156 or [email protected]

Quote: “While it has been over 100 years since a major hurricane made landfall along the Georgia coast, it is important for us not to be lulled into a false sense of security. During the 1800s, six major hurricanes impacted the Georgia coast leading to a large number of fatalities and massive destruction.”

John A. Knox, associate professor of geography, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and undergraduate coordinator, UGA Atmospheric Sciences Program• Expertise: Dynamics of weather and climate, geoscience education, atmospheric hazards, satellite remote sensing applications and meteorological applications of social media data. Much of Knox’s work is on the impact of storms below the thresholds of severe limits.•Contact: 706-542-2118 or [email protected]

Quotes: “There are many different kinds of severe weather, and they can be influenced in different ways by the same large-scale weather patterns. In the U.S. we are currently at, or a little under, the typical number of tornadoes for 2016 so far.

“One long-range prediction for the upcoming hurricane season is for an average year for the oceans surrounding the U.S., or according to another prediction perhaps above-average—if the strong El Niño in the equatorial Pacific wanes earlier than expected this spring and summer.”

Alan E. Stewart, associate professor, College of Education, Department of Counseling and Human Development Services• Expertise: Psychology of weather and climate, environmental and ecological psychology• Contact: 706-542-1263 or [email protected]

Quotes: “Don’t take risks with severe weather—stay abreast of the official National Weather Service forecasts, prepare ahead of time and follow the recommendations of emergency management agencies.” “As the hurricane season approaches, people should review their procedures for evacuating or sheltering in place and make sure they have supplies of potable water, food and battery-operated radios, including a weather radio.”

“It is also very important to follow the evacuation/sheltering recommendations of the county emergency management departments in the counties affected by a hurricane.” Specific to Georgia, Stewart also notes that ahead of a land-falling hurricane, people should regularly check the forecasts from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City (http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ffc/); Jacksonville, Florida (http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jax/); Tallahassee, Florida (http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tae/), for areas in south Georgia; as well as the National Hurricane Center (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/).

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency has an award-winning smartphone app that can provide invaluable information before and after a hurricane or tropical storm landfall (http://ready.ga.gov/be-informed/alerts-and-warnings/mobileapp/).

“Although the last five years have been relatively uneventful in terms of hurricanes impacting or affecting Georgia, residents of the state should remain alert and prepared for the upcoming hurricane season. Georgia is vulnerable to both hurricanes and tropical storms that can move inland from the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico.

Pam Knox, UGA agricultural climatology, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences• Expertise: Climate and weather data resources, climate variability and change, climate impacts on agriculture and water resources• Contact: 706-310-3467 or [email protected]

Quotes: “This may be the season that Florida finally breaks out of its decade-long hurricane drought. El Niño is rapidly fading, and with the onset of neutral or La Niña conditions later in the summer, conditions are more favorable for the development of Atlantic hurricanes this season, which starts June 1.

“Even an inactive season can have a deadly hurricane, such as Andrew in 1992. But with neutral or La Niña conditions, the chance of having a land-falling storm which affects the Southeast is greater than in El Niño years. People who live near the coast should prepare for hurricane season well in advance, before a storm is already headed their way.”

Additional UGA experts include:Andrew J. Grundstein, associate professor of geography, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences• Expertise: Heat safety, applied climatology, hydroclimatology, cryospheric studies, climate and human health, specifically heat mortality and asthma• Contact: 706-583-0430 or [email protected]

Thomas Mote, professor of geography, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences• Expertise: Hydroclimatology, climate change, synoptic climatology/meteorology and the application of geospatial technologies• Contact: 706-542-2906 or [email protected]

*Each faculty member listed above is affiliated with the UGA Atmospheric Sciences Program. For more information on this program and other faculty involved, visit http://atsc.uga.edu/page23/page21/page21.html.

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