Received in the Same RSS News Feed

I received both of these stories in a refresh of my RSS news feed today.

New hurricane prediction: Relatively quiet October
By MARTIN MERZER
Hurricane expert William Gray offered a ray of hope today to hurricane-weary Floridians: A relatively quiet finish to the hurricane season, which ends Nov. 30.

Gray and his team at Colorado State University predicted three named storms during October, two of which become hurricanes. Twelve named storms were born between July 31 and Sept. 30. Seven of them grew into hurricanes, six of them intense. The team predicted ''little activity'' in November.

Gray attributed the four hurricanes that struck Florida since August 13 to a tragic coincidence of atmospheric conditions and bad luck that produced ``a once-in-a-lifetime kind of year.''

''Although Floridians should always be prepared for landfalling hurricanes, they should not expect what we have experienced this year to become the norm for future years,'' he said, even though activity throughout the entire hurricane basin is expected to remain strong for many years to come.

And...right below it in the same feed, no less:

Hurricane guru predicts busy October
By John Kelly
FLORIDA TODAY

An active October could be ahead of hurricane-wrecked Florida.

Given what's happened in August and September, a leading forecaster today increased the predicted number of tropical storms and hurricanes that might form in the Atlantic this month.

The hurricane experts at Colorado State University predict October will bring three named tropical storms that would be named Matthew, Nicole and Otto.

The Colorado State team, led by nationally-known forecaster William Gray, says two of the storms could become hurricanes. The team foresees no Category 3 or stronger hurricanes.

The forecast approximately doubles what Gray's team had forecast earlier this year for October, an upward change attributed to the unprecedented amount of activity this season.

Four hurricanes have made landfall in August and September. All of them hit Florida. Three passed through Brevard County.

Landfall probability for the remainder of the 2004 season is now estimated to be slightly above the October-November average, the forecasters said in a report released today.

The forecasters see a 17 percent chance a hurricane will form and hit the United States in October.

The good news? The chance of a November storm is fairly minimal in almost any year. The season ends Nov. 30.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, also issues hurricane forecasters at the beginning of the season. But it does not issue monthly updates.

This season has been about twice as active as forecasters expected.

To date, 2004 included 12 named storms. That included three major storms named Charley, Ivan and Jeanne and a Category 2 hurricane called Frances. That does not include Tropical Storm Bonnie, which hit the Florida Panhandle or three major hurricanes that did not make landfall.

This season has been distinguished by persistent tropical cyclone activity with at least one in existence on every day since Aug. 25, the report said.

Ivan's 10 days as an intense hurricane were the most of any storm since 1900.

The new report says the storms did an estimated $45 billion in damage combined - $5 billion more than Hurricane Andrew alone did in 1992.

Anyone got the feeling that these jokers don't know diddly? And I ain't talkin' Bo, either!