Some meteorologists say the National Hurricane Center is giving out more storm names, which can mean higher costs for homeowners.
Former hurricane center director Neil Frank told The Houston Chronicle that as many as six of this year's 14 named tropical systems might have failed in the past to earn tropical storm status.
The newspaper said the number of a season's named storms is used to determine trends in hurricane activity, which are then used by insurance companies to set homeowners' rates.
Forecasters at the hurricane center say the practice of naming tropical storms has remained consistent over the past two decades.
Scientists, however, generally agree that before widespread satellite coverage, hurricane watchers annually missed one to three tropical storms that developed far from land or were too brief to register with older technology, the newspaper said.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
Related stories:
NASA delays Hubble mission 2 days due to storms
(AP) -- NASA has delayed next month's space shuttle launch to the Hubble Space Telescope by two days.
Envisat Images Hurricane Gustav
The development and path of Hurricane Gustav is shown via a sequence of satellite images acquired by Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) instrument on 25 August, 28 August, 30 August and 1 September 2008 (from right to left).
Warmer seas linked to strengthening hurricanes
The theory that global warming may be contributing to stronger hurricanes in the Atlantic over the past 30 years is bolstered by a new study led by a Florida State University researcher. The study will be published in the Sept. 4 edition of the journal
Nature.
Tropical quartet: 4 storms with more to come
(AP) -- The tropics seem to be going crazy what with the remnants of Gustav, the new threat from Hanna, a strengthening Ike and newcomer Josephine. Get used to it.
New Orleans regroups after dodging Gustav bullet
Emergency workers hustled on Tuesday to revive a hurricane-battered New Orleans area nearly devoid of power and people, as evacuees waiting in far-away shelters clamored to return home.
Gustav headed for current that fuels big storms
(AP) -- The difference between a monster and a wimp for Gulf of Mexico hurricanes often comes down to a small patch of warm deep water that's easy to miss. It's called the Loop Current, and hurricane trackers say Gustav is headed right for it, reminiscent of Katrina.
Katrina and Rita provide glimpse of what could happen to offshore drilling if Gustav hits Gulf
Shortly after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the U.S., Rice University civil and mechanical engineering professor Satish Nagarajaiah studied damage done to offshore drilling platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. If tropical storm Gustav strengthens into a Category 3 hurricane, as forecasters are predicting, Nagarajaiah's findings could provide valuable knowledge about what to expect if Gustav hits the Gulf of Mexico oil platform regions.
US experts predict more active hurricane season
US weather experts raised their predictions for this year's Atlantic hurricane season on Tuesday, warning that warmer waters could whip up 17 tropical storms including nine that will grow into hurricanes.