Amber Silver, assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security at the State University of New York at Albany: “The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting a ‘near normal’ 2023 Atlantic hurricane season. The current seasonal outlook predicts 12 to 17 named storms (that is, storms of tropical storm strength and above), of which five to nine could achieve hurricane strength. This forecast is based on several different factors that could affect hurricane development, including the potential for El Niño conditions, which may impede hurricane development, and higher-than-normal sea surface temperatures in parts of the tropical Atlantic Ocean, which may facilitate hurricane development. Unfortunately, while we can predict overall seasonal activity, it is much harder to predict when and where potential storms will occur—or what impacts those storms could have. As such, it is difficult to…”