EVERY DAY ON WDSU NEWS THIS MORNING. IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA, YOU NEED TO GET READY NOW. PLAN, PREPARE AND TAKE THE STEPS YOU NEED TO KEEP YOUR FAMILY SAFE THROUGHOUT HURRICANE SEASON. THE WDSU FIRST WARNING WEATHER TEAM IS HERE TO GUIDE YOU THROUGH THE UNPREDICTABLE BREAKDOWN. THE RISK OF STORM SURGE, NAVIGATE THE INSURANCE STRUGGLES SO MANY ARE FACING, AND WALK YOU THROUGH THE SIMPLE WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR HOME RIGHT NOW. IN CASE A STORM HEADS OUR WAY. THE STRESS OF ANOTHER HURRICANE SEASON IS BUILDING WITH EXTREMELY WARM WATER IN PARTS OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN, AND THE LOOMING THREAT OF A HURRICANE IS TOP OF MIND. YEAH, AND YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO PREPARED FOR WHAT MAY COME OUR WAY. WE BEGIN WITH THIS YEAR’S FIRST WARNING HURRICANE OUTLOOK, AND IT’S LOOKING TO BE A VERY ACTIVE ONE. SO HERE’S THE 2024 HURRICANE SEASON OUTLOOK FROM NOAA. THEIR OFFICIAL PREDICTION OF 17 TO 25 NAMED STORMS IS THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF NAMED STORMS THEY’VE EVER ISSUED. 8 TO 13 OF THOSE NAMED STORMS BEING HURRICANES, OF WHICH 4 TO 7 BEING MAJOR HURRICANES. CATEGORY THREE OR HIGHER. COMPARE THAT TO THE AVERAGE NUMBERS ON YOUR LEFT, DOCTOR PHILIP KLOTZBACH, COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY ISSUED HIS FORECAST FOR SEVERAL WEEKS EARLIER. 23 NAMED STORMS, 11 HURRICANES, FIVE OF THOSE BEING MAJOR HURRICANES AND THEN HERE’S OUR FORECAST AT WDSU WITH THOSE NUMBERS RIGHT IN LINE 18 TO 24 NAMED STORMS, 8 TO 12 HURRICANES, 3 TO 6 OF THOSE BEING MAJOR HURRICANES. SO AN EXTREMELY ACTIVE SEASON IS BEING FORECAST NO MATTER HOW YOU LOOK AT THAT PARTICULAR FORECAST FROM ANY OF OUR DIFFERENT SOURCES SHOWN HERE. BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN WE’LL BE HIT BY A STORM OR HURRICANE. ACCORDING TO THE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER, MIKE BRENNAN, THERE ARE OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER. BUT, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, IN TERMS OF HOW EXACTLY THAT’S GOING TO PLAY OUT, WHERE THE STORMS FORM, YOU KNOW, THEY FORM EASTERN, EASTERN PART OF THE BASIN LIKE THEY DID LAST YEAR. MOST OF THEM DIDN’T MAKE IT TO THE WESTERN PART OF THE BASIN. OR DO WE HAVE MORE SYSTEMS THAT FORM IN THE WEST, WESTERN PART OF THE BAS