The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) predicts there will be 13-16 named storms in the 2006 season (June to November), four of which will be “major storms”.

This is above average but far less than the unprecedented 28 storms the USA suffered in 2005, 15 of which went on to become hurricanes, including, of course the devastating Katrina. Noaa had predicted that there would be up to nine hurricanes last year.

I assume that Noaa use millions of dollars worth of sophisticated equipment, thousands of hours of computer time and are manned by a large army of highly skilled scientists and specialists so that they can come up with these predictions.

All of which is such a big waste of time, money and effort when all they have to do is wait for TV Evangelist Pat Robertson who confided to the world just a few days ago that God had personally told him back in January: “In 2006 the coasts of America will be lashed by storms“. God even told him ““There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest.”

Seattle – you’ve been warned.