The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center released its official winter outlook on Thursday, and confirmed that La Niña conditions will be in place from December to February.
Cooler and wetter could be the weather trend this winter
First named storm ahead of schedule
The latest estimates call for nearly twice the normal number of named storms this year.
The seamen of the U.S. Merchant Marine suffered a higher casualty rate than any branch of service. Some estimates indicate that as many as 9,500 perished, nearly one in 26 mariners. However, there is no definitive casualty count because Merchant Mariners worked for both private companies and government agencies.
By Merideth Bucher/WITF 