The National Weather Service is predicting an above-average number of hurricanes for this Atlantic hurricane season.
Director Ken Graham said Thursday they’re placing the odds for an above-average year at sixty percent, with warm sea surface temperatures—the number one contributor.
The agency is forecasting 13 to 19 named storms (carrying minimum winds of 39 miles per hour) versus an average year of 14, and six to 10 hurricanes (with winds of at least 74 mph) versus the average of seven.
Graham said the agency expects three to five major hurricanes, defined as Category 3 or above with sustained winds of at least 111 mph. The average is three major hurricanes. But, he says, forecasters cannot predict what states or regions will be most affected.
