August 9th, 2019 –In an uptick from the preseason forecast, the Atlantic hurricane season now is expected to be above normal, with 10 to 17 named storms, including five to nine hurricanes, the Climate Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, announced Thursday.
Two to four of those hurricanes are forecast to be Category 3 or stronger, with winds greater than 110 mph, experts said, in line with the May prediction. Hurricane Barry hit Louisiana in July as a Category 1 storm.
“We expect conditions to be more favorable for storm development through the rest of the season,” Gerry Bell, the prediction center’s lead seasonal hurricane forecaster, told CNN.
The updated forecast was issued just ahead of the start of the most active hurricane period — the roughly eight weeks that surround September 10, when hurricane season hits its statistical peak.