The latest forecasts from two different weather study operationshave been changed to reflect a more severe hurricane season thisyear.

Weather researcher William Gray predicts nine hurricanes thisyear for the Atlantic basin–two more than originally predicted inDecember.

Tropical Storm Risk, part of the Benfield Hazard Research Centreat University College, London, also revised its 2007 Atlantic basinhurricane forecast upward, saying the number of hurricane landfallson the U.S. would increase from two to 2.4.

According to the April issue of the Atlantic basin hurricaneforecast from Colorado State University's Tropical MeteorologicalProject, five of this year's storms will be intense, two more thanoriginally predicted. The Colorado report calls for a total of 17named storms–not all of them hurricanes.

The report from Mr. Gray and Phil Klotzbach, who is assumingprimary responsibility for the seasonal forecast, says there is a74 percent chance of a major hurricane–Category 3 or higher on theSaffir/Simpson scale–hitting the U.S. coastline.

There is a 50 percent chance of a major hurricane striking theEast Coast, including the Florida peninsula; a 49 percent chance ofa major hurricane hitting the Gulf Coast from the Florida panhandleto Brownsville, Texas; and an above-average risk of a majorhurricane making landfall in the Caribbean.

The researchers said the rapid dissipation of El Ni?o has leadthem to predict a very active hurricane season for 2007, well abovethe long-term average from 1950 to 2000. The average is 9.6 namedstorms, 5.9 hurricanes and 2.3 intense hurricanes. An intensehurricane is defined as a storm with sustained winds at or above111 mph, or Category 3.

Last year's April report predicted nine hurricanes and 17 namedstorms, five of them reaching intense status. The year ended upwith five hurricanes, 10 named storms and only two intensehurricanes.

However, for the 2005 record-setting storm year that includedKatrina, researchers at the university predicted in April therewould be 13 named storms, seven hurricanes, three of them intense.The year ended with a record 26 named storms, 14 hurricanes andseven intense hurricanes.

Tropical Storm Risk said that total storm landfalls on the U.S.will be 5.1, up from 5 predicted in March. The firm is nowpredicting 10.3 tropical storms, 9.2 hurricanes and 4.2 intensehurricanes.

The hurricane season begins June 1.