With Subtropical Storm Laura fading away over the cold waters ofthe North Atlantic, hurricane forecasters expect October to be avery active hurricane month with possibly one major hurricanepredicted over the next couple of weeks.

Researchers from Colorado State University said today theybelieve this month will produce “well above average hurricaneactivity,” in line with predictions for a very active hurricaneseason.

Phil Klotzbach and William Gray, who head up the research teamat the university, said they expect to see a total of three namedstorms in October. Two are expected to become hurricanes, with onebecoming a major hurricane of Category 3 or higher on theSaffir-Simpson scale, meaning sustained winds will reach or exceed111 mph.

“We expect the month of October to be quite active,” said Mr.Klotzbach, lead author of the hurricane forecast, in a statement.“We continue to observe low sea level pressures and warm seasurface temperatures across the tropical Atlantic. A combination ofthese two factors typically leads to an active October.”

“We predict that October will be quite active based on climatesignals through September,” said Mr. Gray. “There has been a strongclustering of hurricane activity around mid-July and lateAugust-early September. We think we are now entering a new periodof heightened activity that is likely to go for another two tothree weeks.”

The researcher's full-season forecast, revised in August, callsfor a total of 17 named storms in the Atlantic, nine of which willbecome hurricanes, with five of those becoming intense hurricanes.To date, there have been six hurricanes with three becomingintense.

On Monday, the National Weather Service announced the formationof Subtropical Storm Laura with sustained winds that topped off at60 mph. The storm never threatened the United States and dissipatedtoday over the cold waters of the North Atlantic. Laura was thetwelfth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season that extendsthrough Nov. 30.

For U.S. insurers, the most damaging storms this season havebeen Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, which hit in August and September,respectively. Risk modelers' estimates for insured losses forGustav ranged from $2 billion to $10 billion, while insured lossesfrom Ike ranged from $6 billion to $12 billion.

Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast on Sept. 13, doing tremendousdamage to the Galveston area. The affects from Ike have beenextensive. The U.S. Geological Survey reported yesterday thatrunoff caused by the storm has contaminated the waters of LakeMichigan affecting the shoreline of northwestern Indiana andChicago.