NU Online News Service, Aug. 3, 12:45 p.m. EDT
Hurricane forecasters at Colorado State University say their earlier prediction of a very active hurricane season remains unchanged with a total of 16 named storms predicted for the Atlantic basin.
Currently, Tropical Storm Emily, the fifth storm of the Atlantic Hurricane season, is headed toward the Dominican Republic and Haiti and has a chance to become the first hurricane of the season, according to the National Weather Service's current five day map.
According to the map, Emily could become a hurricane by Monday morning off the North Carolina coast.
The CSU team of William Gray and Phil Klotzbach is predicting that of the 16 named storms, nine could become hurricanes and five could be major hurricanes, which is a category 3 storm or higher, with sustained winds of at least 111 mph or more.
The team says the combination of El Nino activity in the Southern Pacific along with warm sea surface temperatures and other factors in the tropical Atlantic will likely lead to a very active season.
In a statement, Gray says the prediction is unchanged from previous forecasts in April and June. The team adds that the level of activity will be roughly as active as it was in the years 1952, 1966, 2005 and 2008.
Klotzbach says there is a 70 percent chance of a major hurricane making landfall on the U.S. coastline. The season average is 52 percent.
There is a 46 percent chance of a hurricane making landfall along the East coast, including the Florida peninsula, and 45 percent chance for the Gulf coast from the Florida panhandle to Brownsville, Texas. The average is around 30 percent.
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