The Houston-based Weather Research
Center said there was a 45 percent chance that one of the
hurricanes would be a major storm with winds above 114 mph.
The group predicted a particularly active year in the Gulf of
Mexico. It said there was a 90 percent chance the west coast of
Florida would be struck by a storm, up from the usual 60 to 70
percent.
Other areas likely to be hit included the east coast of Florida, with
a 70 percent probability, Mexico also at 70 percent and Texas 60
percent.
Normal hurricane season brings nine tropical storms
Jill Hasling, a meteorologist with the group, said a normal Atlantic
hurricane season would bring nine tropical storms.
"We're predicting a near-normal season, but it will really depend
on the effects of El Nino and whether it will continue to suppress
storm formation," she said.
The Pacific warm-weather phenomenon El Nino disrupts storm
conditions in the Atlantic and last year contributed to a season with
only seven named storms, three of which became hurricanes.
A tropical storm forms and is given a name when its winds reach
39 mph. It becomes a hurricane when winds hit 74 mph.
The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1 and ends November
30.
Noted hurricane forecaster William Gray at Colorado State
University has predicted that the 1998 Atlantic season would bring
nine storms, five of them hurricanes.