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Before the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season kicked off on June 1, forecasters were calling for 12 named storms, with about half developing into hurricanes....Based on the current El Niño conditions, Colorado State University meteorologists William Gray and Phil Klotzbach this week issued an updated hurricane forecast, which calls for 2009 to be a below-average season. The pair predicts that this season will see just ten named tropical storms in the Atlantic. Four of those storms are expected to develop into hurricanes, with winds of at least 74 miles (119 kilometers) an hour. Two will become major hurricanes, with winds exceeding...

MIAMI (Reuters) - The Atlantic hurricane season will be exceptionally active this year, according to a British forecasting group, raising the possibility that killer storms like Hurricane Katrina could again threaten the United States. London-based forecaster Tropical Storm Risk on Tuesday said the six-month season, which begins on June 1, was expected to bring 17 tropical storms, of which nine will strengthen into hurricanes with winds of at least 74 miles per hour. Four of those are expected to become more destructive "intense" hurricanes, TSR said. The long-term average for the Atlantic is for 10 storms to form during the...

Cooling Pacific Heralds Active Atlantic Hurricane Season CAMP SPRINGS, Maryland, March 9, 2007 (ENS) - On the heels of El Niño, its opposite, the cooling weather pattern in the east-central equatorial Pacific known as La Niña is expected to arrive soon, according to government forecasters. La Niña conditions in the Pacific typically mean a greater than normal number of Atlantic hurricanes. In a weekly update, scientists at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center said that as the 2006-2007 El Niño has faded, surface and subsurface ocean temperatures have rapidly decreased. Recently, cooler than normal water temperatures have developed at the surface...