There will be a Hurricane Earl this year, by the way
Looming Atlantic Hurricane Season Seen as Busy
Fri May 28, 2004 08:03 AM ET
MIAMI (Reuters) - The Atlantic-Caribbean hurricane season that starts on Tuesday will be busier than average with 14 named storms, eight of which will become hurricanes, a well-known cyclone researcher said in a revised forecast on Friday.
Of the eight anticipated hurricanes, three will become intense, with winds over 111 mph, Colorado State University storm researcher William Gray predicted.
Gray's forecast for the season that runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 was unchanged from his last forecast on April 2, but added one more named storm than his team's initial forecast in December.
Circular tropical weather systems are given names when sustained winds reach 39 mph and become hurricanes when they hit 74 mph.
The long-term average for the Atlantic-Caribbean season is 9.6 named storms, with 5.9 of those reaching hurricane strength and 2.3 of those becoming intense.
