Hurricane researcher William Gray and his team at Colorado State University announced Tuesday they now predict 2007 will be a "very active" hurricane season, The Associated Press reported.
Gray's team predicted a total of 17 named storms will form in the Atlantic during the 2007 hurricane season, which begins June 1. The team predicted nine of the storms will reach hurricane strength and five will become major hurricanes. The probability a major storm will make landfall somewhere in the United States is 74 percent this year. On average, the probability stands at 52 percent, according to the AP.
The 2007 forecast bears striking similarities to the forecast Gray's team made in 2006. Last year, they predicted there would be 17 named storms, of which nine would become hurricanes and five would become major hurricanes. In reality, a total of 10 named storms formed during the 2006 season. Five of the storms were hurricanes and two of those were considered major hurricanes. None of the hurricanes hit the U.S. coastline, the AP reported.
