The 2005 forecast is similar to one issued earlier this year by a team at Colorado State University. The team, which has had a good track record in the past, predicted 13 tropical storms, of which seven will become hurricanes and three of those intense ones.
Professor William Gray and researcher Philip Klotzbach told a hurricane preparedness conference in Florida last Friday that they might increase the number of storms in their forecast when it is updated May 31.
The reasons: the lack of a strong El Nino, the weather pattern characterized by a rise in the Pacific Ocean temperatures, and temperatures in the northern Atlantic Ocean that are about 3 degrees warmer than normal.
"The (Atlantic) sea surface temperatures are incredibly warmer than normal," Klotzbach told the conference.
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