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Atlantic Hurricane season expected to be a little busier than normal

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Hurricane experts are not sure if we are coming out of a period of elevated storm risk, and that’s affecting their forecast going into the 2017 Atlantic season.

Ben Friedman, acting administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, announced today that there is a 45% chance of an above average season, but also a 35% chance of an average storm season ahead. Models show only a 20% chance of a less active season.

NOAA forecasts eleven to 17 named storms, with five to nine reaching hurricane status.  Two to four major hurricanes, with winds of at least 111 mph, are expected to form this year.

“There is the potential for a lot of hurricane activity this year,” Friedman said during the agency’s annual forecast briefing at the NOAA National Center for Weather Climate Prediction.

Last year, Hurricane Matthew skirted the Atlantic coast of Florida before making landfall in the Carolinas.  The storm killed 47 people in the U.S., mostly from flooding.

The National Hurricane Center is emphasizing again this year that that storm surge is the biggest threat from any hurricane.

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