U.S. forecasters expect the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season will be near-normal to above-normal in number and intensity of storms, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center said on Thursday.
The forecasters estimate between one and four major hurricanes packing winds of 111 miles per hour (178.6 kph) could develop during the 2018 season, which begins June 1.
The NOAA forecast also said about half of the 10 to 16 named storms will be hurricane strength with winds of at least 74 mph (119 kph). An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 12 named storms of which six become hurricanes, three of them major. Private forecaster Weatherbell Analytics earlier this month revised downward its forecast for named storms in 2018 from between 11 and 15 to 9 to 13.



Florida Needs More – Much More – Wind Mitigation, Say Experts at OIR Summit
Rational Market? How About ‘Dumb’ and ‘Bizarre’?
How Insurers Are Using AI to Manage Rising Catastrophic and Accumulation Risk
State Farm Paid a ‘Hail’ of a Lot of Claims in 2025 



