Forecasters say a system brewing in the Gulf of Mexico has a 20 percent chance of development.
Colorado State University researchers today echoed their previous prediction of an above-average hurricane season this year because of a warming tropical Atlantic Ocean and because El Niņo is unlikely to form.
As they did in April, the team again calls for 18 named storms during the hurricane season, which runs June 1 and Nov. 30. Nine of those are expected to become hurricanes and four of those could grow to major hurricanes (Category 3 or stronger, with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater.
"The tropical Atlantic remains anomalously warm, and it appears that the chances of an El Niņo event ...