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FORT COLLINS, CO. (KXAN) – A top expert released his predictions for the upcoming 2020 Atlantic hurricane season this morning, and is expecting a busier than average season for the fifth consecutive year.

2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast (Colorado State University)

  • 16 named tropical storms (average: 12)
  • 8 hurricanes (average: 6)
  • 4 major hurricanes (average: 3)

Dr. Philip Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University specializing in Atlantic basin seasonal hurricane forecasts, cited warmer than normal waters in the tropical Atlantic as a reason for anticipated above-normal activity, along with low atmospheric wind shear due to the absence of an El Niño pattern. Low wind shear creates a more favorable environment for hurricane formation and intensification.

Last year was a busier than average Atlantic hurricane season with 18 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes. Hurricane Dorian with 185-mph sustained winds was the strongest hurricane to ever impact the northwestern Bahamas, and Tropical Storm Imelda became the 5th-wettest tropical cyclone on U.S. record after it dumped 44″ of rain east of Houston.

Stay with the First Warning Weather team through hurricane season, beginning June 1.