Three tropical storms will form in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea in October, of which two will strengthen into hurricanes, the Colorado State University (CSU) hurricane-research team predicted on Wednesday. The CSU team, founded by pioneer hurricane forecaster Bill Gray, did not issue a new full-season forecast. In early August, the forecasters called for a total of 17 tropical storms during the six-month season, of which it said nine would become hurricanes. The team predicted that one of the two hurricanes in October would be a “major” storm of at least Category 3 strength, with sustained winds higher than 177 kilometers per hour. “We continue to observe low sea-level [air] pressures and warm sea-surface temperatures across the tropical Atlantic,” the team said in a statement, citing two of the key factors that contribute to hurricane activity. An average Atlantic hurricane season—which runs from June 1 to November 30—has about 10 tropical storms, of which six become hurricanes. So far, this year's season has seen 12 tropical storms, of which six became hurricanes. Three of those storms became major hurricanes. The record for storm activity was set three years ago, when 28 tropical storms and hurricanes formed, including Katrina, the costliest U.S. storm in history with about $80 billion in damages.
