NOAA has revised the outlook for this year's hurricane season, now predicting 19-25 named storms.

Emily Jones
The revised predictions for the 2020 hurricane season.
Credit: NOAA

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting an “extremely active” hurricane season, according to an updated outlook released Thursday.

It predicts 19 to 25 named storms. That’s six more than predicted earlier this year. Of those, as many as 11 could become hurricanes, including three to six major hurricanes.

“We’ve got two climate factors coming together that produce very conducive wind patterns over an extended region,” explained lead forecaster Gerry Bell.

One factor is a warm phase of the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation, which helps produce warm water temperatures, reduced vertical wind shear, weaker tropical Atlantic trade winds and an enhanced west African monsoon. All those conditions contribute to tropical storms.

The other factor is the possibility of the weather pattern known as La Nina.

The early months of hurricane season have already brought a record-setting nine named storms. The typical average is two named storms by this point.

Atlantic hurricane season runs through November.

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