Colorado team predicts busier than normal '10 hurricane season

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Colorado State University researchers are predicting a more active Atlantic hurricane season next year, with six to eight hurricanes, at least three of them major.

Philip Klotzbach and William Gray predict 11 to 16 named storms in the forecast released Wednesday. They say three to five of the storms will be major hurricanes with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater.

Gray says warm sea surface temperatures will contribute to above-average activity. The forecast says there is a 64 percent chance of at least one major hurricane reaching the U.S. coastline.

Nine named storms developed last season. Three became hurricanes, and none came ashore in the U.S.

The Colorado State team, which has issued forecasts for 27 years, will issue updates in April, June and August.