Dr. William Gray is revising his hurricane forecast, but he is still calling for a season that will be more active than average.
In the forecast released Wednesday, Gray called for a total of 15 named storms. He is predicting eight hurricanes will be spawned, and of those eight, four will be categorized as intense hurricanes -- categories 3, 4 and 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.
For the entire U.S. coastline, Gray's report says the probability of an intense hurricane will be 69 percent.
For the East Coast, including Florida, the probability is 45 percent.
On the Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle, west to Brownsville, the Colorado State University Forecast team says there is a 44 percent chance of an intense hurricane.
Here's how the forecast team has fared on their predictions for the past three seasons:
- April 2005: They predicted 13 named storms. There were a record 28.
- April 2006: The preseason forecast called for 17 named storms. There were 10 that year.
- April 2007. They predicted 27 named storms. We ended up with 15 actually forming.
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