The National Weather Service estimates there’s a 60 percent chance of an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year, with up to 19 named tropical storms and 10 hurricanes, officials said Thursday morning.
The 2025 forecast is based on a confluence of factors, agency experts said, including warm ocean temperatures, weaker wind shear and the potential for higher monsoon activity off West Africa, where most Atlantic Basin storms originate.
“This outlook is a call to action: be prepared. Take proactive steps now to make a plan and gather supplies to ensure you’re ready before a storm threatens,” NWS Director Ken Graham said at a news briefing in Louisiana, which this August will mark the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest storms in U.S. history.
The planet also is not experiencing either a strong El Niño or La Niña event, meaning sea surface temperatures in the Pacific are close to average. El Niño events can influence weather patterns around the globe and sometimes hinder the formation of tropical cyclones.
