The forecasters further predicted that three of those seven hurricanes will become “major” storms packing sustained winds of 111 mph or more.
The report puts the odds of a major hurricane striking the U.S. East Coast at 60%, which is slightly higher than the 52% average over the past century.
In a statement, forecasters said that the forecast is based on a new extended-range early December statistical prediction scheme that uses 58 years of data. The forecast also contains an analysis of all of the department’s extended-range forecasts that have been issued over the past 16 years.
In 2006, the Colorado State team predicted that there would be 17 named storms in the Atlantic in 2007, with nine of those becoming hurricanes and five becoming “major” storms. However, only six hurricanes actually formed.