October hurricane-watch should be active: forecasters

Wed Oct 1, 1:40 PM ET

MIAMI (AFP) - October should be more active than usual in the Atlantic hurricane belt, with three named storms expected to form -- including two hurricanes, one of them major -- forecasters said Wednesday.

Colorado State University forecasters said the tropical storm formation rate for the month was likely to be almost twice the October average.

In September, twelve tropical storms formed, six of them gaining hurricane strength and three of those rising to at least category-three, strong enough to be considered a major hurricane. The Saffir-Simpson scale measures hurricanes on a 1-5 rising scale.

"We expect the month of October to be quite active. We continue to observe low sea level pressures and warm sea surface temperatures across the tropical Atlantic," said Phil Klotzbach, lead author of the forecast.

"A combination of these two factors typically leads to an active October. In addition, we continue to observe neutral ENSO conditions in the tropical Pacific, so we do not expect that ENSO conditions will be detrimental to this year's October activity," he added.

"We predict that October will be quite active based on climate signals through September," added William Gray, who has been forecasting hurricanes at the same university for a quarter century.

The (north) Atlantic hurricane season stretches for six months, from June 1 to November 30. September and October are considered the peak of the season.