Four major hurricanes (111mph+) are forecast for 2022 Atlantic hurricane season

The 2022 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to see four major hurricanes with sustained winds of at least 111 miles per hour (178 km per hour), forecasters at Colorado State University said on Thursday.

Atlantic seasonal #hurricane forecast from @ColoradoStateU calls for above-average season: 19 named storms, 9 hurricanes & 4 major hurricanes. Reasons for above-average forecast include predicted lack of #ElNino and warmer than normal subtropical Atlantichttps://t.co/uauRVHEjql pic.twitter.com/7dzsFjQBN9

— Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) April 7, 2022

A total of 19 tropical storms with winds of at least 39 mph (63 kph) and nine hurricanes with winds of at least 74 mph (119 kph) are forecast to appear in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, according to the university’s Tropical Meteorology Project.

“Again, an above-normal hurricane season in 2022,” Phil Klotzbach, who leads Colorado State’s hurricane season forecasting team, said at the national Tropical Weather Conference, which was broadcast online.

The average for tropical cyclones in the Atlantic between 1991 and 2020 is seven hurricanes, three of them major, and 14 tropical storms, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.