SmashMouth

After an Atlantic hurricane season in 2018 that saw two devastating storms affect the U.S., researchers said Thursday they are expecting 2019 to have slightly less action.

The pre-season forecast from Colorado State University’s Tropical Meteorology Project calls for 13 named storms, of which 5 are predicted to strengthen into hurricanes, with 2 becoming major storms that are Category 3 or higher.


Hurricane researchers note that sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic are "slightly below normal," and the far North Atlantic is "anomalously cool." A weaker El Niño may also strengthen this summer into the fall.

"We anticipate that the 2019 Atlantic basin hurricane season will have slightly below-normal activity," the researchers said in their report.