This year's Atlantic hurricane season looks to be a busy one. That's the latest forecast from North Carolina State University with just a month left until the official start of the season.

The group of forecasters lead by NC State Meteorology Professor Lian Xie is calling for 14 to 18 named storms to form in the Atlantic basin this year. The average number is 11.

They predict seven to 11 of the storms will become hurricanes. That's above the average of six.

Of those hurricanes, three to five are forecast to become major hurricanes with at least category 3 strength on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

The NC State researchers use more than a century of historical hurricane data along with sea surface temperatures and expected weather patterns to develop their forecast.

It is important to point out hat no matter how many storms actually form this year, it would only take one landfalling hurricane to make it a bad season for North Carolina.

Everyone should begin to make a hurricane plan prior to the start of the season. The Atlantic hurricane season officially starts on June 1 and runs through the end of November. September is typically the most active month for tropical activity. 

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