AUSTIN, Texas — If forecasters are correct, get ready for an extremely busy hurricane season this year.
This week, weather scientists issued their annual predictions for the 2024 hurricane season, which begins on June 1.
Experts are predicting a 54% chance that the Texas Gulf Coast will be struck by a hurricane this year and, depending on where it strikes, that could affect our Central Texas weather.
RELATED: Colorado State University releases hurricane season forecast, and it's expected to be a busy one
Colorado State University is far away from the tropics. But for nearly 40 years, scientists there have issued predictions for the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf hurricane seasons.
This year, they're predicting a way-above-average period of hurricane and tropical storm activity. They are forecasting 23 named storms – nine more than the 10-year average of 14. And they're expecting 11 hurricanes, with five of them becoming severe.
Why so many storms?
According to the head of the storm prediction team, Dr. Phil Klotzbach, it’s a combination of the return of the La Niña weather phenomenon and continuing high surface water temperatures in the oceans.
“Right now, we saw record-warm tropical Atlantic water temperatures: that provides more fuel for hurricanes and tends to make the atmosphere more unstable, helping to form these systems coming off of Africa," Klotzbach said. "Overall that very strong combination of La Nina and a very warm Atlantic typically leads to a very active hurricane season."