Annual hurricane plays

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New Forecast Calls for 6 More Hurricanes
By Associated Press
3 hours ago

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Hurricane expert William Gray downgraded his 2007 Atlantic storms forecast slightly Tuesday, but he still predicted above-average activity for the remaining three months of the season, with six more hurricanes, three of them major.

One of those hurricanes was lashing the coast of Honduras on Tuesday as a powerful Category 5 storm named Felix, said forecaster Phil Klotzbach, a member of Gray's team at Colorado State University.

Klotzbach said a combination of a weak La Nina and low pressure readings in the Atlantic usually indicated an active 2007 season.

The first two months of the Atlantic hurricane season, June and July, had average activity with two named storms but no hurricanes. August was about average, with one hurricane, Dean, which grew into a Category 5 storm before hitting Central America.

Gray has been forecasting hurricanes for more than two decades, and his predictions are watched closely by emergency responders and others in coastal areas. Before the start of the June-through-November Atlantic season, his team forecast 17 named storms and nine hurricanes. The team revised that forecast slightly downward in August to 15 named storms and eight hurricanes.