CSU, First 2025 Hurricane Season Forecast Above Average

Today, meteorologists and research scientists at Colorado State University (CSU) have released their outlook for the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Dr. Phil Klotzbach and the Tropical Meteorology Project at CSU are among the first to issue an outlook for the season. Early predictions expect this year's hurricane season to be busier than average. This year they anticipate 17 named storms, 9 of which will become hurricanes and 4 of those are expected to become major hurricanes (CAT 3 or greater).

Forecast factors that contributed to their above average outlook focus on the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and sea surface temperatures. In the coming months, a transition to ENSO neutral is expected. That usually does not give a strong single for an above or below average season. However, by the end of the summer into early fall (climatological peak of hurricane season), a potential transition to La Nina is forecast. There is not much certainty on the likelihood or intensity of that La Nina transition, though. Nonetheless, an absence of El Nino which traditionally suppresses hurricane activity is enough to warrant an above average forecast.

Sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic remain above average this year. SSTs are not as warm as last year's historic levels, but remain warm enough to fuel storm development later in the season.