Bermuda should brace itself for a severe hurricane season.

Professor William Gray and a team of researchers at Colorado State University revised their predictions of the hurricane season for the Atlantic Ocean, saying there will be 14 named storms in the Atlantic Ocean this year ? one more than previously forecast ? eight of them hurricanes, three of them intense.

The predictions mean that the number of serious storms in the coming hurricane season will be significantly above the long-term average of about ten named storms, including six hurricanes. Of those, two are ?intense? hurricanes, defined as those with sustained wind of at least 111 mph.

The team also predicts a 71 percent chance of at least one intense hurricane hitting the United States, much higher than the long-term average of 52 percent.

It also predicts that there is a 52 percent chance that an intense hurricane will hit the East Coast, again much higher than the average of 31 percent.

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