The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said there's a good chance the East Coast will have more reason than usual to be worried about hurricanes in 2017.
NOAA's forecasters said there's a 45 percent chance there will be more hurricanes than normal during this year's hurricane season, compared to a 20 percent chance that it'll be more calm than average.
They also forecast somewhere between five and nine hurricanes. Two to four of them would likely be major storms — or hurricanes with winds over 111 mph.
Scientists said they based the predictions on a weakened El Niño and warmer ocean temperatures, which can help tropical storms build power.
And there's already evidence of some of the effects of the shifting weather patterns. We saw the first tropical storm of the year form in April.
Last year also saw an uptick in storms, but not to the same degree. There were five storms that made landfall, two of which were hurricanes. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
