The Colorado State University hurricane team added that five of the storms will mushroom into powerful hurricanes that carry winds of 179 kilometers (111 miles) per hour and higher.

The experts had predicted in June that 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes would churn up in the Atlantic.

"We have increased our forecast because there has already been a very active early tropical cyclone season in the deep tropics and more favorable hurricane-enhancing sea surface temperature and sea level pressure patterns in the tropical Atlantic have developed," said Phil Klotzbach, lead author of the forecasts.

The experts are predicting a very active season that will be well above average.

On average between 1950-2000, there have been 9.6 named storms, 5.9 hurricanes and 2.3 intense hurricanes per year.

Five named storms have formed so far this season, including Hurricane Bertha, the longest-lived tropical cyclone to ever form during July, and Hurricane Dolly, which made landfall as a category two hurricane in south Texas on July 23.

The experts issued their report as the fifth named storm of the season, Tropical Storm Edouard, struck the Texas coast on Tuesday.

They predict that four tropical storm and three hurricanes, including a major one, will form this month.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.

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