"We expect the remainder of the season to be active," said Phil Klotzbach, the lead author of a report by the Colorado State University's hurricane forecast team.

Since the six-month Atlantic hurricane season started on June 1, two hurricanes formed, both making landfall at category five, the highest ranking on the Saffir-Simpson intensity scale. The latest was Hurricane Felix, which crashed ashore in northeastern Nicaragua on Tuesday morning.

The forecasters, considered leading experts in their field, said five named storms were expected to form in the Atlantic this month, of which four will strengthen into hurricanes, including two that will reach "major" intensity, with winds of at least 178 kilometers (111 miles) per hour.

Another five named storms should form in the October-November period. Two of the storms were likely to strengthen into hurricanes, one of which will have major intensity, the researchers said.

Scientists believe hurricane activity is cyclical and has been above-average for about one decade. Forecasters fear the active cycle in the Atlantic Basin could last another 15 to 20 years.

The long-term annual average in the Atlantic basin is for 9.6 named storms, 5.9 hurricanes and 2.3 intense hurricanes.

In 2006, nine storms formed in the Atlantic, including five hurricanes, which did relatively little damage, but the record-breaking 2005 season saw 28 tropical storms forming in the Atlantic, including 15 that became hurricanes, including the devastating hurricanes Stan and Katrina.

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