Many of notable hurricane forecasters have detailed their thoughts on the upcoming hurricane season. Now it's time for the official outlook for the season from the nation's official weather forecast office, NOAA.  As you might expect, the government outlook falls right inline with what the private and university forecasters are suggesting.

NOAA released their hurricane forecast saying that the upcoming season will most likely be less active than normal. This prediction is based upon the consistent model forecasting of El Nino conditions in the Pacific Ocean. This change in water temperature to west of the United States combined with slightly cooler Atlantic Ocean waters is the reason for the below average activity forecast.

Gerry Bell, lead hurricane forecaster for NOAA's Climate Prediction Center says don't let the potential for fewer storms cause you to let down your guard.

"So although the season is not expected to be extremely active, that's still a lot of activity. That means you as a coastal resident need to start getting prepared now for the hurricane season."

Bell's remarks were reported by the Louisiana Radio Network.

The official NOAA outlook for Hurricane Season 2014 is this,8-13 named storms, 3-6 of those storms becoming hurricanes, 1-2 of those storms reaching major hurricane status. The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on June 1.

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