Look for Stormy Weather

Heavy storms are on the way, weather forecasters warn, despite a typically quiet beginning to the hurricane season. In fact, the government's top forecasting agency predicts an above-average number of storms this year—13 to 17, with 3 to 5 becoming intense hurricanes, Reuters reports.

But forecasters may lower those predictions because sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic have cooled, after several years above normal; heavy Saharan dust is thought to have blanketed skies over the Atlantic, blocking sunlight. The Atlantic hurricane season usually peaks on September 10, with the largest number of storms hitting between August 20 and October 14. (More The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration stories.)