( CNN ) -- The latest prediction for the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season agrees with three previous ones , forecasting a season that will be at least a bit milder than last year 's . Last year 's most destructive hurricane , Ike , tossed boats onto the shore in Bayton , Texas , in September . AccuWeather is the most recent organization to release its outlook , predicting Wednesday that the season , which runs from June 1 to November 30 , will bring 13 named storms and eight hurricanes . In 2008 , there were 16 named storms and eight hurricanes , five of which were major -- that is , classified as Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale of storm intensity -- with winds of 111 mph or higher . The three previous forecasts were released in December by Colorado State University ( 14 named storms , seven hurricanes ) , WSI Corp. ( 13 named storms , seven hurricanes ) and Weather Research Center ( seven named storms , four hurricanes ) . Storms acquire a name when they are designated tropical storms , with sustained maximum winds of at least 39 mph . Though they foresee fewer storms than last year , all the forecasts except the one from the Weather Research Center would translate into an above-average season . According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , a `` normal '' Atlantic season has 11 named storms , six hurricanes and two major hurricanes . NOAA wo n't release its predictions until closer to the start of the season . And the forecasts already made are likely to be updated as June draws near . AccuWeather projected that four of the hurricanes in 2009 will hit the U.S. East Coast or Gulf Coast , and one of those will be a Category 3 . Joe Bastardi , AccuWeather 's chief long-range forecaster , wrote on the company 's Web site that this year 's `` storms may be more likely to form in the Atlantic Basin closer to the coast , and the possibility of a major hurricane making landfall in the U.S. can not be ruled out . '' WSI , on its Web site , said its predictions for 2009 stemmed from the expected continuation of `` warmer-than-normal Atlantic Ocean temperature anomalies into next summer and fall , and the likelihood of a favorable or neutral wind shear environment associated with the lack of an El Niño event . '' El Niño is a fluctuation in the ocean-atmosphere system in the tropical Pacific that can impact global weather . Last year was considered the fourth busiest Atlantic hurricane year since 1944 . The National Climatic Data Center said 2008 was `` the only year on record in which a major hurricane existed in every month from July through November in the north Atlantic . '' The most destructive was Hurricane Ike , which wiped out neighborhoods in parts of Texas . Even a week later , its remnants were still having an impact on the Great Lakes region . Two other hurricanes made landfall in the United States last year -- Dolly and Gustav . Neither was a major hurricane at the time it came ashore .
AccuWeather forecast joins three others predicting milder hurricane season . Latest forecast : three named storms , three hurricanes in 2009 Atlantic season . Predictions likely to be tweaked closer to the season , June 1 to November 30 . hurricane season was fourth busiest the Atlantic Basin hurricane season since 1944 .