by KYW's Hadas Kuznits

Hurricane season runs June 1st through the end of November. And while it's expected to be a fairly normal season across the entire Atlantic basin -- with about twelve named storms -- AccuWeather's Eric Wilhelm says a lot of that activity is expected to happen in our region:

"So overall, the number of storms will be near normal, but right along the mid-Atlantic coast, because of some excessively warm waters near the coast, we could see an above-normal hurricane season for the Carolinas, stretching up towards the Delmarva peninsula."

Wilhelm (right) says there are several factors used to determine how active a hurricane season will be:

"Mainly, sea surface temperatures, especially near the mainland US. And this year those water temperatures are running a little above normal. Of course, tropical systems need warm water to feed on. Aside from warm water temperatures, we take a look at some large-scale type of cycles including the La Niña pattern, which is a pattern that specifically talks about sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean -- and that does have an impact on weather patterns globally."

Locally warmer waters, he says, could translate into hurricanes for Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey:

"What we do expect along the coast of the US this hurricane season is storms that could possibly impact the Carolinas and even some areas up to the north, including the Delaware and Maryland shores, perhaps the New Jersey shore as well. That's not saying that it will necessarily happen, but there is an increased risk this year because the water temperatures off the east coast are warmer than they usually are."

Long-range forcasters say there may be a couple of storms this season that will impact the US, however, where they will hit is still to be determined.