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COLUMBIA (WACH, AP) -- Weather forecasters at Colorado State University are predicting an above-average hurricane season for the Atlantic Ocean.

The forecast issued Wednesday is a slightly scaled-back version of the one released in early December.

Researchers now predict 16 named storms in the Atlantic, instead of 17. Nine of those storms are expected to turn into hurricanes, five of them major.

Forecasters say the combination of warm surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic combined with neutral surface temperatures in the Pacific will make for an active season.

However, the SkyWACH Weather Team reminds Weather WACHers that early predictions are not typically accurate.

The official hurricane season starts June 1 and runs through November.

No hurricanes have made landfall in the United States in nine of the last 11 years. Forecaster William Gray says residents can't expect that trend to continue.

The National Hurricane Center releases their prediction in early May. 

As always, rely on the SkyWACH Weather Team when severe weather strikes.

Click here to see this season's hurricane names.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)