A mild hurricane season forecast

Well, good news for the 2012 hurricane season...if you believe Colorado State University forecasters Dr. William Gray and Phil Klotzbach. This season won't be one for the record books. Klotzbach presented research at a hurricane conference that suggested key meteorological parameters just weren't right for a big season.

"With the onset of El Nino, coupled with cooler water now in the tropical Atlantic and higher atmospheric pressure in the formation zone as well, the signals are suggesting a normal to perhaps even below normal 2012 hurricane season," said Klotzbach. Now, their just released tally says we'll see only 10 named storms with only 4 hurricanes with only two reaching major hurricane strength.

In an average hurricane season, there 10 to 12 named storms, six to seven hurricanes, two or three of them achieving major status with winds greater than 110 mph.

Gray, who has been making long-range tropical predictions for near 30 years, cautions that even if it is a less active year, everyone in vulnerable areas such as along the coast and in the Southeast should be prepared before the start of the season June 1.

"It only takes one storm to make trouble. If we have a year like 1992, when only one hurricane struck the US, if it hits your neighborhood, it's a busy year," Gray said. "Ask the people of South Florida and Louisiana, it may have been quiet that year everywhere else, but if sure wasn't for those folks." You can find their full report here .

The National Weather Service will also release a seasonal forecast in early to mid May.