Atmospheric and oceanic conditions are primed to fuel an “extremely active” storm season in the Atlantic, with the potential to be one of the busiest on record, forecasters with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Thursday.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC), a division of the National Weather Service, every August provides an Atlantic hurricane update from the initial forecast in May. The updated outlook for the season, which ends Nov. 30, calls for 19-25 named storms (including the nine to date), with winds of at least 39 mph. May’s forecast had predicted 13-19 named storms.

Seven to 11 storms are forecast to become hurricanes, with winds of at least 74 mph, with three to six that could form into major storms, i.e. Category (Cat) 3, 4 or 5,...