The National Meteorological Service (SMN) predicts that between 26 and 38 storms will form in the Eastern Pacific and Atlantic oceans during the 2023 hurricane season.

As many as nine of those storms could be Category 3, 4 or 5 hurricanes, according to SMN forecasts.

The Eastern Pacific hurricane season begins Monday, May 15, while the Atlantic season starts June 1. Both seasons run through Nov. 30.

The forecast for the Pacific is 16–22 storms, including three to five Category 3, 4 or 5 hurricanes. The SMN anticipates four to six Category 1 or 2 hurricanes and nine to 11 tropical storms.

SMN chief Alejandra Margarita Méndez Girón told a virtual press conference that the El Niño climate pattern was a factor in the greater-than-usual hurricane activity predicted for the Pacific this year.

The forecast for the Atlantic is 10–16 storms, including two to four Category 3, 4 or 5 hurricanes, one to three Category 1 or 2 hurricanes and seven to nine tropical storms.

There were 19 named storms in the Eastern Pacific last year, including 11 hurricanes. The Atlantic saw 15 named storms, including nine hurricanes.

Among the hurricanes that made landfall in Mexico last year was Agatha, which reached the coast of Oaxaca on May 30, 2022.

The category 2 hurricane (maximum sustained winds between 154 and 177 kilometers per hour) was the strongest Pacific storm to make landfall in Mexico in the month of May since records began over 70 years ago. Agatha caused extensive damage in Oaxaca and claimed at least nine lives.

With reports from El Financiero and Informador