Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- The greatest danger to the U.S. from hurricanes this year is over, according to Colorado State University forecasters who had predicted the Atlantic storm season would be one of the worst.

No more major hurricanes will form in the Atlantic Ocean this year, the forecasters said today, in contrast to last year, when a record 28 named storms formed, 15 of them hurricanes. The report from scientists William Gray and Philip Klotzbach predicts two more named storms, one of which may become a minor hurricane.

The Colorado forecast -- closely watched by companies including the Lexington Insurance unit of American International Group Inc., the world's largest insurer -- was altered by a developing weather pattern known as El Nino, a warming of the equatorial waters in the Pacific that has worldwide effects.

``Typically, El Nino conditions put an early end to hurricane formation in the Atlantic basin,'' Gray said in a statement. ``This year, El Nino has developed faster than almost anyone predicted.''

Two more tropical storms are expected to develop, one of them reaching minor hurricane strength with winds from 74 miles per hour (119 kilometers per hour) to 110 mph, before the close of the six-month season on Nov. 30, the scientists said.

In May, the researchers predicted nine hurricanes, including five major storms, for the year. So far, five hurricanes have developed in the Atlantic, two of which have been major storms. None have made landfall in the U.S. this year, in contrast to four last year, although Ernesto came ashore as a tropical storm in August.

El Nino

The Colorado reports are noteworthy because of Gray's reputation as the pioneer of seasonal forecasts, said Tom Downs, meteorologist with Weather 2000 Inc., a New York-based forecaster.

``They're the leading academic researchers in this field,'' Downs said in a telephone interview. ``They've been rather successful.''

By this time last year, the Atlantic had produced 18 named storms, 10 of them hurricanes, while Gray and Klotzbach predicted 20 storms and 11 hurricanes through November 2005. Five of last year's storms were major hurricanes, including Katrina, which devastated New Orleans, causing more than 1,800 deaths and an estimated $81 billion in damage and cutting most oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico.

This year is the first time in five years that the U.S. has been untouched by a hurricane, said James Franklin, senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. In 2001, the U.S. was hit by two tropical storms and one tropical depression, Allison, which caused $4.9 billion in damage after dropping more than 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain in some areas of Houston, he said.

The Colorado State University forecasters expect a total of 11 named storms this year, down from the 13 they predicted last month and the 17 they forecast at the end of May.

The scientists had previously cut their storm forecast twice, as fewer storms than expected formed during the first half of the season.

The 28 named storms in the Atlantic in 2005 surpassed the record of 12 set in 1969. The average season has 11 named storms. Storms are named when they have sustained winds of at least 39 mph.

To contact the reporters on this story: Margot Habiby in Dallas at mhabiby@bloomberg.net; Courtney Dentch in New York at cdentch1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 3, 2006 14:59 EDT