This year's Atlantic hurricane season will be busier than usual, with a 69 per cent chance at least one major hurricane will make landfall on the U.S. coastline, according to a report released Wednesday.

Hurricane Bill is seen east of the Leeward Islands in this NOAA satellite image taken on Aug. 18, 2009. Researchers forecast a 69 per cent chance that a major hurricane will touch down somewhere on the U.S. coastline this year. (NOAA/Reteurs)

Researchers at Colorado State University, who utilized 58 years of data to help predict future hurricanes, estimate there will be eight hurricanes in 2010, compared with the last-century average of 5.9. Four of the hurricanes this year will be considered major — classified between Category 3 and 5.

Category 3 hurricanes produce wind speeds of at least 178 km/h, fast enough to cause "devastating" damage, according to the U.S. National Weather Service. The Atlantic region has averaged 2.3 major hurricanes each year over the past century.

Researchers forecast a 69 per cent chance that a major hurricane will touch down somewhere on the U.S. coastline this year. The average for the last century is 52 per cent, the report said.

The forecast suggests there's a 44 per cent chance a major hurricane will strike the Gulf Coast, where many U.S. oil refineries are situated, an increase from the last century of an average of 30 per cent.

Researchers said the "weakening of El Nino conditions" across the Pacific Ocean combined with a very strong warming of the Atlantic's sea surface temperatures are the primary reasons behind the anticipated increase of hurricane activity this year.

"We believe that these two features will lead to favourable dynamic and thermodynamic conditions for hurricane formation and intensification," the report said.

In March, private U.S. weather forecaster AccuWeather.com predicated that the Atlantic region would see five hurricanes this year, with two or three major ones making landfall in the U.S.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.