Don was the first hurricane of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season. Record hot ocean temperatures could turbocharge this hurricane season, according to scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA scientists increased the chance that this year will be an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season to 60% on Thursday. In May, NOAA predicted a "near-normal" hurricane season with 30% likelihood of an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season. The revised estimate of 14 to 21 named storms puts this year close to last year when there were 14 named storms and relatively close to 2021, when there were 21 named storms.