The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the 2008 season could produce between 14 and 18 named storms, with seven to 10 becoming hurricanes and three to six of them being classified as "major" hurricanes.

In May, the agency forecast 12 to 16 named storms this season, with six to nine developing into hurricanes. Two to five could be major ones of Category 3 or higher with winds above 110 miles per hour.

The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season has generated five tropical storms so far due to favorable oceanic and atmospheric conditions, warmer Atlantic ocean temperatures and lingering effects from La Nina. The agency said the above-average activity made July the third most active on record dating back to 1886.

Bertha and Dolly each reached hurricane strength with winds in excess of 74 mph before fading over the open Atlantic and washing up on the shores of south Texas.

The latest, Tropical Storm Edouard, came ashore on the upper Texas coast on Tuesday just below hurricane strength.

"We're still expecting a lot of activity," said Gerry Bell, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. "One of the key things that's critical is the fact that a couple of named storms have formed in the deep tropics and usually that's a very strong indicator that the season will be above normal."

NOAA now projects an 85% probability of an above-normal season, up from 65% in May.

Earlier this week, the Colorado State University hurricane research team also raised its Atlantic forecast for this year saying it expected 17 tropical storms expected to form, and nine of them to strengthen into hurricanes.

An average Atlantic hurricane season brings 11 tropical storms with six hurricanes, including two major hurricanes, NOAA said. The hurricane season officially started on June 1 and typically peaks between late August and mid-October.

A wild card going forward is the possible development of either La Nina or El Nino. La Nina generally results in conditions that favor hurricanes in the Atlantic while its opposite effect, El Nino, generates wind shear that makes it difficult for storms to stay together.

The most recent La Nina period has ended, but its effects are still being seen.

Bell said both conditions were neutral over the next few months, but "after that it's a bit uncertain regarding the winter."

NOAA, university and other forecast groups have called for active seasons during the past few years only to have little storm development. Only one minor storm reached the United States during the 2007 season and it escaped any impact in 2006.

The U.S. Gulf Coast, Mexico, Caribbean and Central American countries were battered during 2005. A record four major hurricanes hit the United States, including Katrina, which devastated New Orleans, killing around 1,500 people on the U.S. Gulf Coast and causing $80 billion in damage. The 2004 season saw Florida struck by four powerful hurricanes.

CHICAGO (AP) — Severe thunderstorms plowed across the Midwest during the night, ripping roofs from buildings, chasing people to shelter and blacking out thousands of homes and businesses.

One death was blamed on the storms in Indiana late Monday.

By midmorning Tuesday, storms with locally heavy rain still stretched from eastern Iowa across Illinois and Indiana into Ohio.

Late Monday, the storms set off tornado warnings for downtown Chicago. Fans were evacuated from the stands at Chicago's Wrigley Field, interrupting the Cubs-Astros game, and travelers were evacuated from the upper levels of terminals and planes at O'Hare International Airport.

The National Weather Service did not immediately confirm any tornado touchdowns.

The storm tore roofs and siding from homes Monday night at the northern Indiana town of Griffith, and Town Council President Rick Ryfa said officials declared a disaster area in the town.

"It looks like a war zone," Ryfa said.

Near Michigan City, Ind., a tree fell on a car and killed the 23-year-old driver, LaPorte County Deputy Coroner John Sullivan said.

Widespread tree and power line damage was reported in northeastern Illinois.

ComEd spokeswoman Pam Anton said 225,000 of the utility's customers were without power early Tuesday. Because of the number of downed lines, it will be several days before power is completely restored, she said.

The Northern Indiana Public Service Co. reported 63,000 customers without power early Tuesday.

Travelers at O'Hare International Airport were evacuated into the lower levels of the complex's buildings. All flights were temporarily halted, and travelers who had already boarded airplanes were taken off and also were sent to the lower levels as a precaution.

"It was pretty cramped down there, the whole terminal was down there," said George Wickens, 50, of London, who was trying to travel to Florida with his family.

The storms did not cause any damage or injuries at O'Hare or Midway Airport, said Department of Aviation spokesman Gregg Cunningham. However, more than 350 flights were canceled at O'Hare.

Security guards at Chicago's Ogilvie Train Station, just off the Chicago River, ushered people away from large glass windows and into the middle of the building.

"The lightning between the buildings was looking ominous," said Michaela Nelson, 58-year-old singer from Barrington. "And then it just poured."

The curbs included pulling half the city's 3.3 million vehicles off the roads, halting most construction and closing some factories in the capital and surrounding provinces. "That's why we say the measures have been effective," Du Shaozhong, deputy director of Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau, said in an interview with the Associated Press. In the past 11 days, seven days have met the national standard for "good" air quality, while four did not, Du said. China considers any reading below 100 to signal "good" air quality, or a so-called "blue sky day." 

The other days — from Thursday to Sunday — ranged from 110 to 118, levels classified as unhealthy for sensitive groups. On those days, high temperatures and a thick, grayish haze reduced Beijing's skyscrapers to ghostly outlines. Du said a combination of heat, high humidity and little wind made it difficult to disperse airborne pollutants. But a tropical storm that hit southeastern China earlier this week brought strong wind and some rain on Tuesday, lowering temperatures and helping clear up the skies. The clearer skies highlighted how much weather conditions play a part in efforts to curb pollution. By Wednesday afternoon, much of the haze had returned. Du said that if the air quality continues to be a problem in coming days, Beijing officials will consider contingency plans to expand the traffic and factory emission cutbacks already in place. Additional measures could include taking more cars off the road and only allowing newer, cleaner vehicles. Clean air for the games has been a sensitive point for Olympic organizers and the government.

The official Xinhua news agency in a commentary Wednesday downplayed fears about the pollution, and said talk by some athletes about bringing face masks to Beijing was the result of negative reporting by the western media. The editorial also repeated official assertions that the recent string of hazy days were due to fog. Some U.S. athletes are considering wearing masks. New Zealand's athletes have been issued face masks with team equipment. Team managers have advised athletes to wear masks around the Olympic village but not during competition.

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Residents and recovery teams began fanning out across south Texas at dawn Thursday and cars crept along roads with darkened stoplights as the region got its first look at the destruction left by Hurricane Dolly.

Traffic picked up on local roads littered with debris as people emerged for the first time in more than 24 hours after Dolly's soaking rains and punishing winds. After crashing ashore on South Padre Island, the storm ripped roofs from homes, flooded roads and downed power lines, but the Rio Grande levees officials had feared could breach held strong.

Still, the danger had not passed as power lines hung across streets and water surrounded neighborhoods. Residents should stay at home "unless it's life or death," said Tony Pena, Hidalgo County emergency coordinator.

Hurricane Dolly slammed ashore as a Category 2 hurricane midday Wednesday and then loitered over deep south Texas as a tropical storm, dumping as much as a foot of rain in places and bringing 100 mph winds. Those winds had dropped by half Thursday morning, and forecasters said the tropical storm warning for the Texas coast would likely be canceled later in the morning. The storm was expected to break up by Friday.

By 8 a.m. EDT, the tropical storm was centered about 50 miles southeast of Laredo with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry declared 14 south Texas counties disaster areas and sought federal disaster declarations, and was scheduled to fly over the region Thursday afternoon.

While the rain set records in Brownsville's Cameron County — ranging from six to 12 inches with another three to seven expected overnight — they did not appear to pose the threat to the Rio Grande's levees that had been feared.

The river rose steadily through the day in Brownsville, but did not reach flood stage.

"We're not experiencing any issues with the levees right now," Sally Spener, spokeswoman for the International Boundary and Water Commission, said late Wednesday. "The water is just not high enough."

But the torrential rains and fierce winds that lasted much of the day in south Texas still caught some by surprise.

By Wednesday afternoon, the community of Laureles north of Los Fresnos had been reduced to a chain of sunken islands, separated from the main roads by floodwaters of two feet or more in places.

Mailboxes barely peaked above murky, wind-swept waters where neighborhood loops met county roads.

Pedro Zuniga, his wife and their six children fled their mobile home for the comparative safety of a relative's wood-frame house next door. That home's owner had already left to take shelter in another relative's brick house.

Peering out the back door at the trailer he deemed too wobbly for his family, Zuniga said the water crossing his yard toward a canal behind was not as high as he had seen it a few years ago when it reached the base of his elevated trailer.

"We were going to go to a shelter, but they said there was only one so we decided to stay," said Zuniga's wife, Aleida Cardenas, 29. "But we didn't know it would be this bad."

Others did head to shelters. More than 5,000 people moved to public shelters in the three hardest-hit counties and the numbers were expected to grow Thursday as more people became stranded by floodwaters.

In Hidalgo County, Pena said there were several incidents late Wednesday requiring emergency personnel to rescue people from homes.

One family was left huddling in their topless house after winds blew the roof off, Pena said. Also, sheriff's deputies rescued a family of eight from Los Fresnos after floodwaters surrounded their home.

The only serious injury reported Wednesday occurred when the wind knocked a 17-year-old boy from a seventh-story balcony on South Padre Island. The boy suffered a broken hip, leg and a head injury but could not be transported off the island until about 5 p.m. The causeway linking the island to the mainland had reopened.

The island sustained some of the storm's heaviest damage and was still without power Wednesday night. Roofs were torn off hotels and homes, there was significant flooding that had begun to subside and debris was everywhere. A curfew was imposed for 8 p.m., Zamora said.

No deaths were immediately reported in Mexico, but Tamaulipas state Gov. Eugenio Hernandez said 50 neighborhoods were still in danger from flooding. About 13,000 people had taken refuge in 21 shelters, he said.

"Strong winds are no longer the problem. Now we have to worry about intense rain in the next 24 hours," Hernandez said.

Earlier in the day, Mexican soldiers made a last-minute attempt to rescue people at the mouth of the Rio Grande, using an inflatable raft to retrieve at least one family trapped in their home. Many people farther inland refused to go to government shelters.

Many Texans heading north were stopped at inland Border Patrol checkpoints, where agents opened extra lanes to ease traffic flow while still checking documentation and arresting illegal immigrants, said sector spokesman Dan Doty. At one checkpoint on U.S. 77, smugglers were caught with nearly 10,000 pounds of marijuana.

The U.S. Census Bureau said that based on Dolly's projected path, about 1.5 million Texans could feel the storm's effects. The last hurricane to hit the U.S. was the fast-forming Humberto, which came ashore in southeast Texas last September.

The busiest part of the Atlantic hurricane season is usually in August and September. So far this year, there have been four named storms, two of which became hurricanes. Federal forecasters predict a total of 12 to 16 named storms and six to nine hurricanes this season.