bob.. maybe. we may end up approaching or surpassing 1995 numbers (the big year of recent times). of course, in 1997 on july 16th we were outpacing 1995, with our 4th named storm and 5th depression. we didn't get our 5th named storm until early september, and finished the year with 7 named and 1 unnamed subtropical. in 1966 we were also ahead of the 1995 pace (ella formed on july 22) and finished with 11 named. 1969 had 18 tropical/subtropical cyclones.
yeah, i personally think we're in a hyper-active year. i'm a climate guy, though. to me there's a precedent for everything you see, if you look for it. limiting the domain of what can and does happen to the short period of well-recorded history is asking for surprises.
HF 0526z13july