San Francisco ? This year’s Atlantic hurricane season could be “extreme” with several major storms hitting the U.S., AccuWeather.com meteorologists warned Wednesday.

“This year has the chance to be an extreme season,” said Joe Bastardi, chief long-range meteorologist and hurricane forecaster at AccuWeather.com, in a statement. “It is certainly much more like 2008 than 2009 as far as the overall threat to the United States’ East and Gulf coasts.”

Last year was calm, but in 2008 Hurricane Ike hit a 500-mile stretch of coastline in Louisiana and Texas, triggering insured losses of roughly $11.5 billion.