Washington, Dhu-AlQa'dah 08, 1437, August 11, 2016, SPA -- The 2016 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be the strongest since 2012, which featured devastating Hurricane Sandy that left 200 people dead in the Caribbean and US, according to a report released by US climate authorities Thursday, dpa reported. The 2016 season may produce between 12 and 17 named tropical storms that could lead up to eight hurricanes, of which up to four could be major, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said, slightly raising its estimate. There have been four named storms, two of them hurricanes, so far this season, including four that have made landfall: Bonnie in South Carolina, Colin in Florida, Danielle in Eastern Mexico, and Earl, which affected Belize and Mexico. On average there are a dozen storms a year, of which six are major. The Atlantic region includes the North Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. --SPA 22:30 LOCAL TIME 19:30 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w