Aug 7 (Reuters) - Forecasters are saying the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends Nov. 30, will be more active than first predicted.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. government's top climate agency, issued a forecast on Thursday for up to 18 tropical storms, with seven to 10 becoming hurricanes.

The following are the latest predictions for 2008: -------------------------------------------------------------- Tropical Storms Hurricanes Major Hurricanes -------------------------------------------------------------- NOAA 14-18 (pvs 12-16) 7-10 (pvs 6-9) 3-6 (pvs 2-5) CSU 17 (pvs 15) 9 (pvs 8) 5 (pvs 4) TSR 18 (pvs 14.8) 9 (pvs 8) 4-5 (pvs 3.5) WSI 14 8 4 AccuWeather 12 -- -- WRC 11 6 -- UK Met 15 -- -- --------------------------------------------------------------

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) forecast issued on Aug. 7.

CSU (Colorado State University) forecast issued Aug 5.

TSR (London-based Tropical Storm Risk) forecast issued Aug. 6.

WSI Corp. (a private forecaster) forecast issued April 22.

AccuWeather (a private forecaster) forecast issued May 12. AccuWeather said 40 percent of the cyclones would bring storm- or hurricane-force winds to U.S. coast.

WRC (Houston-based Weather Research Center) forecast issued March 31. Its forecast is based on solar cycles.

The UK Met Office forecast issued June 18.

(Reporting by Tom Brown in Miami; editing by Michael Christie and Stacey Joyce)

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