______ major hurricanes were predicted by the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The Atlantic Seaboard and the Gulf Coast could be in for another bad hurricane season, one of the goveminent’ s top forecasters said Monday.
   Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr., head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, predicted 12 to 15 tropical storms, seven to nine of them becoming hurricanes, and three to five of those major hurricanes, with winds of at least 111 mph.
   On average, the United States is hit by two major hurricanes every three years. Last year, them were 15 tropical storms, with nine of them hurricanes---six of them major.
   The hurricane season begins June I and runs through Nov. 30.