Santo Domingo.- The hurricane season starts today Friday in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico and ends Nov. 30, during which between 9 to 15 named storms expected to the form, of which 4 to 8 could be hurricanes and of those, from 1 to 3 intense, or category 3, 4 and 5.

Meanwhile the humidity and the prevailing southeast wind will dominate the local weather with partly cloudy skies and widely scattered showers for the Northeast, Southeast, Central Mountains and border zone.

The National Meteorology Office forecasts continuing high temperatures and cautions the population to avoid prolonged exposure to the sun.