MARYLAND — Maryland and the rest of the East Coast could be headed into a brutal hurricane season just after the novel coronavirus outbreak peaks, forecasters say.

The 2020 hurricane season could bring 16 named storms — four more than the average — up the Atlantic Coast this summer, according to Colorado State University meteorologists. An average season has 12 named storms, six hurricanes, and three major hurricanes. "The team predicts that 2020 hurricane activity will be about 140 percent of the average season," meteorologists wrote on Thursday. "By comparison, 2019's hurricane activity was about 120 percent of the average season."

Half of the 16 storms will become hurricanes and four could reach gusts of 111 miles per hour, the meteorologists said. There is an almost 70 percent chance a major hurricane land somewhere on the U.S. coastline during the 2020 season which begins in June, the CSU team warned in its first outlook of the hurricane season.

The 2020 COVID-19 projections show the pandemic will peak near the end of April and continue into July, officials said Wednesday. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases statewide jumped by 484, according to health officials. That brings the state's total to 3,609 as of Sunday. In the past 24 hours, 14 more people have died, raising the death toll to 67.

Gov. Larry Hogan enacted an emergency order that requires all nursing homes to have staff who interact with residents wear personal protective equipment, create separate observation and isolation areas for residents, and expedite all testing through the Maryland State Public Health Laboratory.

They're the latest steps taken— along with previous measures ordering a stay-at-home policy and closing schools, restaurants, gyms and other gathering places — by state leaders in recent weeks to try to halt the coronavirus' spread.