There are two months remaining in the 2008 hurricane season and researchers at Colorado State University expect twice the hurricane activity during the month of October 2008 relative to past years. The reason for the forecast of exceptional activity is low sea-level pressures and warm sea-surface temperatures across the tropical Atlantic, a bad combination for severe storms.
By the way, the captioned photograph is one I had taken at a small business conference in Florida. I had just given a talk on hurricane preparedness and decided to unwind a bit by walking along the promenade in the unusually mild weather. But I could have used a photograph of a colder climate, as Canada was recently pummeled by Hurricane Kyle. In the second edition of Prepare for the Worst, Plan for the Best: Disaster Preparedness and Recovery for Small Businesses (Wiley, 2008), I cited the evacuation of Newfoundland when Hurricane Juan moved up the Atlantic Coast. Kyle caused problems for Nova Scotia and thereafter I was asked to contribute a bylined article to the Daily Business Buzz of the Nova Scotia Business Journal. The Toronto Globe and Mail also advised its readers of our book. So expect some nail-biting from Canada to Florida during the month of October as meteorologists monitor Atlantic storm activity.