In the past few weeks, the Storm Forum has become a repository for a lot of 'clutter' that should have been posted elsewhere, so a little clarification is needed on the type of material that should be placed here.

From the Storm Forum description, here is the type of material that is suitable:
"General Discussion About Tropical Cyclones and Potential Development Areas (Invests). Predictions for the season. Tropical Cyclone track/intensity forecasts. Storm oriented data links and weather reports."

Here are some examples of material that is not intended for this forum:
Don't ask a question about a current system as the only basis for your post. This type of post probably belongs on the Main News page. Questions like "What do you think about Earl?" or "Where will Earl go?" are questions that have already been answered and should not be asked. If its a 'numbered' or 'named' system, NHC is issuing advisories on it at least every six hours - thus the answer is already available to you via the NHC link on this site.

Questions regarding storm damage should be posted in the Disaster Forum, not in the Storm Forum.

Questions about Weather/Meteorology should be posted in the Weather Questions and Answers Forum, not the Storm Forum.

General Guidelines:
When a Moderator posts a forecast challenge that is intended to test your own skills (and theirs) at forecasting or analysis, please follow the format that was requested in your response. It makes it easier for them to review (and easier for the rest of us to read). Comments/rationale along with your answer are always welcome.

I always try to post an Area of Interest in the Storm Forum whenever new activity is worth checking on (if it hasn't already been covered under the Main News page lead-off article) as an area of possible development, or whenever a named system may have various options associated with its future development demise, intensity or track - and counterthoughts are always welcome on these types of posts - but please 'reply' to these types of posts, i.e., don't make a new 'thread' by using the 'post' button because the 'thought' continuity will be lost. When a 'named' system has the potential to make landfall, I will often post an Area of Concern rather than an Area of Interest - and replies to these types of posts are always appreciated.

Administrators and Moderators will often place a 'lost' post in the Storm Forum when a good (usually Main News page) post is linked to an off-topic post that had to be moved to the appropriate Forum. Best advice here is to not 'reply' to a post if you have a strong feeling that the original post is likely to be moved or deleted by the Moderators.

For those of you that asked, I hope that this helps to clarify the types of posts that were intended for the Storm Forum. Thanks for your help on this.
Cheers,
ED