Usual shout out to everyone for the start of a new hurricane season. I'm looking forward to the return of all the usual suspects who stay silent in the offseason. You all know who you are.

For the last two years, I posted having the feeling going into each season that many of us would get a shot at seeing some tropical activity. 2004 should be no exception. I believe North America will will see several landfalling systems of varying intensities in 2004. And if you're in the South, you shouldn't have to travel far to see some action.

We've all got our forecasts up and have made our predictions. Most of us know what our supplies are and what we still need in order to finish off our checklists. June usually comes and goes, but I wouldn't stray too far away from my computer this June. The 2004 season got off to a bang several days ago when flashfloods from an unnamed storm caused by torrential rainfall killed upwards of 2000 people in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. That storm serves as a reminder that water kills. If you are under a serious evacuation order this year, you need to heed those warnings, or at least, make sure you've got enough booze to ride that sucker out. My family and I won't be leaving for anything sub-Category 4 this year. Of course & as always, if my wife decides the gettin's good and wants to take the kids, she's free to do so. But if we all agree to hang tough, we'll be partying it up enjoying feeder bands, squalls and all the chaos a storm can bring.

Cheers to everyone. May you get the rush this year without anything catastrophic happening. Peace

Steve