I awoke at 5am this morning to pounding rain and very gusty winds. Those who know me from last season may remember that I live about 20 miles North of Orlando in Central FL. That "tail" of convection that some were talking about in last night's posts has worked its way right over my area. I stepped outside this morning to a scene eerily reminiscent of the storms of last year....albeit on a somewhat smaller scale. We now have tornado watches issued for virtually the entire peninsula, effective at 5am until 5pm EDT this evening. One tornado warning has already been issued at 445am for a doppler-indicated tornado in Brevard County. Regardless of whether Arlene makes the cut and upgrades to a hurricane, this storm has a wide reach of nasty weather.

Just a footnote....should the storm make the upgrade, this would be HURRICANE #1 that impacted Florida so far in the very early days of the 2005 season.... To those who poo-pooed the idea that there was no way that Florida could possibly experience a hurricane season remotely close to last year, I say....watch out. The season is young and we already have one under our belt.

--Lou