Hurricane Season 2008

Nothing puts a damper on a trip to the Caribbean like a big, fat hurricane. I mean the storm, not the drink. The experts have determined that this should be a busy hurricane season, predicting thirteen tropical storms and seven hurricanes.

Why do they expect SO much tropical weather? Because of La Nina, cool-water conditions in the Pacific and higher sea surface temperatures in the eastern Atlantic. These conditions are causing better conditions for hurricane activity, according to Bill Gray, the founder of the Colorado State University forecast team.

“We’re expecting an above average season,” Gray said. “The big question we have is, are we going to raise the numbers from our December forecast? We might.”

Each year, the storms for the upcoming hurricane season are named by the National Hurricane Center. Hurricanes are named alphabetically in chronological order. Meaning the first storm of the season will begin with the letter “a,” the second storm will start with “b,” and soforth. Much like retiring a player’s number in baseball, a really devastating hurricane’s name will be retired from the list.

Without further ado, here are the 2008 Hurricane Names:

Arthur
Bertha
Cristobal
Dolly
Edouard
Fay
Gustav
Hanna
Ike
Josephine
Kyle
Laura
Marco
Nana
Omar
Paloma
Rene
Sally
Teddy
Vicky
Wilfred

I’m glad they’ve included some ethnic names in the list. I do have to wonder how the experts came up with the names. Are some of them the names of ex-lovers or the person who side swiped them on the freeway? Or possibly the name of a pet dog?

At any rate, be sure to check the weather situation before you travel to the Caribbean this summer. There are some destinations, like Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and Trinidad & Tobago that are outside the hurricane belt. Those destinations may be your best bet for a Caribbean vacation during this busy hurricane season.