As a weathercaster, it is difficult enough to accurately predict the weather for the upcoming week.
To make any solid predictions regarding an entire six-month hurricane season is a very tough nut to crack.
Most of the leading hurricane experts believe the 2008 hurricane season will be an active one, due in part to the presence of a La Nina off the Pacific Coast.
These six-month hurricane season projections are often painted with a very broad brush and, in all honesty, should have absolutely no impact on how you and I prepare for hurricane season.
A few years ago, we had a hurricane season that included only six named storms, well below average, and we didn’t even have our first named storm until the middle of August.
That year was 1992, the year of Hurricane Andrew, which severely hit Homestead.
It never matters how many storms develop. Where they decide to go is what matters.
Have a plan. That’s the best advice any expert can give. In this section you will find all the information you need to assess your risk, realize your personal needs and formulate your plan in case another storm decides to visit Southwest Florida.
In the past five years, Southwest Florida has seen two very powerful hurricanes — Charley in 2004 and Wilma in 2005. These storms taught us many important lessons.
Perhaps the most valuable is how to adjust your lifestyle in the days following a hurricane. It usually takes just hours for a storm to pass, but your life may not return to normal for days, or even weeks. You will likely have to do without many of the daily necessities that we take for granted — such as electricity, television, Internet access, shopping and even gasoline.
This section will address many of those possibilities.
The Daily News is even more committed in 2008 to bring you all the daily information you need. In addition to the daily print edition and this section, you will have hourly updates online when needed on Interactive Weather, which can be found at www.naplesnews.com/weather.
In addition, this year we expanded the traditional Daily News hurricane guide to include chapters on lightning, waterspouts-tornados, brushfires and flooding. The online section is complemented by a comprehensive multimedia presentation hosted by me.
— Jim Syoen, Interactive Weatherman, naplesnews.com
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