Start of the 2008 Hurricane Season: June 1, 2008

The 2008 Hurricane Season begins today, Sunday, June 1, 2008. The 2008 Hurricane Season ends Sunday, November 30, 2008. To mark the beginning of the hurricane season, laugh in the face of this specter of destruction and death to drink a Hurricane on June 1st. Personal tragedy, regional devastation, and national disaster notwithstanding, celebrate the end of the hurricane season by drinking a Hurricane on November 30th.

The classic Pat O'Brien recipe for a Hurricane will suffice. Classic is as classic does....
Hurricane Ingredients:
* 2 oz light rum
* 2 oz dark rum
* 2 oz passion fruit juice
* 1 oz orange juice
* Juice of a half a lime
* 1 Tbsp simple syrup
* 1 Tbsp grenadine
* Orange slice and cherry for garnish
Hurricane Preparation:
1. Squeeze juice from half a lime into shaker over ice.
2. Pour the remaining ingredients into the cocktail shaker.
3. Shake well.
4. Strain into a hurricane glass.
5. Garnish with a cherry and an orange slice.
[Source:"Hurricane," About.com at http://cocktails.about.com/od/atozcocktailrecipes/r/Hurricane.htm ]
[For a backgrounder, see Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_(cocktail) ]

Whether the 2008 Hurricane Season blows across the next six months with a sound and fury striking terror into the hearts and minds of millions is truly unknown. Pre-season and seasonal forecasts and predictions for the 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season are inexact and unreliable. Although grounded in 21st Century computer modeling and managed by world-class hurricane experts, only general, best-guess scenarios can be presented.

The best-guess scenario for the 2008 Hurricane Season, as of today, June 1, 2008 predicts there will be 12 to 16 Named Storms, 6 to 9 Hurricanes, and 2 to 5 Major Hurricanes. [See "2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season" for an overview at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Atlantic_hurricane_season ]

Will the 2008 Hurricane Season generate another mega Katrina-like hurricane which ripped open New Orleans, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the west-central Gulf states in 2005? Will the 2008 Hurricane Season produce erratic and multiple hurricanes like Hurricane Charlie, Hurricane Frances, Hurricane Ivan, and Hurricane Jeanne which criss-crossed Florida in the frenzied fall of 2004? Will the 2008 Hurricane Season birth acompact, fast-moving killer hurricane like Hurricane Andrewof 1992? Or, perhaps, will the 2008 Hurricane Season tracks of destruction turn up the Atlantic coast, like Hurricane Bertha and Hurricane Fran in 1996, to hammer the Carolinas?

With this degree of accuracy and level of certainty, what is one to do?First, acknowledge it is not "if" worst-case scenarios will become reality, but "when."Second, know that Man proposes, God disposes (see http://www.bartleby.com/59/3/manproposesg.html for citation).

So, for the 2008 Hurricane Season, watch and listen to the Weather Channel, play some Jimmy Buffet, and mark the beginning and the end of the 2008 Hurricane Season by drinking a Hurricane. Oh, and when you're finished with the human folly directed toward controlling Nature, pray.
_______________

For hurricane strike information specific to coastal areas of the United States, including an interactive mapping application graphically displaying hurricanes affecting your area since 1851, see: NOAA Coastal Services Center - Linking People, Information, and Technology at http://www.csc.noaa.gov .

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © Michael K. Miller of Millennium Suites, LLC 2008