This has been a weird hurricane season thus far.
The seasonal forecasters were right about this being a busy year over the Atlantic basin. We've had 16 named storms so far in 2011.
But the surprise has been the amount of dry air and wind shear that's been present over the tropics.
When both factors are present, it's hard for storms to get very strong.
Of the 16 that we've tracked, only 4 have strengthened to become hurricanes. And just like last year, most have stayed away from Florida.
With the passage of September...normally the season's busiest month, it's very tempting to extrapolate from the current pattern, put away the tracking charts and start to breathe easy again.
Not so fast.
http://www.nbc-2.com/story/15606615/4-months-down-2-to-go-by-hurricane-expert-jim-reif