Tropical Situation at Season Start

I don't usually discuss weather in the Tropics unless something major is happening, but I wanted to give an introduction to the 2006 season which began on Thursday.

Here's what the past five years have looked like:

Because last year set a 150-year record for the number of storms, it's unlikely we'll beat that this year, but our 2006 Hurricane Landfall Forecast (Free | Premium | Pro) indicates that it's still going to be an unusually active season.

As of today, there are several features that we are watching. The first could affect Florida early-week. To quote from our Tropical Summary:

What we mean here is, regardless of whether or not the system is named a tropical system by the government, it's something for Floridians to to watch out for as we move into early next week.

Elsewhere...