The 2008 Hurricane Season officially commences today. And as timing would have it, the first official storm of the season has already formed in the Caribbean. Tropical Storm Arthur formed from the remnants of Tropical Storm Alma which formed late last week over the Pacific and moved over Central America into the Atlantic. It’s already over land and should only bring heavy rains to the region and should quickly fall apart. The fact that conditions are favorable for storm development this early in the season should make everyone take notice though.

There are so many positives to living along the coast here in Charleston. But if one were to list any negatives, number one would more then likely be hurricane season. There is something so unsettling and nerve racking about having to live 6 months out of the year on edge, knowing that during this time we could quite literally be just a few days warning away from our lovely coastal town being decimated by a major hurricane. Odds are we won’t be hit and if we are, it will be only minor a la Gaston in 2004, but still, hurricane season sucks.

The hurricane peeps made their mostly useless predictions for the season a few weeks ago. Below is a really cool map of all the hurricanes that made landfall from 1950 – 2004. You can check more cool maps and other hurricane info here.