The 2007 hurricane season was off to a slow start...until now. Just this week alone, one hurricane in the Pacific - a tropical storm in the Gulf - and another hurricane in the Atlantic.

I've always wanted to visit Hawaii, but not this week (okay, maybe on a Hurricane Hunter Aircraft). Hurricane Flossie came very close to the Big Island. Although the island was spared for the most part, Flossie kicked up 25-30 foot waves and dropped several inches of rain. Wind speeds were clocked around 40 to 50 MPH. Those winds were pretty strong considering this hurricane traveled 100 miles south of the Big Island!

Tropical Storm Erin in the Gulf has an interesting story to tell...several days ago it all started with a complex of storms in the warm water of the Gulf. These storms looked very organized and before you knew it - we had another Tropical Storm on the books. Erin came ashore around 7AM Thursday morning about 25 miles northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas. Had it stayed in the Gulf longer, it could have been stronger. This system will be an issue for us this weekend. As I write this, Tropical Storm Erin has been downgraded to a Tropical Depression. Over the next couple of days, the remnants of this storm will move through northern Texas, Oklahoma and finally, both Kansas and Missouri. You can count on increasing rain chances later this weekend for sure.

Last, but certainly not least, is Hurricane Dean. A gal I know is heading to a resort town in Mexico within the next week or two. She might encounter the aftermath of this huge storm. This is the first hurricane of the season and there's no sign of it weakening just yet. Dean has already torn through St. Lucia and Martinique in the Caribbean. The latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center at 8AM says winds are near 100 MPH - a Category 2 Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale - and some strengthening is expected in the next 24 hours. The NHC's website is pretty interesting if you've never checked it out (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/). Dean is on a track to the west at 23 MPH...you could say it's moving at a pretty good rate of speed! And if the current weather computer models verify, then this hurricane will make a path straight for the Texas/Mexico border. It will then follow a similar path as Tropical Storm Erin to the north...which means grab the umbrella, more days of rain expected!