Arlene Projected to Blow by Florida Panhandle

And so it begins. We have our first named storm. It started as TD #1 yesterday. I was just getting ready to blog on it when our power went out due to an everyday summer storm. Rather than sit and sweat inside a dark, quiet house, I went to the Cortez Kitchen with a friend and had a sandwich, leaving my husband and our friend the Captain behind to guard the house (the garage door was up and there was no electricity to power it down.) Seems I forgot about blogging and TD #1 after a couple of beers. Imagine that.

But this moring, there it was: Tropical Storm Arlene.

BULLETIN
TROPICAL STORM ARLENE SPECIAL ADVISORY NUMBER 4
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
8 AM EDT THU JUN 09 2005

...SHIP REPORT INDICATES TROPICAL DEPRESSION ONE HAS BECOME TROPICAL STORM ARLENE...THE FIRST TROPICAL STORM OF THE 2005 SEASON...

As I write, it's just south of Cuba, projected to come into the Gulf of Mexico tomorrow and screw up our weekend weather. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm thinking that starting the season with a storm in the Gulf is not exactly a sign of good things to come. The water has only recently reached 88 degrees, so maybe there won't be enough energy in the Gulf to feed Arlene.

The forecast track (HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa) takes Arlene just west of the Panhandle. If we learned anything last year we learned this: Don't focus on the line. Focus on the cone.

Image Courtessy NOAA/NHC

So, how's your hurricane kit looking?