Hurricane season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30.

Last season, which brought Katrina, Rita and a ruined New Orleans, was a record-breaking season that produced 28 named storms, 15 of them hurricanes and seven of those major, of which four hit the United States. The ocean temperatures are not as ominous this year as last, but still, according to NOAA, we're only midway through a 20-year strong storm cycle.

Hurricane forecasting has become more sophisticated and accurate, but the number of people at risk has increased. According to the Associated Press, there are 34.6 million on the at-risk Atlantic and Gulf coasts, including 17.3 million in Florida. That's a lot of people to convince to evacuate if a killer hurricane threatens, but the images of the desperate people of New Orleans waving from the roofs of their flooded homes should provide some incentive.

From the official forecast:

NOAA's 2006 Atlantic hurricane season outlook indicates an 80 percent chance of an above-normal hurricane season, a 15 percent chance of a near-normal season, and only a 5 percent chance of a below-normal season.

The outlook calls for a very active 2006 season, with 13-16 named storms, 8-10 hurricanes, and 4-6 major hurricanes. This prediction indicates a continuation of above-normal activity that began in 1995. However, we do not currently expect a repeat of last year's record season.

The predicted 2006 activity strongly reflects an expected continuation of conditions associated with the multi-decadal signal, which has favored above-normal Atlantic hurricane seasons since 1995. These conditions include considerably warmer than normal sea surface temperatures (SSTs), lower wind shear, reduced sea level pressure,??and a more conducive structure of the African easterly jet.

An updated Atlantic hurricane outlook will be issued in early August, which begins the peak months (August-October) of the hurricane season.