The Storm We're Watching

T.S. Hanna is a mess right now, the "center is not well defined," and in any event almost surely it will track up the East Coast, well away from the Florida panhandle. Here's wishing good luck to our Boston relatives.

T.S. Josephine is still too far away to cause us worry right now, and in any event forecasters expect it to begin weakening in a couple of days as it encounters wind sheer.

The storm we are riveted on is Ike. The center of this tropical storm is relatively small but tight. It's likely to reach hurricane status very soon. Moreover, computer models do not see Ike weakening any time soon. And, the projected path gives us the willies.

Unless the mountains of eastern Cuba deal a kock-out blow to 'Hurricane Ike' (as it will be known), this one looks to us like it's heading straight for the Gulf of Mexico some time next week.