The Oil Drum

[Update by Dave Cohen on 08/24/06 at 12:06 PM EDT] You can read the latest on the hurricanes and climate debate at realclimate.org—Fact, Fiction, and Friction in the Hurricane Debate. The story is by two distinguished climate scientists, Gavin Schmidt and Michael Mann.

What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, Katrina was bearing down on the Gulf of Mexico and Rita was still in the future. The Oil Drum's traffic was way up as our editors and commentors provided up to the minute coverage.

Today, the National Hurricane Center is tracking Debbie, the 4th named storm of 2006. When Katrina hit, it was "the eleventh named storm, fifth hurricane, third major hurricane, and second Category 5 hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic season."

Where are the hurricanes?

Well, just in case you thought that the worsening tropical storm situation was confined to the US Gulf, we have another warning that this year might continue with the same intensity that has already been suggested by the storms hitting Australia. Now there is this.

Typhoon Chanchu, which means "pearl" in Chinese, was about 600 kilometers (372 miles) south of Hong Kong early Tuesday, the observatory said. It was moving at 16 kph (10 mph) and packing maximum sustained winds of 170 kph (105 mph), the observatory said.

Chanchu was the strongest typhoon on record to enter the South China Sea in May, the observatory said.

The storm roared towards Hong Kong after whirling over the Philippines last weekend, killing at least 37 people and leaving thousands homeless..