Weather is always an important concern to vacation travelers.  You hope for good weather, so you can enjoy your vacation.  You fear bad weather that could spoil it. 

Hurricanes and tropical storms are a great concern to folks planning a visit to Florida or the southern coastal regions of the USA.  High winds, severe prolonged rainfall and flooding can certainly dampen your enjoyment of a sunny Florida vacation.  After the intensely devastating hurricane season in 2005, forecasters predicted another bad season in 2006.  It never came!  The 2006 hurricane season was relatively mild with no severe storms making landfall in the USA.  This year, they once again predicted a fairly severe hurricane season; but so, far it has been pretty mild.  A few tropical storms developed in the southern Atlantic Ocean, but they weakened or disappated before reaching the US coasts.  We still have a few months left to this hurricane season, lets hope our good luck continues.

Thunderstorms and tornados have been a real problem during the summer of 2006 and once again this year.  Great electrical storms with heavy rains and hailstones are common across the great plains of the Midwest during the summer months.  Some of these storms spawn devastating tornados that leave behind paths of destruction.  We have already experienced quite a few storms and tornados this year, and more are expected.  In addition, the weather patterns in the Midwest caused massive flows of moist tropical air to move up the Mississippi valley eastward.  These brought intensely heavy rainfall that resulted in severe flooding in many areas.

For a traveler to the USA, such storms can create some problems.  They disrupt air travel throughout the areas affected.  Those disruptions create a ripple effect throughout the air travel grid that causes numerous flight delays and flight cancellations all across the USA..  It is not uncommon for travelers to become stranded for hours or even overnight due to storm related complications.