Hanna made little mark on Raleigh last weekend, but the Atlantic hurricane season is entering its third month and some of its most active weeks, and tropical storms have filled the Atlantic basin during the last 10 days.

Hurricane Gustav made landfall west of New Orleans, La. on Sept. 1, leaving hundreds of thousands of residents without power in the New Orleans area. As of Sept. 7, nearly 400,000 people were still in the dark across much of the state.

Hanna, which made landfall along the North Carolina-South Carolina state line early Saturday morning as a tropical storm, dumped heavy rain across much of the state throughout the night on Friday and early Saturday morning.

While Tropical Storm Hanna did not have the impact it could have on North Carolina with regard to wind damage, the rain, between 4 and 6 inches, did cause small flooding problems in certain areas. According to the state Emergency Management department, only 12,000 homes were left without power due to Hanna.

The next storm, Hurricane Ike, will likely impact the Gulf Coast by the end of the week. As of Sunday, the storm was projected to pass directly over Cuba before entering the southern Gulf Sea. National Hurricane Center forecasters do not predict storm movement more than five days into the future because of the erratic nature of the tropical storms movement.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, most tropical activity occurs between late August and October. Ninety-six percent of Category 3, 4 and 5 storms occur during this time. The Atlantic Hurricane Season ends Nov. 30.

source: NOAA.gov