Hey Gang,

Before last year’s historic hurricane season, I’ll bet that few of you could have named off the last day of the Atlantic Hurricane Season. Every year, that day falls on November 30, but this year, seems like it’s about two months too late.

With no hurricanes making landfall in 2006, the hype surrounding the hurricane season seems like a distant memory.

But hindsight is 20-20, as they say. The blitz about hurricane preparedness may seem over the top now, but it was a necessary response to the tragedy of the monstrous 2005 season.

So why was 2005 so intense and 2006 (so far) so slow? Most climate experts agree we're in a 10-20 year warming trend. Warmer weather means the oceans heat up more and earlier than usual, which leads to predictions of stronger and longer hurricane seasons. (For more on how hurricanes are formed, check out weatherplus.com's interactive tool Hurricanes 101.) This would help explain the record-breaking storms of 2005.

But new research shows that the difference between an intense hurricane season and a lackluster one could all come down to dust. Researchers have found that Saharan dust storms containing tiny specks of dust appear to suppress hurricane activity in the Atlantic.

Another explanation for this year's slow season could be due to El Nino conditions which create higher ocean temperatures that actually inhibit hurricanes by increasing crosswinds over the Caribbean. This vertical wind shear can rip storms apart or even stop them from forming.

Now, while this has been a slow season so far, it doesn't mean it's over yet.

Though November 30 is the official end of the Atlantic hurricane season, weather doesn't always cooperate with man-made schedules. Last year, Tropical Storm Zeta formed in the Atlantic Ocean on December 30th! So stay tuned to me on the Today Show and to Weather Plus and WeatherPlus.com to see what the rest of the 2006 season still has in store.