The last thing you want to hear after all the hard work of planning a wedding is that Felix is coming, bringing 100 mph winds! This could be a likely scenario for weddings in the eastern and southeastern parts of the country, and the entire Gulf of Mexico coast. The season officially kicks off in the Atlantic June 1st and goes through November 30th, peaking in early September. The hurricane forecast calls for seventeen named storms, with five of them being major hurricanes! For a tropical storm to be tagged with a name, the winds have to be 39 mph or higher. The storm becomes a hurricane when the winds reach 74 mph. A major hurricane is when winds are 111 mph or higher. A Category 3 storm has winds at 111 mph to 130 mph, a Category 4 storm packs winds at 131 mph to 155 mph, and in a Category 5 storm the winds are 156 mph or greater. Just because the storm is named does not automatically mean it is going to make landfall in the United States, but some of the latest trends should have brides and wedding planners taking notice!

Based on their research of global weather patterns, Dr. William Gray, Philip J. Klotzbach, and William Thorson of Colorado State University have been issuing hurricane forecasts for years! They are very respected in the forecast community. Their forecast is the one already mentioned for the 2007 hurricane season. The numbers that follow make it even more alarming, seeing how the clean up is still going on for Katrina, which hit almost two years ago!

1.) Entire U.S. coastline - 74% (average for last century - 52%)

2.) U.S. East Coast including Florida Peninsula - 50% (average for last century - 31%)

3.) Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle westward to Brownsville - 49% (average for last century - 30%)

4.) Major hurricane landfall risk in the Caribbean - above-average!

The temperature outlook for early summer for the United States isn't anything too shocking. The National Climate Prediction Center calls for above normal temperatures for almost all of the Southwest, including eastern California, southern Idaho, all of Utah, and southwestern Colorado. More above normal temperatures can be expected in all of New Mexico, except a small northeast area, through south central Texas, south central Louisiana, south central Mississippi, south central Alabama, south central Georgia, and south central South Carolina. North Carolina will have above normal temperatures east of I-95. All of Florida is expected to be above normal as well! Below normal temperatures are forecast for eastern Montana, all of North Dakota, northwest Minnesota, and a narrow area of northern South Dakota.

Going into the late summer and early fall months, it gets a little warmer! Most of the country running above normal temperatures, except eastern Montana, eastern Wyoming, eastern Colorado, northwest Kansas, northwest Iowa, all of the Dakotas, all of Minnesota, and all of Nebraska. The Carolinas, eastern Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, all of Virginia, and eastern Georgia will all be under normal temperatures!

As far as precipitation for the late summer and early fall months, look for above normal conditions from central North and South Carolinas and areas to the coast, southern Georgia, and all of Florida. Below normal precipitation is forecast for Idaho, Oregon, the northern half of Nevada and the northern half of California.

So there you have it! This doesn't mean not to plan a wedding along the coastal regions. The purpose of this article is to bring your attention to the weather when planning a wedding. This year if you are booking a wedding in hurricane country, hire an experienced wedding planner from the region to help. Pay a little extra attention to detail, and if a hurricane crashes the party, you'll have a good back up plan for you and your guests!