2004 Hurricane Season and this year's season

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In 2004, the hurricane season started late. The original predictions for an above average season were revised downward mid-season partly due to a weak El Nino in the Pacific.

Here is my father's timeline for the 2004 season:

AUG. 1 Hurricane Alex forms, the fifth-latest emergence of a season's first named storm since 1952.
AUG. 13 Hurricane Charley barrels through Polk County after making landfall near Punta Gorda in Southwest Florida. It is the first direct strike on Polk County since Hurricane Donna in 1960.
AUG. 25 Power is restored to the last Polk County residents still without electricity after Hurricane Charley.
SEPT. 5 Hurricane Frances makes a slow trudge through Polk County after entering Florida near Stuart. The hurricane drops as much as 13 inches of rain in some parts of the state.
SEPT. 11 Power is restored to most homes in Polk County.
SEPT. 16 Hurricane Ivan, the most powerful storm of the 2004 season, hits the Florida Panhandle, one of a record four hurricanes to strike the state that year. Polk County is spared.
SEPT. 25 Hurricane Jeanne sweeps through Polk County after making landfall near Port St. Lucie, just a few miles from the entry point for Hurricane Frances.
OCT. 4 Polk County schools reopen after some had been closed for a week.
OCT. 7 Lakeland Electric restores power to the last ones left without service after Hurricane Jeanne.
NOV. 30 Hurricane season ends.

Charlie, Frances, and Jeanne all passed over my parents' house in Polk County, Florida - the eye of Frances passed directly over their house. While the eyes of Charlie and Jeanne missed them by a few miles, they did not pass far enough away for them to be out of range of the worst winds and rain, in fact they got some of the worst winds of the eye walls for longer than they might have if the eyes had gone directly over them.

This season {2004} had 16 tropical depressions, 15 named storms, 9 hurricanes, and 6 major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale). The Accumulated Cyclone Energy figure of 225 ranks this as the fourth most active season since 1950 (behind the 2005 season, the 1950 season and the 1995 season).

August 2004 was incredibly active, although a weak El Niño with eight named storms forming during the month. In an average year, only three or four storms would be named in August.<7> The formation of eight named storms in August breaks the old record of seven for the month, set in the 1933 and 1995 seasons. It also ties with September in the 2002 and the 2007 seasons for the most Atlantic tropical storms to form in any month.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Atlantic_hurricane_season#Seasonal_activity

The most noteworthy storms for the season were the five named storms that made landfall in the U.S. states of Florida and Alabama, three of them with at least 115 mph (185 km/h) sustained winds (major hurricane strength): Tropical Storm Bonnie, Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. This is the only time in recorded history that four hurricanes affected the U.S. State of Florida although one of the four, Ivan, brought hurricane force winds to the state without making a landfall there.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2004_Atlantic_hurricane_season

This year, Ana did not form until August 11, then suddenly we had a breakout of activity. We have an El Nino in the Pacific. Deja vu here.

I do not have a good feeling about this season.