It's not "Gus" it's "Gustav" not that I'd expect someone from Philly to respect that.

For several hundred years, hurricanes in the West Indies were often named after the particular saint’s day on which the hurricane occurred. For example "Hurricane San Felipe" struck Puerto Rico on 13 September 1876. Another storm struck Puerto Rico on the same day in 1928, and this storm was named "Hurricane San Felipe the second." Later, latitude-longitude positions were used. However, experience has shown that using distinctive names in communications is quicker and less subject to error than the cumbersome latitude longitude identification methods.

Using women’s names became the practice during World War II, following the use of a woman’s name for a storm in the 1941 novel "Storm" by George R. Stewart. In 1951 the United States adopted a confusing plan to name storms by a phonetic alphabet (Able, Baker, Charlie), and in 1953 the nation’s weather services returned to using female names. The practice of using female names exclusively ended in 1978 when names from both genders were used to designate storms in the eastern Pacific. A year later, male and female names were included in lists for the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. The name lists, which have been agreed upon at international meetings of the World Meteorological Organization, have a French, Spanish, Dutch, and English flavor because hurricanes affect other nations and are tracked by the public and weather services of many countries.

There are six lists that continue to rotate. The lists only change when there is a hurricane that is so devastating, the name is retired and another hurricane name replaces it. The 2013 hurricane name list is the same as the 2007 hurricane name list with the except of three names that were devastating hurricanes in 2007 and thus retired. Dean was replaced by Dorian, Felix was replaced by Fernand, and Noel was replaced by Nestor.

I'm sorry, John, but did you have a point? What long-term pattern do you see exactly? Since the last EIA storage report put the figure at right in the middle of the 5-year average, as the graph plainly shows, I'm struggling to understand your post.

If only TH could find someone who has some insight into how energy markets actually function! (One of those "future marketeers", for example.) Uninformed nonsense like this post just makes all of us enviro types look clueless.

Raiyn's hurricane comment had far more information, and apart from its near-total irrelevance it is a model post for TH. It was a lot more grammatically accomplished, too.

Raiyn,

Thank you for the hurricane nomenclature education, but you are way beyond left field.

I think the point here is that Dr. Hubbert was correct, and this is just more proof. Worldwide production peaked in NOV 2005, and we are on a downhill slope from here.

Another Treehugger once said that changing your lightbulbs is convenient - riding you bike to and from work is not. I ride my bike to and from work everyday for a total of 26 miles roundtrip in Houston. I face the inconvenient truth each day.

Between flat tires, replacing my bottom bracket to sealed bearings because of mud penetration, and learning how to disassemble and maintain my fork, I have been on a self-imposed steep learning curve.

Do your family a favor and read about Peak Oil. Learning how to adjust by choice is a lot easier than being forced to do so out of circumstance.

Reduced gas storage might also be due to the high prices for wheat, corn and other crops due to high demand and ethanol production: it is used to make fertilizer.

Thanks Raiyn, that was really useful. I didn't know where the naming system came from.

I'd be really surprised if this graph represented any sort of shift away from coal. Gas-fired plants have been very common for new generating capacity since the 70's. When they stopped building new nuclear plants in this country, they switched in large part to gas. And I certainly haven't heard of any coal plants closing or operating less.

Natural gas prices have just been more expensive this summer, thus companies that have storage have not been putting away quite as much. It's not that it isn't on the market, they just don't feel it's the best business decision to buy at that price.

Brian, there was no reason to attack me. You of all people should have more reverence for the storm that's about to slap your area silly. Kudos on the bike riding, I haven't owned a car since 1997 - by choice and my bikes continue to be my main source of personal transportation.