Memo to Mother Nature: Oh, come on!

Hurricane season officially ends today — and what a season it's been. But at the last minute, just as we were letting our guard down, Mother Nature threw one last punch: Tropical Storm Epsilon, which formed in the Atlantic about 800 miles east of Bermuda on Tuesday.

Epsilon isn't expected to make landfall, but it could make for dangerous surf conditions in Bermuda in the next few days. So at least we, New Orleans and Miami don't have to worry about the storm. But we're not out of the woods yet: The Atlantic is in a period of hurricane hyperactivity that started in 1995 and could last up to 20 years, meaning 2006 could be another very active year when it comes to storms. So, for that matter, could 2007, 2008, 2009 ...

2005 will certainly go down in the weather record books. In 154 years of record keeping, 2005 had the most named storms (26), the most major hurricanes to hit the United States (four) and the most Category 5 storms (three). Good riddance.