I've said on the air a couple of times that I feel guilty talking about our forecast--because it's really nice. Our weather could not be more calm for the next few days. That's because we have a big area of high pressure that's building in. That high is also one of the things steering Gustav, blocking a turn to the northeast.

It's hard to overstate what folks along the Gulf Coast will be dealing with once that hurricane gets closer and makes landfall tomorrow. I spent much of yesterday watching coverage from WWL, our sister station in New Orleans (they're streaming their coverage online if you want to check it out at wwltv.com). I was happy to see video of people leaving the city, even though it was slow going. I understand the reasons why people resist evacuation, but there are some cases where you just want to stand up and say, "Go now". This is one of those cases.

I am also thinking about my colleagues at WWL. They, like us if we have a hurricane threatening, don't have the option of leaving. While most of the country is enjoying Labor Day, they're reporting to work with sleeping bags, prepared to work however many days straight. All the while worrying about how their families and homes are holding up.

Not to sound like an after-school special, but let's try to learn a lesson from this. Everyone needs to have an emergency supply kit and talk now about what you'd do if a major storm was looming. It's hard to make the call to leave when a big storm is four days out, but do you want to risk being stranded in traffic on 64 or 460 if you leave too late? Better to consider the various scenarios and develop a plan now.

As we hope for the best (or least worst) for folks along the Gulf, we also have to keep an eye on Tropical Storm Hanna. The latest track on that system has it turning to the North and possibly impacting the East Coast by late week.