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Basic Hurricane Safety Actions
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Know if you live in an evacuation area. Know your home's vulnerability
to storm surge, flooding and wind. Have a written plan based
on this knowledge.
•
At the beginning of hurricane season (June 1), check your
supplies, replace batteries and use food stocks on a rotating
basis.
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During hurricane season, monitor the tropics. Monitor NOAA
Weather Radio.
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If a storm threatens, heed the advice from local authorities.
Evacuate if ordered.
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Execute your family plan.
Watch
vs Warning
Know the Difference
A HURRICANE WATCH issued for your part of the
coast indicates the possibility that you could experience hurricane
conditions within 36 hours. This watch should trigger your family's
disaster plan, and protective measures should be initiated,
especially those actions that require extra time such as securing
a boat, leaving a barrier island, etc.
A HURRICANE WARNING issued for your part of
the coast indicates that sustained winds of at least 74 mph
are expected within 24 hours or less. Once this warning has
been issued, your family should be in the process of completing
protective actions and deciding the safest location to be during
the storm.
Hurricane Photos from NOAA's Photo Library
Historic
Weather Service Album - early
satellite imagery, damage photos, graphics and more...
Hurricane
Hunters in Action - Photos of the aircraft used
in hurricane research. |
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A
hurricane is a severe tropical storm, that forms in the southern Atlantic
Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico or in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Hurricanes need warm tropical oceans, moisture and light winds above
them. If the right conditions last long enough, a hurricane can produce
violent winds, incredible waves, torrential rains and floods.
Hurricanes
rotate in a counterclockwise direction around an "eye."
Hurricanes have winds at least 74 miles per hour. There are on average
six Atlantic hurricanes each year; over a 3-year period, approximately
five hurricanes strike the United States coastline from Texas to
Maine.
When hurricanes
move onto land, the heavy rain, strong winds and heavy waves can
damage buildings, trees and cars. The heavy waves are called a storm
surge. Storm surge is very dangerous and a major reason why you
MUST stay away from the ocean during a hurricane warning or hurricane.
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The
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale - a 1-5 rating
based on the hurricane's present intensity. This is used to
give an estimate of the potential property damage and flooding
expected along the coast from a hurricane landfall. Wind speed
is the determining factor in the scale, as storm surge values
are highly dependent on the slope of the continental shelf
in the landfall region.
Storm
Names
Daily color satellite images atlantic ocean storms
- You can find links to satellite imagery for other regions
of the world, such as the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Archived
Satellite Images, Storm Animations and Special Events
- You will find hundreds of selected satellite images capturing
some of the more important weather and environmental events
over the last 30 years.
CoastWatch
Products - These are NOAA GOES satellites images of
various coastal sectors. You can see infrared (IR) or visual
(VIS) versions of these images. Note that the visual images
can only be seen during daylight hours.
Hurricane
Landfall Experiment 2001 - The 2001 Hurricane Field
Program is the fourth year of a renewed multi-agency effort
to unravel the mysteries of these devastating storms over
the next 5-6 years. This is part of the U.S.
Weather Research Program, which is focused on
reducing the impacts of disastrous weather on the United States,
in particular hurricane landfall.
Pronunciation
of Western North Pacific and South China Sea Cyclones
- The Hong Kong Observatory provides the pronunciations of
these storms through the use of Real Audio.
Billion
Dollar U.S. Weather Disasters (1980 - 2002)
NOAA's
"Hurricane Hunter" Aircraft Fly Through Pacific
Winter Storms and More - NOAA's "hurricane
hunter" aircraft and their crews may be best known for
their prowess in flying through and around nature's severest
storms over the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of
Mexico. However, these flying meteorological stations prove
their mettle on the West Coast and over the Pacific Ocean
as well—after hurricane season has ended and severe
Pacific winter storms have begun.
Converting
UTC or Zulu Time
Hurricane
Tracking Models
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NOAA National Hurricane Center
- maintains
a continuous watch on tropical cyclones over the Atlantic, Caribbean,
Gulf of Mexico and the Eastern Pacific from May 15 through November
30. The Center prepares and distributes hurricane watches and
warnings for the general public, and also prepares and distributes
marine and military advisories for other users. During the "off-season"
NOAA's Hurricane Center provides training for U.S. emergency
managers and representatives from many other countries that
are affected by tropical cyclones. The Center also conducts
applied research to evaluate and improve hurricane forecasting
techniques, and is involved in public awareness programs. |
NOAA
Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory
- Its mission is to conduct a basic and applied research program
in oceanography, tropical meteorology, atmospheric and oceanic
chemistry, and acoustics. The program seeks to understand the
physical characteristics and processes of the ocean and the
atmosphere, both separately and as a coupled system. The lab
is home to the NOAA
Hurricane Research Division. |
National
Weather Service |
NOAA
Weather Radio |
NOAA
National Weather Organization Listing |
NOAA's
Aircraft Operations Center (Home of NOAA's Hurricane Hunters)
- The airplanes
and helicopters of the Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) are
flown in support of NOAA's mission to promote global environmental
assessment, prediction and stewardship of the Earth's environment.
NOAA's aircraft operate throughout the United States and around
the world; over open oceans, mountains, coastal wetlands, and
Arctic pack ice. These versatile aircraft provide scientists
with airborne platforms necessary to collect the environmental
and geographic data essential to their research. |
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