June updates: Tropical Weather Outlook, active storms, and more

Default behavior when HURREVAC opens

The Tropical Weather Outlook (TWO) map layer is now turned on by default when you log into HURREVAC. This change is intended to help users maintain situational awareness of emerging hazards, even when there are no active systems.

Active storms are also loaded when you log into HURREVAC, but with one change for the 2024 season. Now, only Atlantic basin storms are checked on by default in the Active Storms folder of the storms tab. Storms in all other worldwide basins are still tracked and listed as options in the folder, but the user must select that storm to load its track on the map and then zoom to that location. In other words, when the program is opened it will not automatically plot and zoom to a storm unless it is in the Atlantic basin.

Tropical Weather Outlook interface

Several slight improvements to the TWO window were recently implemented.

The timeline slider now shows dots to indicate the times when the TWO product was issued by the NHC or CPHC. You can click on the dot to show the previous versions of the product and observe trends in the forecast. This change also makes it easier to detect when there has been a special TWO issuance outside the routine cycle of 2 AM, 8 AM, 2 PM, and 8 PM (EDT).

The map symbols that depict all active storms were also enlarged for better visibility. If a storm’s track is not already displayed via the active storms tab, you can click the symbol to load its track details.

The TWO interface also has a simplified date selector. To view an archived TWO, expand the calendar window and press and hold the left/right arrows in the header to quickly shuttle to earlier/later months. Then, click a date within the month.

The valid time of the TWO is designed to show the latest information by default, or closely match whatever storm advisory you have selected. If you load a hurricane track from August 2023, for example, the TWO will snap to show how it would have looked when that advisory was issued. But selecting a new time in the TWO interface will not alter the storm track you have loaded on the map.

Other updates

The multi-location wind probabilities report has been discontinued. The program contains probability and timing data in report formats that are more efficient to generate and access. Users can still right-click for point-specific wind probability analysis in 6-hour intervals.

Note to users in Georgia: the state’s latest Hurricane Evacuation Study (HES) data has been implemented in the program during recent months. This includes new Evacuation Zones and HES documents in the Resources tab, and new clearance times in the Evacuation Timing window.

If you missed our annual training webinar series during the week of June 10, or would like to review the information again, all session recordings and handouts are available on our User Guides and Tutorials page. We’d like to thank everyone who attended this year, and thank our partners at NOAA, FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for presenting the latest information about hurricane forecasts and evacuations.

A reminder to anyone with Desktop HURREVAC: this previous version of program was discontinued after the 2019 season and is no longer being upgraded, monitored, or supported. To see all of the latest NOAA products and functionality in HURREVAC, please be sure to register for a new account on the current web-based platform.