Category: New Features

Here’s a summary of upgrades implemented in HURREVAC during April 2024. 24-hour clock option Do you want HURREVAC to display the time as “17:00” instead of “5 PM?” You now have the option to show a 24-hour time format. Open User Preferences, click the Map Settings tab and change the new Time Clock row to 24-hour. Unless changed, the default is still a 12-hour clock. This setting applies to most parts of the HURREVAC interface, including reports, track labels, legends, storm status bar, and wind timing flags. This setting does not alter any time references spelled out inside text advisories, which are always shown in HURREVAC as written by the NHC or CPHC. If you would like your HURREVAC workspace to show UTC represented in 24-hour format, make the following selections: Time Clock > 24-hour Time Zone > choose Custom UTC+0 hours from the list Custom Time Zone Abbreviation > type “Z” or “UTC” The 24-hour option is independent of the program’s custom time zone settings, so you could simply apply the 24-hour format to your local time zone. But changing to a 24-hour clock automatically includes the military time zone letter designation, like “23:00 EDT (Q).” If you do not want the letter listed with the time zone, manually set the appropriate UTC offset and adjust the Custom Time Zone Abbreviation to your preferred label. Wind layers added to the conditions tab By user request, HURREVAC’s Conditions tab now includes a depiction of current winds.  Two layers – wind speeds and wind gusts – can provide a broad estimate of where the strongest winds are affecting United States at the present time. These layers are updated hourly but do not contain any real-time observations from weather stations. Instead, they are a national mosaic composed of recent projections by NWS offices and specialized forecast centers (the National Digital Forecast Database, or NDFD). The maps primarily show data for the continental United States and extend into much of the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlantic. Winds are also shown for smaller regions surrounding Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. As with radar, satellite, flooding, and all the other conditions tab layers, the wind layers are only valid for the current time and are not archived. Therefore, it will not be in sync when showing archived storms or past advisories. Continue to use the NHC forecast products for details about tropical wind hazards. Control SLOSH layer opacity in quick layers Users can now precisely adjust the opacity of all map layers associated with the SLOSH Explorer, including MOMs, MEOWs, and Hindcasts. When SLOSH data is plotted on the map, open Quick Layers Options to control the display order and opacity sliders. This can make it easier to evaluate the colorful SLOSH data in relation to boundaries, evacuation zones, basemap imagery, and other underlying data. Updated training modules Three training modules were recently updated to reflect changes in the program. Introduction to HURREVAC Customizing the Workspace Decision Making Worksheet New users are encouraged to use the introductory training modules to get a step-by-step tour while logged into HURREVAC. The decision making worksheet can be a good way for experienced users to refresh knowledge of the program’s tools and concepts. Modules for additional topics are planned in the coming weeks and months.

Here’s a summary of changes and improvements implemented by the HURREVAC team in recent weeks. Behavior of exercise storms and simulated storms Exercise and simulated storms now show the first (or earliest) advisory when initially loaded onto the tracking map. This helps make training and exercises more realistic by avoiding a premature reveal of the scenario. Active storms continue to load to the most recent advisory. Archived storms also load to the most recent advisory, which is usually the final one issued. When building a simulated storm, toggle forward through advisories as you go through each of the steps to check the track and product generation. Storm Simulator now prohibits importing an active storm to use as the basis of a track. Storm Simulator is only intended for creating exercises. During active storms, the official NHC, CPHC, or JTWC products are recommended for emergency management decisions. Improved geography for the western Pacific and U.S. territories The HURREVAC team made numerous improvements to the program’s geographic databases to provide more consistent report functionality for U.S. territories and the NWS area of responsibility in the Pacific region. This effort primarily involved islands defined as forecast points for NWS Guam throughout the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The most significant change is that the previous “Western Pacific” or “WP” grouping used for HURREVAC’s timeline actions and reports was broken out to define all the territories and nations listed above. The improved labeling means that any timeline actions created with the former WP reference are no longer functional. Users who had previously created custom timeline actions within those areas should delete the old actions and create them again. Previous timeline action and report listings for Sorol and Ujelang Atoll were discontinued. This project did not affect the underlying forecast products ingested by the program. Data availability varies by region and forecast agency, which is spelled out in the User Guide. But users may notice that some reports now generate results for Pacific locations that were not previously included. The classic basemap was also enhanced with a higher-resolution depiction of the islands. Some database enhancements were also implemented for American Samoa, Wake Island, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A base location can now be established in all U.S. territories. This lets users quickly filter multi-location reports to find the most relevant local results. NWS references in resources tab and base location HURREVAC users can now quickly reference the areas served by local National Weather Service offices. The new NWS County Warning Areas layer shows boundaries and labels on the tracking map. It is listed in the Resources tab alongside other useful boundaries like counties, FEMA regions, and USACE districts. Reminder: you can use the Quick Layers tool to adjust the opacity and display order of boundaries with respect to each other, and the weather data you have plotted on the map. When setting a base location, the NWS office serving that area is now listed with the other data in the User Preferences. Click the link to open the office’s home page in a new browser tab. The new NWS West/South Pacific AOR layer plots simple outlines of the areas of responsibility for WFO Guam within the Western Pacific basin and WSO Pago Pago in the South Pacific.

Here’s a summary of improvements made by the HURREVAC development team during late 2023 and early 2024. New way to manage simulated storms Managing your list of simulated storms in the Storms tab no longer requires a right-click. To add a simulated storm, left-click the three dot menu icon to the right of the folder heading. The options to remove, share, and edit a particular simulated storm can be accessed with a left-click on the three dot menu icon next to that storm’s name. Get a county-based report by right-clicking A county-based Wind Timing Report for a Location can now be generated from a right-click. The context menu contains a direct link to create a report based on the boundaries of the county (or U.S. county equivalent) in which the click was made. This link is located below the option to generate a report for the specific coordinates that were clicked. The image below shows an example for Suffolk County, NY. Previously, the only way to generate a county-based report was by clicking on the name of a locality listed in the multi-location wind timing reports. That method is still available. Error cone size for archived storms The Potential Track Area (Error Cone) now shows historically accurate dimensions for archived storms. Previously, the cones for all storms in the program were plotted using the annually-updated definitions for the current season. Average track errors have diminished over time, so cones for current storms are smaller than they were in past decades. When working with an archived storm, HURREVAC now applies the error statistics from its year of occurrence to show the cone as it would have appeared in graphical products issued at the time. The program also factors in how those cone definitions vary by ocean basin and issuing agency. HURREVAC will continue to plot cones for exercise storms and simulated storms with the current (2023) definitions, regardless of when the storm was created or the date of the scenario. Product changes for the 2024 season, including any changes to error cone dimensions, are expected to be implemented later this spring. Learn more about these tools in the HURREVAC User Guide (login required).

The latest upgrade to Points of Interest gives HURREVAC users more options for storing and sharing their information. The POI Import and Export functions now support GeoJSON files. POIs can still be exported to and imported from properly-formatted Excel (.xlsx) spreadsheets. POI Style Settings can now be imported and exported, too. To share the custom look of your POI with another HURREVAC user, the style settings can be downloaded and uploaded via a JSON file. Learn more in the updated Points of Interest topic of the user guide.