Highlights
The National Hurricane Center is responsible for tracking tropical systems in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and providing watches and warnings when storms threaten land areas. Its ultimate mission is to save lives and help protect property. The hurricane center is located on the campus of Florida International University in western Miami-Dade County. Jurisdictionally speaking, it falls under the National Weather Service, which comes under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA, in turn, answers to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The center has 10 primary tropical meteorologists, who are called hurricane specialists. During the Atlantic hurricane season, f...
The National Hurricane Center is responsible for tracking tropical systems in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and providing watches and warnings when storms threaten land areas. Its ultimate mission is to save lives and help protect property. The hurricane center is located on the campus of Florida International University in western Miami-Dade County. Jurisdictionally speaking, it falls under the National Weather Service, which comes under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA, in turn, answers to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The center has 10 primary tropical meteorologists, who are called hurricane specialists. During the Atlantic hurricane season, from June 1 through Nov. 30, they write advisories any time a system strengthens into a tropical depression. Once a system develops sustained winds of 39 mph, it is designated a tropical storm and given a name. A tropical storm becomes a hurricane with sustained winds of 74 mph. Advisories, which provide a storm's strength, position and projected track, are written every six hours, released at 5 a.m. and 11 a.m., and at 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. Eastern time. They are provided more often when a storm is approaching land. Hurricane specialists rely heavily on computer models for guidance on how to craft their advisories. The models, in turn, are fed atmospheric information derived from satellites, radar, ocean buoys and reconnaissance aircraft. Historically speaking, tracking tropical storms was originally the responsibility of the National Weather Service in Miami, Florida. As of 1965, the Miami weather office established the National Hurricane Center as part of its internal workings. In 1984, the hurricane center was broken out as its own entity. It had been housed in a building on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables and later in a building across the street from the university before it moved into its current facility in 1995. In its history, the hurricane center has had nine directors: Gordon Dunn (1965-1967) Robert Simpson (1967-1973) Neil Frank (1973-1987) Bob Sheets (1987-1995) Bob Burpee (1996-1997) Jerry Jarrell (1998-2000) Max Mayfield (2000-2007) Bill Proenza (2007) In 2007, the center experienced internal tumult, shortly after Proenza was installed as director. Proenza angered his superiors when he publicly warned the inevitable demise of a weather satellite would cause hurricane forecasts to suffer. At the same time, he alienated many on his staff, who felt he had undermined public confidence in the center. Despite support from some members of Congress, Proenza was removed from the position after only seven months on the job. He was later returned to his previous job as head of the National Weather Service Southern Region in Fort Worth, Texas. Currently, NOAA is in the process of selecting a new director. Ed Rappaport, the center's deputy director, has been named acting director in the interim.
Displaying items 1-12 of 743
» View baltimoresun.com items only
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11-62
•
Next >
-
Beryl wets Maryland beaches as it regains strength
Tropical Depression Beryl could regain tropical storm status within the next few hours as it moves off the South Carolina coast. But its impact on Maryland is nevertheless expected to remain minimal. Rains associated with Beryl have drizzled on Ocean...
Tags: Tropical Storms, Tropical Weather
-
Beryl unlikely to bring Maryland rain
Beryl, the second named storm of the 2012 hurricane season, is unlikely to bring any of the rain it has dumped on Florida and Georgia to Maryland. The storm, now a tropical depression, is predicted to move across the Carolinas today, moving out to sea by...
Tags: Tropical Storms, Weather Reports, Tropical Weather, Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
-
Forecasters predict subdued hurricane season
Forecasters are expecting the fewest Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms since 2009, particularly if the weather phenomenon El Niņo develops by the heart of the hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is predicting...
Tags: Hurricanes, Natural Disasters, Science, Hurricane Andrew (1992), Tropical Storms
-
Damp week expected despite Tropical Storm Alberto remaining at sea
Tropical Storm Alberto isn't expected to reach Maryland, but it should be a damp week nonetheless. In the Baltimore area, at least, it may not be damp enough to remedy developing drought conditions, though. A low-pressure system is expected to stall over...
Tags: Natural Disasters, Droughts, Tropical Storms, Weather Reports, Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport
-
Maryland has slight chance of tropical storm winds later this week
Parts of Maryland have a slim chance of experiencing tropical storm force winds later this week, according to the National Weather Service. Much of the southern half of the state and the Eastern Shore have a less than 10 percent chance of feeling the...Tags: Tropical Storms, Weather Reports, Tropical Weather
-
Hurricane season getting an early start
Hurricane season is off to an early start in the Pacific, but not quite yet in the Atlantic. The season’s first tropical depression has formed in the Eastern Pacific, about 645 miles from the Mexican coast. A low pressure system in the Eastern...
Tags: Natural Disasters, Hurricanes, Tropical Storms, Meteorological Disasters, Tropical Weather
-
Ophelia is now a hurricane, but no threat here
Maryland WeatherTropical Storm Ophelia is now Hurricane Ophelia, only the fourth hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic season. The storm is no threat to the U.S. coast. It was centered northeast of Puerto Rico, moving north-northwest in the Atlantic at 9 mph, on......Tags: Natural Disasters, Hurricanes, Tropical Storms, Disasters
-
New storm could become hurricane for the Yucatan
Maryland WeatherThe National Hurricane Center is watching Tropical Storm Rina, the 17th named storm of the 2011 Atlantic season, as it strengthens and moves toward Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.Rina became a tropical storm Sunday night. At last check it was 190 miles......Tags: Hurricanes, Natural Disasters, Mexico, Tropical Storms, Tropical Weather
-
Tropical Storm Gert on her last legs
Maryland WeatherTropical Storm Gert - the seventh named storm of the 2011 Atlantic season - was still churning up the Atlantic well east of the Delmarva Peninsula on Tuesday. But the storm was moving briskly off to the northeast at 30 mph,......Tags: Natural Disasters, Hurricanes, Tropical Storms, Meteorological Disasters, Tropical Weather
-
Caribbean storms show little change
Maryland WeatherHurricane forecasters say they've seen little change in that stormy region in the Caribbean. They don't seem to be getting better organized, and atmospheric pressures there have remained steady. But conditions otherwise remain conducive to development...Tags: Tropical Weather, Caribbean Islands
-
Caribbean storm now Tropical Storm Harvey
Maryland WeatherThe tropical depression in the western Caribbean has finally made it to tropical storm strength, becoming the eight named storm of the season, Harvey. It's not huge, but it's way bigger than playwright Mary Chase's six-foot rabbit of the same......Tags: Honduras, Tropical Storms, Weather Warnings
-
Hurricane Irene poised for sweep up the East Coast
Maryland WeatherThe first hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic season was leaving Puerto Rico and moving toward the northern coast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti Monday morning. And if Hurricane Irene follows the forecast storm track, it can be expected to......Tags: Natural Disasters, Hurricanes, Hispaniola, Tropical Storms, Puerto Rico
May 30, 2012
|Story| Baltimore Sun
May 29, 2012
|Story| Baltimore Sun
May 24, 2012
|Story| Baltimore Sun
May 21, 2012
|Story| Baltimore Sun
May 19, 2012
|Story| Baltimore Sun
May 15, 2012
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Sep 29, 2011
|Blog| Baltimore Sun
Oct 24, 2011
|Blog| Baltimore Sun
Aug 16, 2011
|Blog| Baltimore Sun
Aug 17, 2011
|Blog| Baltimore Sun
Aug 19, 2011
|Blog| Baltimore Sun
Aug 22, 2011
|Blog| Baltimore Sun
Original site for National Hurricane Center topic gallery.
