Story map: Ready for hurricanes

May 11, 2017

Hurricane Katrina as seen from space on August 28, 2005. (Image credit: NASA)

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NOAA is ready for hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30 in the Atlantic, and from May 15 to November 30 in the Eastern Pacific.

Every NOAA line office plays a significant role in helping our nation prepare for and respond to hurricanes and mitigate the risks.

NOAA begins this hurricane season with a dynamic mix of scientific advances and new products — and collective pride in successfully meeting our goal of reducing forecast errors by 20 percent over five years.

Video —This color-enhanced infrared imagery, captured by NOAA's GOES East satellite on October 6, 2016, shows Hurricane Matthew approaching Andros Island in the Bahamas. Infrared satellite imagery detects heat radiating off of clouds and Earth’s surface. "Color-enhanced" imagery like this helps meteorologists identify particular features. Here, the yellow, orange and red colors indicate cloud-top height and temperature. The darker the color, the colder and taller the cloud, which provides important clues about a storm's intensity and strength. (NOAA)

New products to mitigate risks

Hurricanes strike the U.S. coastline an average of three times over a two-year period, once as a major hurricane. Storm surge causes nearly 50 percent of deaths. Inland flooding from heavy rainfall is the second leading cause of death.

This hurricane season, NOAA’s National Hurricane Center is introducing three new products to mitigate the risks:

New storm surge watches and warnings will highlight areas along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts where there are life-threatening risks. Since actions to prepare for storm surge often differ from actions to avoid wind, separate warnings for each hazard can save lives.

New “Time of Arrival” graphics, experimental this season, will provide critical timing information for coastal communities that must prepare before tropical-storm-force winds hit.

Mosaic image showing new NOAA hurricane products. (NOAA)
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NOAA’s revolutionary new satellite is keeping a close eye on Earth

GOES-16 is in orbit, and test data are beginning to flow.

Launched by NASA in partnership with NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service, GOES-16’s advanced high-resolution imagery and rapid-scan capability will give forecasters a closer, sharper look at hurricanes and other hazardous weather systems and enable forecasters to more accurately predict how these disturbances will evolve.

Coverage is five times faster than current satellites.

Resolution is four times better.

There are three times more spectral channels to capture vital weather imagery.

GOES-16 captured this color-enhanced infrared image of the Western Hemisphere on May 3, 2017 using one of the new spectral channels available on the GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager. (NOAA)
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Vital imagery minute-by-minute

This animation shows how GOES-16's Advanced Baseline Imager gives forecasters a more detailed look at the structure and features of storm systems in near- real-time. As shown here, “bubbling” on top of storm clouds indicates strong currents of rising air, a characteristic of intense storms.

"Minute-by-minute" refers to the one-minute frequency with which images are captured.

As a result, our nation benefits from faster, more reliable watches and warnings.

GOES-16 captured this color-enhanced infrared image of the Western Hemisphere on May 3, 2017 using one of the new spectral channels available on the GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager. (NOAA)

Coyote breaking barriers in hurricane science

The Coyote, a 13-pound drone deployed by NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft, flies low and slow to sample the highly volatile, yet critically important hurricane environment where the air meets the sea, and it’s unsafe for humans to fly.

Hurricanes feed on ocean heat, and information collected at this rarely observed interface is integral to predicting a storm’s strength.

While traditional weather instruments parachute from a plane and grab only a snapshot, the Coyote’s five-foot wingspan enables it to linger and return to certain areas for more measurements.

Photo of the Coyote on the tarmac at Avon Park after a successful demonstration flight on January 7, 2016. (NOAA)
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Powerful advance in hurricane forecasting

This hurricane season, NOAA is beginning to transition the FV3 to operational hurricane forecasting. The FV3 is a new dynamic core that, with powerful supercomputers, will drive a numerical prediction model that aims to build the world's best global forecasting model. This global model is the basis for all U.S. weather forecasts.

The FV3 was developed by Shian-Jiann Lin and his team at NOAA Research's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, New Jersey. Once fully operational in 2019, the FV3 will provide better guidance for hurricane seasonal outlooks and updates. This is likely to improve capability to measure the strength and position of rainfall and better understand their effects at finer and finer scales.

The FV3 is already helping NOAA advance the frontiers of weather and climate prediction from seasons to decades.

The 2008 hurricane season, as newly simulated by the FV3-powered GFDL weather model
FV3 powered this simulation of the 2008 hurricane seasson, one of the most active on record.. The FV3 core will enable the U.S. Global Forecast System model to simultaneously provide several localized forecasts while also generating a global forecast every six hours. In time, the model is expected to run in high resolution and zoom in on smaller storm systems, giving forecasters a better picture of how storms will evolve. (NOAA)

On the front lines of preparedness, response and recovery

NOAA's National Ocean Service has a broad reach. Like coastal sentinels, NOAA’s network of water-level stations provides essential safety information 24/7. Through the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS), the stations collect real-time data so communities have critical observations when hurricanes threaten and risks can be averted.

Storm QuickLook helps forecasters and emergency managers validate flood forecasts and guide evacuation plans. To plan the safest routes, vessels further rely on data from the Physical Oceanographic Real-time System®, or PORTS. The Office of Coast Survey provides emergency services to speed reopening of major ports and waterways.

NOAA coordinates the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®), which through gliders and other innovations tracks data key to improving future hurricane intensity forecasts.

As a vital planning tool, Digital Coast has become one of the most widely used resources in the coastal management community.

While marine debris is an everyday problem, hurricane winds, storm surges and heavy rains can make it worse by dragging debris into shallow coastal waters, endangering human safety and navigation. Collaborating closely with local and other agencies, NOAA’s Marine Debris Program facilitates quick, coordinated response to such problems on America’s waterways.

Graphic showing highest water levels during Hurricane Matthew (2016). (NOAA)
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Aerial imagery plays a pivotal role

When hurricanes strike, aerial imagery is essential in determining the extent of damage to coastlines, coastal communities, major ports and waterways, and critical infrastructure.

With aerial imagery, NOAA's National Geodetic Survey frames shoreline, elevation, latitude, longitude, and other information and their changes over time. Such information is integral to making sound decisions about safety, our economy, and positioning America's future.

(Top) Aerial image captured in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina before Hurricane Matthew struck in October 2016. Credit: Mapbox. (Bottom) Aerial image used to assess the heavy damage. (NOAA)
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"Living shorelines" build coastal resilience

When hurricanes hit land, nature’s own remarkable forces can be the best line of defense.

To build coastal resilience, NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Habitat Conservation helps develop living shorelines along our coasts.

Living shorelines of plants, sand and rock naturally reduce wave action, minimize erosion, and absorb powerful storm surge. Mangroves adapt to changing coastal environments in ways that concrete infrastructure cannot.