Hurricane season begins June 1st; Director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center on how to prepare

“As we head into the (2024 hurricane) season tomorrow (June 1st), this is the time for everybody in Central Florida and across the whole state of Florida, this is the time you need to get ready for what does look like it is going to be a pretty active year,” said Dr. Brennan. “But, regardless of what any seasonal forecast says you have to be ready every year, and that’s especially true in Florida, where we can be affected all the way from June through the entire season, through November.”

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Dr. Brennan said there’s two large scale factors that are coming together that predicts an above average year for tropical development.

“The first is something most people have heard about now for quite a while is, it’s very warm to even record warm ocean temperatures across much of the Atlantic Ocean, and that’s just more fuel for storms that tends to allow more storms to develop storms to go on and strengthen to become hurricanes,” said. Dr. Brennan. “And then we are also looking at the likelihood of La Nina developing across the Eastern Pacific (Ocean), which make the atmosphere over the Atlantic (Ocean), especially over the western part of the Atlantic Basin, more favorable for storms to form.

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The Director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center wants to ensure both new and tenured Floridians are prepared for this Hurricane season.

“For people who have just moved to the area, the first thing you need to know is your risk, know if you live in an evacuation zone from either storm surge or for some other potential hazard, because if you’re asked to leave your home, that sort of forms the foundation of your entire preparedness plan,” said Dr. Michael Brennan. “If you’re going to ride the storm out in your home, you wanna get your emergency kit together, several days full of non-perishable food, water, batteries, medicine, anything you’re going to need to survive that aftermath of a storm for potentially up to several days, or even a week long.

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Dr. Brennan said NOAA’s National Hurricane Center is debuting some new resources this hurricane season:

• New Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System,
• Improved hurricane tracking model.
• Will be updated in July.
• Experimental Cone Graphic
• Show’s inland tropical storm and hurricane wind watches and warnings over the U.S.
• Will help track wind speeds in Central Florida.
• New Spanish language products
• Will be translated using artificial intelligence technology.
• Will be available on the hurricanes.gov website this year.

Check out WDBO’s Orlando Hurricane Guide to help you get prepared, track the tropics and stay informed.

Listen to the full interview with Dr. Michael Brennan on Orlando’s Morning News Express Podcast: