Nov 3, 2009 2:40 pm US/Eastern
Hurricane Center Wants Help With Easier Advisories
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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A forecaster at the National Hurricane Center checks a weather image. The forecasters are considering changes in the hurricane advisories they make to the public.
CBS
When a hurricane threatens Florida, what people want to know most is where it is and where it's headed. Now, the forecasters at the National Hurricane Center say they're ready to make changes in their hurricane advisories to make it easier for non-meteorologists to get that information, and they want your opinion.
The public advisories, which are posted on cbs4.com when a storm threatens, give the positions of tropical depressions, named storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico. They also include information about a storm's strength, how it's moving and any watches or warnings.
Spokesman Dennis Feltgren says some people have had trouble finding the information they need in the advisories, especially when a storm is close to making landfall. The information was not always organized in a way making the key points, where the storm is and his strong it is, easy to understand
Examples of the new advisories were posted Tuesday on the hurricane center's website. The summaries contain the same information, but it's organized more clearly and the location information is highlighted at the top, something the weather service believes is especially important as a storm is closer to landfall.
The public is being invited to take a look at some proposed format, and send an e-mail from the page telling forecasters what they think.
After the public comments, hurricane forecasters will decide what changes, if any, they should make before next hurricane season begins May 1, 2010.
The current Atlantic hurricane season ends November 30th.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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