Login

r/hurricane

▲ 2 r/hurricane

Hurricane Window Protection Help

Hello! I'm trying to prepare my house for the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season. My recently purchased house doesn't have any type of window protection.

I unfortunately don't have recessed windows, so I won't be able to use hurricane window clips.

What is a cheap & easy solution for window protection? I Ideally wanted to do plywood and hurricane window clips.

Thank you!

u/Nr1864 — 3 days ago
▲ 0 r/hurricane

What’s one hurricane prep item people forget?

For those who’ve been through a bad storm, what’s one thing people usually forget to prepare?

Not the obvious stuff like water and batteries. More like documents, pet supplies, cash, prescriptions, freezer prep, or cleanup supplies.

What would you add to a real-life hurricane checklist?

reddit.com
u/SoFloGeneratorGuy — 4 days ago
▲ 0 r/hurricane+1 crossposts

How to secure patio umbrella in case of hurricane

We just purchased a cantilever umbrella for our screened in patio. The base is filled with 300 lbs. of sand. We won’t be able to move it outside the screened area in case of a hurricane. What would be the best way to secure it in case a hurricane hits?

u/NYCtoTampa — 6 days ago
▲ 23 r/hurricane

Summary of the NHC Products and Services Update for 2026 - New Cone, New Hawaii Products, Mobile NHC Site, "No Development Expected" Symbology, Cone Error Updates, and New Experimental Cone

Hello Everyone!

The 2026 East Pacific Hurricane Season has officially started. The Atlantic and Central Pacific season officially starts June 1st.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) released their Products and Services Update for 2026 Hurricane Season publication a few weeks back. I wanted to post a quick summary of the changes! Read the linked document for details.

I am very interested in the new experimental cone, since not only does it use the 90th error percentiles, but will be using an elongated ellipse rather than a circle. I am also happy to see they listened to some feedback about "no expected development", which now shows as a gray X if both the 2-day and 7-day probabilities are "near zero".

1. New Cone - Image One

This year the track cone will now show inland tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings in effect for the continental United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This version of the cone graphic went through an experimental phase during the 2024 and 2025 hurricane seasons and replaces the version that only depicted coastal U.S. tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings.

The first image is an example cone for Hurricane Milton (2024).

2. New Graphic Products for Hawaii - Image Two

The NWS will have the ability to issue Storm Surge Watches and Warnings, issue Peak Storm Surge Forecast Graphics, and now have a Potential Storm Surge Flooding Map for the main Hawaiian Islands.

3. Mobile-friendly NHC website - Image Three

The NHC is beginning to work on a version of its website that is more mobile friendly and more accessible. As a first step, a refreshed version of the front page of the NHC website will be hosted on NHC’s mobile URL (https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/mobile/) around the beginning of the 2026 hurricane season. This version will work on mobile, tablet, and desktop devices.

4. Updated symbology of disturbances which development is not expected - Image Four

Beginning in 2026, systems in which development is not expected (near 0% in both 2- and 7-day forecast periods) will be depicted as a gray X. This includes systems where development chances have decreased to near 0%, and/or are mainly being highlighted to communicate a significant rainfall/flooding threat.

The community debated/discussed this last year! I did also suggest this to the NHC directly. Happy to see they agreed!

5. Annual update to the track forecast error cone - Image Five

The size of the tropical cyclone track forecast error cone for the Atlantic basin in 2026 will be about 4–8% smaller as compared to 2025. For the eastern North Pacific basin, it will also be about 3–8% smaller than the 2025 cone.

6. New Experimental Products

Experimental Cone Graphic - Image Six

The NHC will be introducing a new experimental version of the track forecast cone. Beginning in 2026, NHC will experiment changing two aspects of the cone:

  1. Using ellipses (instead of circles) that account for along- and cross-track errors
  2. Using the 90th percentile of the along and cross-track errors

Experimental Graphical Marine Wind Warning - Image Seven

Starting this year, the National Hurricane Center/Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch (NHC/TAFB) is introducing the Experimental Graphical Marine Wind Warnings, a new service for marine partners. This product is a graphical depiction of official marine warnings, based on cumulative wind speed (gridded) forecasts where the resultant warning reflects specific wind speed thresholds.

Reminders of Other Recent Changes

U.S. Risk Current Map

NHC introduced a rip current risk map in 2025 that highlighted the risk of dangerous rip current conditions. The information originates from local National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) in a national rip current risk map when at least one active tropical system is present.

Issuance Criteria for Potential Tropical Cyclone Advisory Products

The issuance criteria for tropical cyclone advisory products for Potential Tropical Cyclones was updated in 2025 to allow the issuance of tropical cyclone advisory products up to 72 hours before the anticipated arrival of storm surge or tropical-storm-force winds on land regardless of the immediate need for land-based tropical storm, hurricane, or storm surge watches or warnings.

Pronunciation of storm names

Pronunciation guides for storm names, including the phonetic pronunciations of all Atlantic and eastern North Pacific storm names is found on the NHC website at:

Atlantic: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/aboutnames_pronounce_atlc.pdf

Eastern North Pacific: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/aboutnames_pronounce_epac.pdf

Alternate name lists (used when the 6-year list is exhausted):

Atlantic: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/aboutnames_pronounce_atlc_alt.pdf

Eastern North Pacific: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pdf/aboutnames_pronounce_epac_alt.pdf

Social Media

Live Stream

The National Hurricane Center provides live stream broadcasts via YouTube and Facebook whenever there is an area of interest in the tropics that may pose a threat to land, and more frequently when a hurricane watch is issued (for U.S. contiguous coastline).

Outreach

Facebook, Instagram , and X (@NWSNHC, @NHC_Atlantic, @NHC_Pacific, @NHC_Surge, @NHC_TAFB)

National Hurricane Center: www.hurricanes.gov

Tropical Weather Outlook: www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnhcgraphics.shtml#GTWO

Definition of NHC Track Forecast Cone: www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutcone.shtml

National Hurricane Preparedness Week: www.hurricanes.gov/prepare

National Hurricane Center Facebook page: www.facebook.com/NWSNHC

National Hurricane Center X page: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/twitter.php

u/Beach-Brews — 5 days ago
▲ 54 r/hurricane

NHC updates hurricane cone for 2026 season

New cone will be wider increasing the probability that a storm will track within it from 67% to 90%. It will also change watches and warnings to show how far inland winds might penetrate.

sun-sentinel.com
u/pete12357 — 6 days ago
▲ 89 r/hurricane+6 crossposts

Hurricane Camille (1969) was one of the most powerful storms ever to strike the Mississippi Gulf Coast—yet it is often overshadowed by Hurricane Katrina.

Disaster preparation and recovery were vastly different in 1969. The destruction caused by Camille became one of the first modern tests of resilience for the Gulf Coast—and the lessons still matter today.

u/Own_Marionberry6189 — 6 days ago
▲ 24 r/hurricane+1 crossposts

Hurricane season starts June 1. Here's a Florida prep checklist that actually matters at claim time

Most hurricane prep articles cover the obvious (water, batteries, evacuation route). Important, but from a claims standpoint what actually determines whether your claim pays smoothly is documentation and coverage decisions you make before the storm. Here's the version I give my own clients.

1. Understand the wind vs flood problem. This is the biggest one.

A huge number of Florida hurricane claims get denied or paid less than expected because the damage is determined to be flood, not wind. Standard homeowners covers wind. It does not cover flood, including storm surge. If water entered from the ground up, that's flood. If water entered through a hole the wind put in your roof, that's typically wind. Adjusters make the call after the storm based on physical evidence, and it's where most disputes happen.

Two things to do now:

If you don't have flood insurance, get a quote. NFIP has a 30-day waiting period on most new policies, so you can't wait until a storm is in the Gulf. Some private flood policies have shorter waits, but read the fine print.

About 25% of flood claims come from properties outside high-risk zones. "I'm not in a flood zone" is not a reason to skip it.

2. Pull your declarations page and read it.

Specifically check: hurricane (or named-storm) deductible, all-other-perils deductible, dwelling limit (Coverage A), and sublimits for screened enclosures, pools, fences, or detached structures. A 5% hurricane deductible on a $400k home is $20,000 out of pocket before the policy responds. Know the number.

3. Photo and video inventory before the season.

Walk every room with your phone, open closets and cabinets, capture serial numbers on appliances. Save it to cloud storage. The single most useful claims document most people don't have.

4. Wind mitigation report.

A current report can lower your premium and helps at claim time. Most are good for 5 years.

5. Contractor list.

Save names and numbers for two or three local roofers and water-mitigation companies. Post-storm demand spikes immediately and your internet connection may be very poor.

6. Renters: get a renters policy.

Your landlord's insurance covers the building, not your stuff. Renters insurance in Florida is cheap and includes additional living expense if you have to evacuate.

What's the biggest thing you wish you'd done differently before the storm? I called a local roofer the morning hurricane Helene when my home had substantial damage to my roof. This got me ahead of the long list of people needing a roof replacement and kept me from going with an out of town roofer/storm chaser.

reddit.com
u/GreeneAssocIns — 7 days ago