ORLANDO, Fla. – Earlier this year, the National Hurricane Center announced that it would test a new ”experimental” cone by the middle of the Atlantic hurricane season.
The experimental cone is geared to help highlight the far-reaching impacts of a storm rather than just show the track of the center of the storm, which is what the traditional cone shows.
What will be different between the traditional cone and experimental one?
- Inland watches and warnings overlaid with the cone.
- Currently, only coastal watches and warnings are highlighted with the cone. The experimental cone will also have inland watches and warnings overlaid to better show who will be impacted by the storm.
- Cone fading out over land.
- The colors of the watches and warnings will be prominent over a faded-out cone. This is to show the risk of strong winds that often-times extend well beyond the cone. According to the NHC, looking at the cone alone could be ‘misleading.’
- White transparent shading for the entire region of the cone.
The cone being “experimental” in the eyes of the National Weather Service means simply means that a potential new product is being tested by them.
This experimental phase also means that the National Weather Service is looking for feedback from its users.
You can leave your feedback by clicking here.
It is important to note that the inland watches and warnings will only be depicted for the U.S.
Internationally, watches and warnings will continue only along the coast.
The new cone can be found by going to the NHC website and clicking on the warning/cone static images graphic under the section of the storm.
There click on the large red text for the new experimental cone.