Tropical cyclone tracking chart

rdf:langString Tropical cyclone tracking chart

rdf:langString A tropical cyclone tracking chart is used by those within hurricane-threatened areas to track tropical cyclones worldwide. In the north Atlantic basin, they are known as hurricane tracking charts. New tropical cyclone information is available at least every six hours in the Northern Hemisphere and at least every twelve hours in the Southern Hemisphere. Charts include maps of the areas where tropical cyclones form and track within the various basins, include name lists for the year, basin-specific tropical cyclone definitions, rules of thumb for hurricane preparedness, emergency contact information, and numbers for figuring out where are open. In paper form originally, computer programs were developed in the 1980s for personal home and use by professional weather forecasters. Those used by weather forecasters saved preparation times, allowing tropical cyclone advisories to be sent an hour earlier. With the advent of the internet in the 1990s, digitally-prepared charts began to include other information along with storm position and past track, including forecast track, areas of wind impact, and related watches and warnings. Geographic information system (GIS) software allows end users to underlay other layered files onto forecast storm tracks to anticipate future impacts.