NOAA Storm Tracker contains live links to advisories, tracking maps and satellite images of a particular storm that is projected to strike the United States or other nations in a storm’s path.

NOAA Storm Tracker also includes links to data from ocean buoys and tide gauges, the latest high resolution satellite imagery and Doppler radar images of a tropical storm or hurricane. Storm Tracker is designed to open a new and smaller browser window, which can be resized and placed anywhere on a computer desktop. This allows the user to continue surfing the Internet while keeping track of a storm. The live links in NOAA Storm Tracker update automatically without having to “refresh” or “reload” the browser window. However, it is recommended that you “reload” or “refresh” storm tracker periodically to get the latest links to other NOAA products, especially as a storm gets close to the U.S. mainland

NOAA Web sites were literally stormed by millions of people during the very intense 2005 hurricane season. The NOAA home page received more than two billion hits for all of 2005. The Web sites of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service received more than 12 billion hits during the months of August, September and October—when the Atlantic spawned one storm after another.

NOAA hurricane experts will visit five East Coast cities aboard a NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft to raise awareness about storm threats and the danger of being caught without a personal hurricane plan. The five-day tour begins May 4.

“We are bringing a life-saving message to coastal communities – now is the time to prepare for a hurricane, before a storm threatens your area,” said Bill Read, director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center.  “Preparing a hurricane plan today could determine whether you become a hurricane survivor or a hurricane victim.”

Hurricane specialists Dan Brown and Robbie Berg, storm surge specialist Jamie Rhome and Read will travel with the crew when the aircraft visits Newington, N.H., Farmingdale, N.Y., Raleigh, N.C., Wilmington, N.C., and Key West, Fla. The public and media are invited to tour the aircraft and speak with the team.

The NOAA WP-3 Orion turboprop aircraft is used primarily by weather scientists on research missions to study various elements of a hurricane, flying through the eye of the storm several times each flight. The crew gathers and sends data by satellite directly to the National Hurricane Center so hurricane forecasters can analyze and predict changes to its path and strength.

Staff from emergency management offices, non-profit organizations such as the American Red Cross, and several local NOAA National Weather Service forecast offices will join the NOAA team at tour stops.

The hurricane awareness tour has been conducted for more than 25 years, alternating between the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, and is followed by NOAA’s hurricane hazard education campaign during national Hurricane Preparedness Week, May 24 to 30. The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1.

Tour Schedule:

• Monday, May 4:          Pease Air National Guard Base, Newington, N.H., 2:30-4:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, May 5:         Republic Airport at Farmingdale, N.Y., 2:30-4:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, May 6:    Raleigh-Durham International Airport, N.C., 3:00-5:00 p.m.
• Thursday, May 7:        Wilmington International Airport, N.C., 3:00-5:00 p.m.
• Friday, May 8:             Naval Air Station Key West at Boca Chica Key, Fla., 1:30-4:00 p.m.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.

Tropical Depression Five-E was a strong tropical depression which made landfall along the south-western Mexican coastline. It was the fifth tropical cyclone of the 2008 Pacific hurricane season. The depression developed out of a weak tropical wave which formed off the coast of Africa on June 23. The wave remained poorly organized throughout its journey through the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. It produce minor showers over a few countries as it moved through the Caribbean.

A non-frontal low pressure system that has characteristics of both tropical and extratropical cyclones.

The most common type is an upper-level cold low with circulation extending to the surface layer and maximum sustained winds generally occurring at a radius of about 100 miles or more from the center. In comparison to tropical cyclones, such systems have a relatively broad zone of maximum winds that is located farther from the center, and typically have a less symmetric wind field and distribution of convection.

A second type of subtropical cyclone is a mesoscale low originating in or near a frontolyzing zone of horizontal wind shear, with radius of maximum sustained winds generally less than 30 miles. The entire circulation may initially have a diameter of less than 100 miles. These generally short-lived systems may be either cold core or warm core.

Hurricane Dolly was a tropical cyclone that made landfall in extreme southern Texas in July 2008. Dolly was the fourth tropical cyclone and second hurricane to form during the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. It was the first U.S. land falling hurricane of the 2008 season.