RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Day 3 of Hurricane Preparedness Week's theme is about understanding forecast information that the National Hurricane Center makes and the CBS 17 Storm Team delivers to you.
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First, the difference between a watch and a warning. The big difference here is that in a watch, tropical storm or hurricane conditions are possible. In a warning, those dangerous conditions are expected. The time frame differs as well. A watch is issued when those conditions are up to two days out. For a warning, impacts are just a day and a half away.
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Now to the cone. There are a couple of misconceptions regarding the cone out there. First, the storm's center leaves the cone 1/3 of the time; it's unfortunately not a perfect tool. The biggest one of all, though, it does not represent how big the storm's impacts are.
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Here's a great example from Hurricane Irma back in 2017. It was one of the biggest landfalling storms (by radius of tropical storm force winds) on record. Two days before landfall, Miami was on the edge of the cone, and Nassau was completely out of it. Well, Miami ended up seeing wind gusts well over hurricane force, and the Bahamas saw tropical storm force winds.
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With all the expectations of 2024 bringing one of the most active seasons of all time, we'll be watching it all over the next six months.
