The National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Center Tropical Weather Web Service is a web service that contains the tropical cyclone data for possible storms throughout the United States and its territories. Specific storms can be identified on this summary service by the storm’s wallet. Wallet information is found in the "idp_source" with a field alias GIS Source attribute field of the data as the leading three characters.

This web service visually displays potential impact of tropical cyclones on coastal communities. The provided wind, probability of flooding, surge inundation layers, watch warnings and tidal masks offers critical information for emergency preparedness and response efforts. This includes helping residents, emergency managers, and policymakers understand the potential severity of coastal flooding and take appropriate precautions. This web service covers a wide range of coastal areas prone to tropical cyclones, ensuring that stakeholders across different regions have access to essential tropical storm information. This comprehensive coverage enhances the service's utility and relevance for a diverse audience.

However, understanding the full extent of risk requires a comprehensive view of the affected areas. Therefore, it's highly recommended to complement the National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Center Tropical Weather Web Service is complimented with the use of additional resources including NHC Peak Storm Surge Web Service that provide information about major roads, railways, landmarks, and areas likely to be flooded. Incorporating data on past flood levels can further enrich the analysis and aid in predicting future impacts.

One such valuable asset is the NWS National Viewer’s Tropical Site, which offers a wealth of supplementary information to enhance situational awareness and risk assessment. By integrating these complementary resources, stakeholders can gain a holistic understanding of the potential impacts of tropical cyclones and make more effective decisions to safeguard lives, property, and critical.

Layer Descriptions:

2 Day Outlook depicts the 2-day Graphic Tropical Weather Outlook from the NHC.

7 Day Outlook depicts the 7-day Graphic Tropical Weather Outlook from the NHC.

Forecast Points depicts the and current position and forecast positions of the storm out to 120 hours.

Forecast Track is a line connecting the forecast points.

Forecast Cone depicts the forecast "Cone of uncertainty".

Watch-Warning depicts a "watch/warning" line indicating which sections of the coastline are in a watch/warning state due to the storm.

Past Points depicts the "best" track of the storm to the current time.

Past Track is a line connecting the past points.

Best Wind Radii shows how the size of the storm has changed and the areas potentially affected so far by sustained winds.

Surface Wind Field is intended to show the areas potentially being affected by sustained winds of tropical storm force (34 knot), (50 knot) and hurricane force (64 knot).

Forecast Wind Radii are intended to show the expected size of the storm and the areas potentially affected by sustained winds of tropical storm force (34 Knot), (50 knot) and hurricane force (64 knot).

Arrival Time of TS Winds depicts the earliest reasonable or the most likely arrival time of tropical storm force winds.

Inundation depicts the total water level that occurs on normally dry ground as a result of the storm tide.

Tidal Mask depicts the total water level that occurs on normally dry ground as a result of the storm tide, plus intertidal zones/estuarine wetlands.

Probabilistic Winds depicts the probability of 34, 50 and 64 knot winds.

Update Frequency: Every 6 hours and every 3 hours if the storm is approaching the shore.

Link to graphical web page: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov

Link to data download (shapefile): https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gis

Link to metadata

Questions/Concerns about the service, please contact the DISS GIS team.

Time Information: This service is not time enabled.