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Follow That Hurricane!

Startled man ready to run after a hurricane driven wave smashes into seawall

Historic NWS Collection. Courtesy NOAA.

Follow That Hurricane!

“Devastating damage expected... A most 

powerful hurricane with unprecedented 

strength... Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks, perhaps longer... At least 

one half of well constructed homes will have 

roof and wall failure... all wood framed low rising apartment buildings 

will be destroyed... High rise o ce and apartment buildings will sway 

dangerously, a few to the point of total collapse... airborne debris will be 

widespread... persons, pets, and livestock exposed to the winds will face 

certain death if struck...” 

~ from Urgent Weather Statement issued by Robert Ricks, Meteorologist, National Weather Service, New Orleans/Baton Rouge O ce, August 28, 2005

This weather statement, warning of Hurricane Katrina’s approach, 

probably saved many lives. Providing weather forecasts and warnings is 

one of the ways the National Weather Service carries out its mission to 

protect life and property and enhance the national economy. The National Hurricane Center (part of the National Weather Service) tracks tropical 

storms and hurricanes, and issues hurricane watches and warnings when 

the storms get close to the U.S. Here’s how you can track the approach of 

tropical storms and hurricanes.

What You Will Do

Track a hurricane on the same 

type of chart used at the 

National Hurricane Center
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What You Will Need

❒ Copy of the “Western Atlantic Hurricane Tracking Chart.” To download one yourself, go to 

www.nhc.noaa.gov/tracking_charts.shtml, 

scroll down the page to the blank tracking 

charts and click on the Western Atlantic one.

❒ Pencil and eraser

❒ A record of hurricane locations from the 

National Hurricane Center, or from historical 

hurricane records; records from four famous 

hurricanes are found on the following pages.

How to Do It

1. The location of a hurricane on a particular 

date and time is described by the latitude 

and longitude of the storm’s center, called 

the “eye.” Latitude measures how far north 

or south a location is from the equator, and 

longitude measures how far east or west a location is from a line that goes from the North 

Pole to the South Pole, passing through 

Greenwich, England. On the “Atlantic Basin 

Hurricane Tracking Chart,” latitude is shown 

by horizontal lines and longitude is shown 

by vertical lines. Latitude and longitude are 

measured in degrees. Hurricane coordinates 

are given in pairs, with latitude written 

before longitude. So, the location of Bermuda would be written as: 32.3°N, 64.7°W. The 

“N” means that the location is north of the 

equator, and the “W” means that the location 

is west of Greenwich, England.

2. To plot the location of a storm:

(a) Find the latitude of the storm (the fi rst 

coordinate in the pair), and locate the 

horizontal line on the map that matches 

this latitude.

(b) Find the longitude (the second coordinate 

in the pair, usually followed by a W or E), 

and locate the vertical line on the map 

that matches this longitude.

(c) Find the place on the map where the two 

lines intersect. This is the location of the 

storm eye. Draw the symbol for a hurricane or a tropical storm (depending upon 

the kind of storm you are tracking) at this 

spot, and write the date and time next to 

the symbol. (See above right).

3. Try plotting the track of one or more famous 

hurricanes. You are now ready to plot real 

storms during the next hurricane season! 

You can get coordinates from NOAA WeatherRadio-All Hazards, newspapers, or from 

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov.

Is It a Tropical Depression, 

Tropical Storm, or Hurricane?

Tropical Depressions, Tropical Storms, and Hurricanes are all cyclones, which are areas of low 

pressure in the atmosphere that have a spiralling 

inward pattern of air movement. In the Northern 

Hemisphere, the spiral turns counterclockwise, 

while cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere have 

spirals that turn clockwise.

A Tropical Depression is a tropical cyclone in 

which the maximum sustained wind speed is 38 

mph or less.

A Tropical Storm is a tropical cyclone in which the 

maximum sustained wind speed ranges from 39 

mph to 73 mph.

Hurricanes are tropical cyclones with maximum 

sustained wind speeds of 74 mph or greater. Hurricanes are classifi ed into fi ve categories:

• Category One: Winds 74-95 miles per hour 

• Category Two: Winds 96-110 miles per hour 

• Category Three: Winds 111-130 miles per hour 

• Category Four: Winds 131-155 miles per hour 

• Category Five: Winds greater than 155 miles 

per hour Hurricane Katrina Satelite View. Courtesy NOAA

Hurricane Symbol:

Tropical Storm Symbol:
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Is Your Family Disaster-Ready?

Visit https://www.ready.gov/kids/build-a-kit for information about how to 

make a Disaster Supply Kit.

Want to Do More?

Check out these Web sites:

• http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/intro.shtml – Hurricane 

Awareness from the National Hurricane Center

• www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtml – The list of World-Wide Tropical 

Cyclone Names

 • www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml – Information about the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

• http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hurricane/resources/

TropicalCyclones11.pdf – “Tropical Cyclones,” a very comprehensive 

guide to hurricanes and how to prepare for them

• http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastall.shtml – Historical Hurricane Tracks 

Web site, with information about dozens of hurricanes in the Atlantic 

and East-Central Pacific Ocean Basins. Scroll down to Past Track 

Seasonal Maps to select information about dozens of hurricanes in 

the Atlantic and East-Central Pacific Ocean Basins.

Track Coordinates of Some Famous Storms

Hurricane Hugo

Location and Windspeed at 0000 GMT

Date Latitude Longitude Wind Speed

 (North) (West) (knots)

9/11/1989 13.2 23.7 30

9/12/1989 12.5 31.0 40

9/13/1989 12.6 38.2 55

9/14/1989 12.9 44.9 70

9/15/1989 13.8 50.5 100

9/16/1989 14.8 56.1 135

9/17/1989 16.1 60.4 120

9/18/1989 17.2 64.1 130

9/19/1989 19.7 66.8 100

9/20/1989 23.5 69.3 90

9/21/1989 27.2 73.4 100

9/22/1989 31.7 78.8 120

9/23/1989 42.2 80.2 35

9/24/1989 52.0 62.0 40

9/25/1989 54.0 57.0 40

Courtesy FEMA

Courtesy NOAA
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Hurricane Andrew

Location and Windspeed at 0000 GMT

Date Latitude Longitude Wind Speed

 (North) (West) (knots)

17/8/1992 11.2 37.4 30

18/8/1992 13.6 46.2 40

19/8/1992 16.3 53.5 45

20/8/1992 19.8 59.3 40

21/8/1992 23.2 62.4 45

22/8/1992 25.3 65.9 55

23/8/1992 25.6 71.1 110

24/8/1992 25.4 77.5 125

25/8/1992 26.2 85.0 115

26/8/1992 28.5 90.5 125

27/8/1992 31.5 91.1 35

28/8/1992 34.4 86.7 20

Hurricane Floyd

Location and Windspeed at 0000 GMT

Date Latitude Longitude Wind Speed

 (North) (West) (knots)

8/9/1999 15.0 46.9 30

9/9/1999 16.7 52.6 45

10/9/1999 18.3 57.2 60

11/9/1999 20.8 60.4 80

12/9/1999 22.7 64.1 85

13/9/1999 23.4 68.7 125

14/9/1999 24.5 74.0 115

15/9/1999 27.1 77.7 115

16/9/1999 32.1 78.7 90

17/9/1999 40.6 73.5 50

18/9/1999 44.8 67.3 40

19/9/1999 48.0 56.3 35

Hurricane Katrina

Location and Windspeed at 0000 GMT

Date Latitude Longitude Wind Speed

 (North) (West) (knots)

24/8/2005 23.4 75.7 30

25/8/2005 26.0 77.7 45

26/8/2005 25.9 80.3 70

27/8/2005 24.6 83.3 90

28/8/2005 24.8 85.9 100

29/8/2005 27.2 89.2 140

30/8/2005 32.6 89.1 50

31/8/2005 38.6 85.3 30

Three views of Hurricane Andrew on 23, 24, and 25 August 1992 as the hurricane moves East 

to West. Time lapse satellite image courtesy NASA.
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