In a rush? 15 things you should know before 2025 hurricane season arrives
We realize your time is valuable.
But living in Florida, there are some things you just have to know, and ranking high among those things is info about hurricane season.
➤ Weather alerts via text: Sign up to get updates about current storms and weather events by location
So here's a very quick-hit look at the 2025 hurricane season.
June 1 through Nov. 30.
As of May 13, 18 days.
Daily tropical outlooks will be released by the National Hurricane Center starting May 15.
Advisories are issued when there is a named storm out there or an unnamed system is close to land and residents need time to prepare before it's officially named.
➤ National Hurricane Center tropical outlooks start May 15. Here's why they're important to Florida
Outlooks show areas with a potential of developing into tropical cyclones over the next two to seven days.
No, but ...
AccuWeather forecasters said there's an area around Central America with a low possibility of tropical development May 17-24.
➤ AccuWeather warns 1st tropical storm of year could develop in May. See forecast, Florida impact
Predictions released as of May 13 predict an above-normal number of named tropical systems, ranging from:
Named storms: 13-21
Hurricanes: 7-10
Major hurricanes: 3-5
➤ Florida is No. 1. That's not good when it comes to hurricane season predictions. See forecast
Named storms: 14
Hurricanes: 7
Major hurricanes: 3
Andrea
➤ 2025 hurricane season will start with Andrea. See list of names
The NHC will use diagonal pink and blue lines to show counties where both a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning have been issued.
The NHC will be:
Showing a smaller cone to display the probable track of the center of a tropical cyclone.
Issuing an advisory 72 hours instead of 48 hours before the expected arrival of storm surge or tropical-storm-force winds on land.
Adding a rip current risk map.
Providing storm surge information for some of the Hawaiian Islands.
➤ National Hurricane Center lays out changes coming for 2025 season. See what to expect
Prepare now, before a hurricane is coming. Break it down into steps:
Assemble a disaster supplies kit
Check your home. Look at roof, shutters, garage door, trees, loose items, etc.
Determine your evacuation zone and whether you live in a flood-prone area
Look over your insurance coverage
➤ New to hurricanes? Everything to know about NOAA tips from Hurricane Preparedness Week
Go to FEMA's Flood Risk website, floodsmart.gov/flood-risk and enter your ZIP code.
➤ Know your risks from wind and water
Go to the Florida Department of Emergency Management's Know Your Zone website and enter your address.
➤ Know your risks from wind and water
As of May 13, that has not been approved by the Legislature or Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In 2024, the first of two disaster-preparedness sales tax holiday ran from June 1-14.
➤ Five big budget issues: Tense times ahead as feuding Florida lawmakers take on DeSantis
We will start our daily tropical weather coverage on May 15. Download your local site's app to ensure you're always connected to the news. And look for our special subscription offers here.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida hurricane season: When, 2025 predictions, how to prepare
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Hazy sky to persist as Canadian wildfire smoke and Saharan dust invade US
The haze is here to stay. Rounds of smoke from hundreds of Canadian wildfires, as well as dust blowing off Sub-Saharan Africa, will continue to envelop portions of the United States into the summer, say AccuWeather meteorologists. Recent rounds of smoke blowing across the northern and eastern U.S. over the last week resulted in a hazy sky, poor air quality and vibrant sunrises and sunsets. While the smoke has mostly retreated back into Canada as of late this week, additional episodes are expected through the summer, with the first expected early next week. Meanwhile, the Saharan dust will result in similar effects in the South, mostly in Florida and areas surrounding the Gulf and southwestern Atlantic. A recent round of dust blowing off of Africa will also have the effect of putting a temporary lid on potential tropical development. A cycle of smoke from Canadian wildfires The 2025 Canadian wildfire season is off to a quick start, and the result has been plumes of thick smoke pouring into the U.S. since May. Because of how Canada manages these fires, mostly burning unabated in unpopulated areas, the smoke will continue to flow south in cycles through the summer, warn AccuWeather meteorologists. According to data released by the Canadian government last week, nearly 1,500 fires have burned so far in the country. While this number is not unusual, the size of the fires has been, covering an area that's over 300 percent of the historical average for this time of year, mostly in the prairies of central Canada. From last week into early this week, plumes of smoke dimmed the sky and led to poor air quality in Midwestern locales before heading south and east. That smoke has now mostly retreated or dissipated from the lower 48 states. "Pockets of smoke and haze are expected to hover over portions of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes through this weekend," said AccuWeather Meteorologist Brandon Buckingham. "However, the density and overall aerial coverage of the smoke will continue to decrease." Multiple storms moving across the Midwest and East-in association with clouds, rain and changes in the wind direction-have led, and will continue to lead, to the dissipation of smoke in many areas. However, this break from the smoky conditions will be the app? Unlock AccuWeather Alerts™ with Premium+ "Between Sunday and Monday, a cold front diving out of Canada is expected to bring a resurgence of smoky skies," said Buckingham. "This will likely target many of the same areas that experienced smoky skies this past week, especially across the northern Plains and Midwest." Where the smoke is thickest in the Midwest, the air quality can suffer, resulting in hazardous conditions, especially for susceptible populations such as the elderly and those with respiratory ailments. By the time the smoke moves east later next week, that concern will lessen. "Hazy skies from upper-atmosphere smoke can potentially spread across the Southeast, mid-Atlantic and Northeast by the middle and end of next week," added Buckingham. The smoky start to the warm months has many recalling the thick smoke that invaded Midwestern and Northeastern cities in 2023, which ended up being Canada's most destructive wildfire season. Saharan dust to put a lid on tropical activity in the Atlantic While wildfire smoke will continue to intrude from the north this summer, rounds of dust blowing off Africa will impact the South. A current round through late this week can be replaced by another next week, say AccuWeather experts. "Besides the dust that is already over the Southeast and moving across the Atlantic, another large round of dust is moving off Africa now," said AccuWeather Lead Hurricane Forecaster Alex DaSilva on Thursday morning. "It is expected to reach the Lesser Antilles beginning late this weekend, and perhaps Florida by the end of next week." In the meantime, a hazy sky and vibrant sunrises and sunsets can be expected all along the Gulf Coast, and also portions of the southwest Atlantic coast, through Friday. The dimming of the sunshine can also have a slight cooling effect, resulting in daytime high temperatures that are a few degrees lower than they otherwise would have been with full sun. Unlike with thick wildfire smoke plumes, the Saharan dust will remain mostly in the upper atmosphere, because of the great distance of thousands of miles it must travel to reach the U.S. Because of that, poor air quality is not anticipated in either the Caribbean or Southeast, though some of the dust can mix with rain from thunderstorms, leaving what appears to be dirty spots on cars and other objects. The dust can have an effect of quelling potential tropical development, however. "This dust will likely prevent anything from forming across most of the Atlantic tropical basin over the next few weeks," pointed out DaSilva. "The only areas that can see a risk of development will be across the western Caribbean or in the Gulf." AccuWeather meteorologists are currently highlighting a low risk for tropical development in that area through mid-June. The hurricane season as a whole, which runs through Nov. 30, is expected to be an active one, especially after Saharan dust subsides. Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app. AccuWeather Alerts™ are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.
Scientific American
2 hours ago
- Scientific American
New Hires Will Still Leave the NWS Dangerously Understaffed, Meteorologists Say
CLIMATEWIRE | New hiring efforts at the National Weather Service won't be enough to overcome staffing shortages and potential risks to human lives this summer, meteorologists warned Wednesday at a panel hosted by Democratic Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell. NOAA will hire around 125 new employees at the NWS, the agency said in an announcement first reported Monday by CNN. But nearly 600 employees have departed the NWS over the last few months, after the Trump administration fired probationary federal employees and offered buyouts and early retirements. That means the new hires will account for less than 25 percent of the total losses. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. 'A quarter of the staff are not going to do the job when, let's just say, both hurricane and fire risks are increasing,' Cantwell said during Wednesday's panel. '[The Trump administration's] approach in response to this has been a flimsy Band-Aid over a very massive cut.' Cantwell added that the National Hurricane Center is not fully staffed, as NOAA officials suggested last month when announcing their predictions for the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season outlook. The NHC has at least five vacancies, she said, representing meteorologists and technicians who help build forecasts for tropical cyclones in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Meanwhile, NOAA is predicting above-average activity in the Atlantic this hurricane season. Updated fire maps also suggest that nearly all of Cantwell's home state of Washington, along with Oregon and large swaths of California, will experience an above-average risk of wildfires by August. Kim Doster, NOAA's director of communications, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on NOAA's staffing shortages or the NHC's vacancies. Three meteorologists speaking on the panel echoed Cantwell's concerns, suggesting that staffing shortages at weather offices across the country risk forecasting errors and breakdowns in communication between meteorologists and emergency managers. At least eight local weather offices across the country are currently so short-staffed that they can no longer cover their overnight shifts, said Brian LaMarre, a former meteorologist-in-charge at the NWS office in Tampa Bay, Florida. Some of these offices may have to rely on 'mutual aid,' or borrowed staff, from other NWS locations to cover their shifts during extreme weather events. But Cantwell and other panelists expressed concern that staff-sharing across the NWS could erode the accuracy of forecasts and warnings for local communities. Cantwell pointed to the meteorologists that specialize in fire weather forecasts. NOAA typically deploys those experts to provide forecasts and recommendations to firefighters on the ground when wildfires strike. 'If you think you're gonna substitute somebody that's gonna be somewhere else — I don't know where, some other part of the state or some other state — and you think you're gonna give them accurate weather information? It just doesn't work that way,' she said. Washington state-based broadcast meteorologist Jeff Renner echoed her concerns. 'The meteorologists that respond to [wildfires] have very specific training and very specific experience that can't be easily duplicated, particularly from those outside the area,' he said. Meanwhile, LaMarre's former position in Tampa is vacant, and around 30 other offices across the country are also operating without a permanent meteorologist-in-charge. 'That person is the main point of contact when it comes to briefing elected officials, emergency management directors, state governors, city mayors, parish officials,' LaMarre said. 'They are the individual that's gonna be implementing any new change that is needed for hurricane season, blizzards, wildfires, inland flooding.' The NWS suffered from staffing shortages prior to the Trump administration. But LaMarre said he never saw such widespread vacancies, including offices unable to operate overnight, in his 30 years at the agency. He emphasized that NWS meteorologists will do whatever it takes to ensure accurate forecasts when extreme weather strikes. But too many gaps at local offices mean that some services will inevitably suffer, LaMarre added. 'Whenever you look at an office that is short-staffed, that means a piece of that larger puzzle is taken away,' he said. 'That means some outreach might not be able to occur. Some trainings might not be able to occur. Some briefings to officials might not be able to occur.'
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
2 hikers die on Maine mountain amid treacherous weather
Rescue crews have found the bodies of two hikers who went missing after attempting to summit Mount Katahdin over the weekend amid cold, windy and wet weather. Mount Katahdin is the tallest mountain in Maine, located in the remote area of Baxter State Park, and is known for dangerous conditions when the weather isn't clear and dry. "Tim Keiderling and his daughter, Esther, went missing on a hike over the weekend after encountering difficult weather conditions. First responders have since found both succumbed to exposure," Rifton Equipment said in a statement. Both Tim and Esther Keiderling worked for the medical supply company, based out of Ulster County, New York. Sunday was windy and cold in Maine with rain falling around Baxter State Park through at least midday, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said. "It did not look like a good day to be on that mountain," Douty added. "Searchers had been looking for Esther and her father, Tim Keiderling, since Monday, when they found their unattended vehicle in a day-use parking lot. Tim Keiderling, age 58, and his daughter Esther Keiderling, age 28, both of Ulster Park, New York, had left Abol Campground on Sunday to hike to the summit of Katahdin," Baxter State Park said in a Facebook post. Both were found deceased after a three-day search, which included 25 game wardens, 25 state park rangers, seven K9 teams, and 15 additional volunteers. Katahdin is one of the most popular mountains to hike in Maine and is the northernmost point of the Appalachian Trail. The summit is above the treeline, meaning hikers are exposed to the elements during most of their trip. The temperature can be much lower near the summit compared to the lower elevations, and paired with high winds, can dramatically lower the AccuWeather RealFeel® Temperature. Rain can make the hike slippery and dangerous due to the rocky trails that lead up to the summit. "Hiking Katahdin requires an elevation gain of around 4,000 ft. This is a very strenuous climb, no matter which trailhead you choose," Baxter State Park said on its website. "Remember that your primary goal is not reaching the summit, but a safe return to the trailhead." Cell phone service may be limited in Baxter State Park, so hikers are encouraged to check the weather forecast carefully before heading to the mountain.
