Orlando, Florida – July 21, 2009 – Kitty Code, LLC announced the availability of Hurricane 3.0, a hurricane and tropical storm tracker for the iPhone and iPod Touch, in the iTunes App Store. Hurricane, the most popular and best selling hurricane tracker for the iPhone and iPod Touch, returns with a great update for the 2009 hurricane season.

Hurricane introduces a whole new way to track tropical storm systems with a new highly detailed, zoomable map covering storms in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A dynamic information page for each storm provides you with satellite and radar imagery when available and the latest plots for active storms.

“Hurricane 3.0 will bring information to those in a storm’s path when they need it the most by providing the most comprehensive tropical data available on a mobile device”, said Ilene Jones, Co-Founder and CEO of Kitty Code, LLC.

New features introduced in Hurricane 3.0 include:

• The addition of the Eastern Pacific ocean tracking maps to the existing Atlantic tracking maps
• Pacific historical tracking data has been added to provide past storm information in the Pacific
• A new storm information page has been added to put important storm details such as storm specific satellite, radar, and forecast images and text at your finger tips
• Fully zoomable tracking maps providing a greater level of detail
• Integrated GPS to inform you of your distance from an approaching storm
• Updated satellite images covering both the Atlantic and Pacific
• An enhanced look that makes finding information easier than ever before

Reviews for Hurricane 3.0 are already coming in from our customers:
“Usually you would need several apps or go to many www pages Well organized Thanks” – iTunes Review
“Love the 3.0 update with improved map features and more info on tropical activity/discussions!” – iTunes Review

Minimum Requirements:
iPhone or iPod Touch 3.0 or later

Pricing and Availability:
Hurricane 3.0 for iPhone is only $3.99 (USD) and available exclusively through Apple’s App Store. More information about Hurricane for the iPhone and iPod Touch can be found at the official Hurricane website.

Kitty Code
Hurricane 3.0
Download and Purchase
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App Icon

Kitty Code, LLC is a privately owned startup in Orlando, FL, which writes innovative applications for hand held devices. With over 30 combined years of experience in weather, web technologies and game development we are able to create games and applications which are robust, fun to play, technically savvy and yet easy to use. To find out more about Kitty Code, join us on our website. Copyright 2009 Kitty Code, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

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April 6-10 was the National Hurricane Conference. This year it was held in Austin, Texas and covered a lot of great information including specifics about Ivan and it’s effects on the people of Texas. One of the major subjects of discussion was the Saffir-Simpson scale. Some say that the scale does not accurately portray the storm surge of a hurricane. I feel that the real problem is the lack of understanding of storms which are very strong (major) while out in the Gulf of Mexico, but weaken as they come closer to land.

Scenario – Hurricane WhatsHerName:

Hurricane WhatsHerName is a category 5 hurricane out in the Caribbean and moves into the Gulf of Mexico, hitting no land. The storm remains a category 5 hurricane for greater than 24 hours. The storm surge of WhatsHerName according to the Saffir-Simpson Scale is expected to be greater than 18ft at landfall, if it remains a category 5 hurricane.

WhatsHerName runs into some shear before coming to land in the Gulf of Mexico, dropping her winds and making her a cateogry 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. WhatsHerName is within 36 hours of land, storm warnings are posted. Since her winds have brought her down to a category 3 hurricane, the scale says that her storm surge should be 9-12ft, if you take the scale literally. However, the physics of water tells us that we should really be expecting a greater storm surge because the larger water base has been stirred into action, and water does not slow as quickly as winds. So, in reality, you should be expecting somewhere between category 4 (13-18ft) and category 5 ( greater than 18ft) storm surge with this category 3 storm.

The Saffir-Simpson scale works great when you are going up the scale. However, the flaw is when you come down the scale. It is my belief however that the scale is not at fault, but the understanding of the physics behind storm surge by the media and possibly our models which informs the public of what to expect. The models are getting better however, and we now have experimental storm surge data which will be available for the 2009 hurricane season.

With any luck though, our weather media will be able to do a great job of educating the public on what to expect this year, and hopefully prevent a large amount of the problems we see when the storms come our way this year.

In the mean time, make sure you are prepared for hurricane season this year. You can never prepare too early, only too late.

Category 1 is a minimum hurricane; category 5 is the worst case. The criteria for each category in the table shown below:

* – The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is based on Windspeed alone, the pressures are only included as a general reference and may not always apply

Regular Hurricane Season Dates:

Atlantic, Carribean, Gulf of Mexico

June 1 – November 30

Northeast Pacific

May 15 – November 30

Central Pacific including Hawaiian Islands

June 1 – November 30

In each of these areas, based on historical data, which was completely ignored by the Atlantic hurricanes during the 2005 extremely active, record breaking Atlantic hurricane season, the best time to visit would be in June and July, and again in late October and November.  August,  September and early October are considered the height of the season which means there is a much greater chance of a hurricane in these waters at this time.  Hurricane Season is just that though, it is the time when hurricanes develop in these waters, therefore if you make plans to travel to these areas during the season, you should also have a backup plan, as well as travel insurance!

What would you do if you made travel plans in the Carribean during August, and a category 3 hurricane hits the island the week before you are scheduled to arrive?