Helping and getting help after a storm… If you are looking for resources after a storm, or would like to volunteer your time to help others in need, here are your first stops:

• FEMA Mobile Website
• American Red Cross

Getting Prepared… Getting prepared for a storm is the most important thing you can do for yourself and your family before a storm.
When getting prepared, think about how you can use the information here when the power is out, or you have no internet connection available.
One of the great things about your iOS device, is that you can save the information for later through iBooks or by taking screen shots of important information
you want to save. To save a screen shot, press the power and home button at the same time – when you successfully take a screen shot, your screen will flash
and you will hear the camera shutter sound if your sound is turned on.

Here are some great resources to help you get ready well before a storm strikes your area!

• Great Hurricane Blowout
• [Open in Safari to Save to iBooks]

Helpful, related apps There are some great apps that can help you get prepared for storms, tell you where to go and what resources are available. Here’s our short list:

• American Red Cross Shelters App

Of course local resources can be found through your local media outlets. We will add more here as we come across the information.

View the National Hurricane Center: Tropical Cyclones Brochure.
We would like to suggest that you open the brochure in Safari and save the PDF file to your bookshelf, so that you can view and use the information even without a connection to the internet. We would also like to thank the National Hurricane Center for providing the enriched PDF this year. Most of the information below is covered in the PDF. If you find the information below is not in agreement with the PDF, please use the PDF as your guide. Find an error? Let us know!

Atlantic, Carribean, Gulf of Mexico
June 1 – November 30

Northeast Pacific
May 15 – November 30

Central Pacific including Hawaiian Islands
June 1 – November 30

West Pacific including Japan, Philippines
No official bounds; it runs year-round, but most storms tend to form between May and November

North Indian Ocean
No official bounds; but most storms tend to form between April and December

South Indian Ocean
No official bounds; but most storms tend to form between November and April

Australia and Southwest Pacific
No official bounds; but most storms tend to form between November and April

Tropical Storm Watch:
An announcement that tropical storm conditions (sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph) are possible within the specified coastal area within 48 hours.

Tropical Storm Warning:
An announcement that tropical storm conditions (sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph) are expected somewhere within the specified coastal area within 36 hours.

Hurricane Watch:
An announcement that hurricane conditions (sustained winds of 74 mph or higher) are possible within the specified coastal area. Because hurricane preparedness activities become difficult once winds reach tropical storm force, the hurricane watch is issued 48 hours in advance of the anticipated onset of tropical-storm-force winds.

Hurricane Warning:
An announcement that hurricane conditions (sustained winds of 74 mph or higher) are expected somewhere within the specified coastal area. Because hurricane preparedness activities become difficult once winds reach tropical storm force, the hurricane warning is issued 36 hours in advance of the anticipated onset of tropical-storm-force winds.

Rapid Intensification:
35 mph wind increase in 24 hrs.

Post-Tropical Cyclone:
A former tropical cyclone. This generic term describes a cyclone that no longer possesses sufficient tropical characteristics to be considered a tropical cyclone. Post-tropical cyclones can continue carrying heavy rains and high winds. Former tropical cyclones that have become fully extratropical, as well as remanant lows, are two specific classes of post-tropical cyclones.

Remanant Low:
A post-tropical cyclone that no longer possesses the convective organization required of a tropical cyclone, and has maximum sustained winds of less than 34 knots. The term is most commonly applied to the nearly deep-convection-free swirls of stratocumulus in the Eastern North Pacific.

Extratropical Cyclone:
A cyclone of any intensity for which the primary energy source is baroclinic (that is, results from the temperature contrast between warm and cold air masses).

Understanding Storm Surge…Along the coast, storm surge is often the greatest threat to life and property from a hurricane. In the past, large death tolls have resulted from the rise of the ocean associated with many of the major hurricanes that have made landfall. Hurricane Katrina (2005) is a prime example of the damage and devastation that can be caused by surge. At least 1500 persons lost their lives during Katrina and many of those deaths occurred directly, or indirectly, as a result of storm surge. Read More about storm surge