Mariner’s Poem On Hurricanes
June too soon.
July stand by.
August look out you must.
September remember.
October all over.
- Published in “Weather Lore” by R. Inwards in 1898
#17,625
Up until the last couple of days the Atlantic basin has been relatively quiet, suppressed by a combination of wind shear, dry air, and Saharan dust. But we are rapidly approaching the climatological peak of the hurricane season (roughly Sept 10th), and even with a strong El Niño brewing, the tropical Atlantic is showing signs of coming to life.
For now, all eyes are on Hurricane Hillary, now battering Mexico's Baja Peninsula, and expected to deliver rare tropical storm conditions, and flash floods, to Southern California and the American Southwest tonight and tomorrow (see NHC Key Messages below).
Most of the threats currently on the board are forecast to remain at sea, although the Eastern Caribbean and the Texas Gulf coast could both see systems move in this week.
Each May we take the time to review hurricane preparedness in this blog (see National Hurricane Preparedness Week 2023), and during September (National Preparedness Month), I give a good deal attention to issues like evacuation, bug out bags, solar power generation, and other topics.
Now, before a storm threatens your area, is the time to prepare. Once the warnings are issued, even getting flashlight batteries, or bottled water, may be difficult. In 2017, when Hurricane Irma was still 1000 miles east of Miami, I wrote:
If you live in Florida you already know that most store shelves were stripped of bottled water, flashlights, batteries, and other hurricane supplies by early afternoon yesterday.
I talked to friends in Tampa, Orlando, and Apopka last night - all 200+ miles north of Miami - and heard identical stories of long lines and empty shelves from each location. This mad rush to stock up happens before every storm, and while there are always last minute items to get, much of it could be avoided if people prepared at the start of the hurricane season.
As always, your primary source of forecast information should always be the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. These are the real experts, and the only ones you should rely on to track and forecast the storm.
If you are on Twitter, you should also follow @FEMA, @NHC_Atlantic, @NHC_Pacific and @ReadyGov, and of course take direction from your local Emergency Management Office.For more Hurricane resources from NOAA, you'll want to follow these links.
