New online hurricane maps at www.abc13.com

Check out the hurricane section of our webpage. I've updated the look of our online hurricane maps.  The new format places the important information at the bottom of the screen in big, bold letters. Oftentimes, on the old maps the banner at the top covered up the track of the storm and the information was hard to read. Also, the position of the storm and the forecast are now displayed on one map.

I set up the template for these graphics and then our computers automatically create the images and send them to our website whenever new data arrives. It happens in seconds. Our maps are usually updated faster than the graphics on the National Hurricane Center Website. And soon we'll be adding a map showing the latest computer model forecasts for each storm.

Thousands of people signed up for the free* text message weather alerts during Hurricane Gustav. Now that the storm has passed, you'll continue to receive a concise forecast from ABC13 every morning about 7 AM. We will no longer issue tropical updates until we are threatened by another storm.  If you'd like to sing up or wish to change your subscription status, just click here.

*We do not charge for this service, but standard text message rates may apply depending on the contract with your cellphone company. See your carrier for details.

Comments

[Natalie]

For my school newspaper I'm in charge of tracking the hurricanes and the busy hurricane season and the text messages were GREAT! So was everything from the blog and on tv. Thanks! Did ya'll (the meteorologist) do those yourself? If so, SWEET- Tim Heller texted me! :)

RESPONSE from Tim Heller: I'm glad you like the free text messages Natalie...and yes, we sent those out ourselves. We are no longer sending out the special tropical undates. We'll start again if/when another hurricane threatens the Houston-Galveston area.

[Amanda]

Thanks for changing the banner location! That thing was driving me nuts during Gustav.

[Janee Harris]

How do meteorologist pick the name of a hurricane? Is it just randomly from a list or is there some kind of method?

RESPONSE from Tim Heller: The names are selected by the World Meteorological Organization. There are six lists which rotate every year.