Hurricanes, Typhoons and Tropical Cyclones Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Dr. Christopher W. Landsea

OTHER PERSONNEL:
Mr. Neal Dorst

OBJECTIVE OF THE WORK

To provide informative answers to public/media frequently asked questions on hurricanes via the World Wide Web.

RATIONALE

Education of the public on meteorology and hurricanes in particular is a topic that has been addressed previously in individuals at HRD giving talks and occasionally providing an article in the popular literature. However, with the advent of the World Wide Web on the Internet, HRD can now utilize this new tool as an educational outreach method. Entries on the World Wide Web have the potential to not only reach local residents, but also citizens all across the United States and the world.

METHOD

The Hurricane, Typhoon and Tropical Cyclone FAQ (frequently asked questions) is an on-line document that is an ever-evolving paper. Questions that often come up regarding hurricanes (or other global tropical cyclones) are researched and answered in a non-technical manner with links to more detailed information in the reviewed literature. The FAQ is available both as an ASCII version to be transmitted via email and the appropriate newsgroups and as an HTML version to provide the capability to include figures and on-line links to other areas of interest.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

In March 1997, Neal Dorst reconfigured the Web version of the FAQ to allow for the information to be presented in a ten part breakdown: Basic definitions, names, myths, winds, records, forecasting, climatology observation, real-time information and historical information. An ASCII version in two files is also available via an anonymous ftp site at HRD. These are updated approximately every month and the full ASCII version is posted on the sci.geo.meteorology and sci.environment newsgroups. An abbreviated ASCII version is posted to the wx-talk and tropical-storms list-serve email groups as well as information of the HTML site.

KEY REFERENCE:

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/tcfaqHED.html
ftp hrd-type42.nhc.noaa.gov