The interactive tracking map starts on a storm’s current center location and forecasted positions based on the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center.
The box at the bottom of the map shows information for a selected point along the storm’s path. This starts on the current center location for the storm, as well as maximum sustained wind speed, pressure, and movement. The advisory number is shown to the right of the name of the storm. Abbreviations to the left of the storm name indicate the type — ”T.D.” (Tropical Depression), “T.S.” (Tropical Storm), and “Hurr.” (Hurricane).
Zoom in or out with the plus (+) and minus (-) controls in the top-left corner.
To pan, click and drag the map or click the arrows along the edges of the map.
A legend in the top-right corner shows the color key for different categories of tropical cyclones. The colors go from white for a TD (Tropical Depression) to red for an H5 (Major Hurricane, Category 5). A scale beneath the legend correlates distance in miles with distance on your computer screen.
A list of display options in the top-right-hand corner allows you to selectively add layers to the map. Historical Track will show the storm’s entire path. When available, Clouds will load the latest available global cloud layer.
Clicking More will bring up Wind Fields, Ocean Buoys, Map Grid and Map Labels.