Two powerful Atlantic storms are threatening the East Coast with dangerous surf conditions this week, according to the National Hurricane Center. Category 4 Hurricane Humberto is swirling over the central Atlantic and hammering the beaches of the northern Caribbean, Bahamas, and Bermuda with high surf and life-threatening rip currents, the NHC reported early Monday morning. […]
Giz Asks: Do We Really Need a Category 6 for Hurricanes?
For more than 50 years, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center used the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale (SSHWS) to classify hurricane strength. This scale, which ranks hurricanes from Category 1 to Category 5, is based on only one metric: maximum sustained wind speed. That wasn’t always the case. Until 2012, the SSHWS also took central […]
Forecasters Are Monitoring a Wacky Storm Situation in the Atlantic
After an unusually slow start to the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center are monitoring a complex situation with high stakes for the Southeast. As of Thursday morning, Category 1 Hurricane Gabrielle was tracking east away from the U.S. and toward the Azores, an archipelago in the mid-Atlantic. Meanwhile, two developing […]
Hurricane Swarms Are a Thing We Have to Worry About Now
In early October 2024, hurricanes Milton, Kirk, and Leslie churned in the Atlantic Basin—the first time on record that three Atlantic hurricanes were simultaneously active after September, according to NOAA. New research warns that tropical cyclone “clusters” are becoming more common in this part of the world, compounding the hazards of hurricane season. Tropical cyclone […]
Researchers Uncover Hurricane Sandy’s Hidden Death Toll
More than a decade after Hurricane Sandy flooded the East Coast and killed over 200 people, a new study has revealed the storm’s lasting impact on mortality risk among older adults. The researchers linked hurricane flood exposure to a 9% increase in risk of death for people over the age of 65 who continued living […]
In Rare Spasm of Sanity, Pentagon Backtracks on Plan to Scuttle Storm Tracking
In a stunning reversal, the Pentagon said it will uphold a longstanding program that supplies critical hurricane data to federal forecasters—just days before it was set to end. The move follows outcry from meteorologists and public officials blindsided by the planned cancellation at the start of hurricane season. In June, the Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorology […]