Summer Travel & Weather Advisories

Courtesy of KITV

         For most of us, we are now in full-blown summer mode, which means summer vacation and traveling. When traveling, it’s important to be aware of weather advisories and respond accordingly. Whether it is safety alerts or natural hazards, you should be mindful of different threats and risks you may encounter while enjoying your vacation.  When on vacation you are both away from your home and familiar surroundings, so having awareness of where to go to find a safe haven and what to do will be even more important if you find yourself in a severe weather situation.   

If you aren’t aware, hurricane (topical cyclones) season starts at different dates depending on the region of the globe you are located, but no matter where you are the season ends November 30^th. Atlantic hurricane season started June 1^st; this includes the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.  May 15^th marked the beginning of the Eastern Pacific tropical cyclone season and June 1^st also was the start of the Western and Central Pacific typhoon season. Due to El Nino, we can expect to see a near or below-normal Atlantic hurricane season. There is a 70% chance of eight to 13 named storms developing with three to six of these becoming hurricanes (74 mph or higher). The Western and Central Pacific can also expect a near-normal tropical season with four to seven named typhoons. While the Eastern Pacific is predicted to have a close to near or above-normal season including 14-20 named storms, with six to 11 storms becoming tropical cyclones. The Eastern Pacific is already off to a record start. This is the earliest storm trackers have ever seen two category 4 hurricanes take form. This season we will want to keep our eyes on the Eastern Pacific basin.

While traveling during hurricane season, you may find yourself in a potentially dangerous   

Courtesy of Mike Theiss/Corbis

condition that may take up to a week or more to abate if a severe storm makes landfall. Infrastructures including airports may become closed, roads can be washed out, islands can experience water inundation (this includes both rainfall and rising tidal basins) and emergency personal may not always be able to help right away, so it’s important to be conscious of local weather alerts and travel warnings. Reading travel advisories prior to departing for your trip and keeping up with the local news and newspapers are a good way to keep yourself informed and alert. Also, download and use the Weather Channel app everyday. This handy app has daily and extended forecasts, alerts, and warnings. Before you depart for a trip you can download a location and track the weather days or weeks before your vacation. If there is trouble on the horizon the Weather Channel will have you covered with up-to-date information. Before you make travel plans, research to see if your travel destination could be impacted by hurricane or typhoon season. It’s also essential to know that the extra travel insurance offered by travel agencies may help with additional travel expenses due to inclement weather. Travel insurance may even reimburse you if your trip is cancelled due to severe weather. If traveling abroad, stay in touch with the regional U.S. embassy or consulate and also with friends and family back home so they know your location and status. If overseas and a tropical cyclone were to strike your area, the U.S. Department of State and U.S. embassy will provide country specific information through on line Consular notices, travel alerts and warnings so you can make an informed decision to either postpone a visit, depart a location or shelter in place. The Department of State will provide you with the most updated traveling information about your destination by calling 1-888-407-4747. When traveling abroad consider registering with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate through the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) via the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs web site.

For those of you not vacationing anywhere exotic or aboard, even a week-long vacation to the beach could potentially put you in the path of a hurricane. It’s important to monitor important announcements from the National Weather Service because you never know when dangerous conditions may be forming in the area you are vacationing.  Be aware of the preparation instructions for beach houses and hotels and the closest emergency evacuation routes.

At home and on the road it’s important to always be prepared for a hurricane.  A hurricane preparation kit is easy to build and will provide life saving supplies if you find yourself in a path of a large storm. You can follow this link to the Weather Channel’s disaster supply kit where you can find everything you may ever need when weather threatens. Should you become stuck or stranded on vacation, preparing your car with emergency supplies could become vital. By keeping a case or two of water, a first aid kit, blankets, non-perishable food, and a radio/phone, you could sustain yourself long enough for help to arrive or for the storm to pass. Two additional sources of information for weather trends and storm/disaster preparation can be found on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) web sites.

It’s always better to be over prepared than finding yourself in a vulnerable or dangerous situation. Please inform yourself and others with information about your travel destinations. And be sure to pass this information along with loved ones and friends. Keep up-to-date on hurricanes by using ForecastGMU’s HURRICANE UPDATE! If you have any questions or information about an upcoming storm, please feel free to ask Katie Thomas through our comments or our social media sites. Please be safe in your summer travels!