SWFL.io - Local NewsTHE WEATHER AUTHORITY, Fla. (WINK) — With roughly two months to go until hurricane season begins, the National Hurricane Center has announced how its forecast cone graphics for the 2026 hurricane season will be delivered.
The new forecast cone will now display tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings for both coastal and inland areas. This will give communities farther from the coast a clearer picture of potential impacts and more time to prepare for dangerous winds.
Areas under both a tropical storm warning and a hurricane watch will be marked with a striped pattern, making overlapping alerts easier to identify at a glance.
In addition, NHC has provided an example of the visual update. The 5-day forecast will now feature consistent shading, replacing the previous design that used dotted patterns to distinguish days four and five.
While the Weather Authority has always highlighted inland impacts, those threats weren’t previously reflected in the National Hurricane Center’s cone graphics.
That changes this year, with the updated design now showing a more complete view of a storm’s potential reach beyond the coastline.
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