National Hurricane Center

About National Hurricane Center

The U.S. National Hurricane Center, located at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, is the division of National Weather Service's Tropical Prediction Center responsible for tracking and predicting the likely behavior of tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes.

When tropical storm or hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours, the center issues the appropriate watches and warnings via the news media and NOAA Weather Radio. Although an agency of the United States, the World Meteorological Organization has designated the NHC as Regional Specialized Meteorological Center for the North Atlantic and eastern Pacific. As such, the NHC is the central clearinghouse for all tropical cyclone forecasts and observations occurring in these areas, regardless of their effect on the US.

The National Hurricane Center has its roots in a December 5, 1898 declaration by then-President William McKinley for the Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) to establish a hurricane warning network. As communications and forecasting evolved, responsibility for issuing hurricane warnings was eventually centralized in the Miami Weather Bureau office.