Author: HURREVAC Support

Here’s a summary of improvements made by the HURREVAC development team during late 2023 and early 2024. New way to manage simulated storms Managing your list of simulated storms in the Storms tab no longer requires a right-click. To add a simulated storm, left-click the three dot menu icon to the right of the folder heading. The options to remove, share, and edit a particular simulated storm can be accessed with a left-click on the three dot menu icon next to that storm’s name. Get a county-based report by right-clicking A county-based Wind Timing Report for a Location can now be generated from a right-click. The context menu contains a direct link to create a report based on the boundaries of the county (or U.S. county equivalent) in which the click was made. This link is located below the option to generate a report for the specific coordinates that were clicked. The image below shows an example for Suffolk County, NY. Previously, the only way to generate a county-based report was by clicking on the name of a locality listed in the multi-location wind timing reports. That method is still available. Error cone size for archived storms The Potential Track Area (Error Cone) now shows historically accurate dimensions for archived storms. Previously, the cones for all storms in the program were plotted using the annually-updated definitions for the current season. Average track errors have diminished over time, so cones for current storms are smaller than they were in past decades. When working with an archived storm, HURREVAC now applies the error statistics from its year of occurrence to show the cone as it would have appeared in graphical products issued at the time. The program also factors in how those cone definitions vary by ocean basin and issuing agency. HURREVAC will continue to plot cones for exercise storms and simulated storms with the current (2023) definitions, regardless of when the storm was created or the date of the scenario. Product changes for the 2024 season, including any changes to error cone dimensions, are expected to be implemented later this spring. Learn more about these tools in the HURREVAC User Guide (login required).

The latest upgrade to Points of Interest gives HURREVAC users more options for storing and sharing their information. The POI Import and Export functions now support GeoJSON files. POIs can still be exported to and imported from properly-formatted Excel (.xlsx) spreadsheets. POI Style Settings can now be imported and exported, too. To share the custom look of your POI with another HURREVAC user, the style settings can be downloaded and uploaded via a JSON file. Learn more in the updated Points of Interest topic of the user guide.

The HURREVAC team deployed several upgrades and changes on August 15. These enhancements are mainly focused on the integration of Points of Interest with evacuation timing tools. One general improvement involves the resizing of reports in the right Side Panel. Reports have variable widths, so the panel now automatically expands to show all columns and data. Timeline Actions NEW: Timeline actions can be created for a point of interest, rather than a county (or parish) at large. Read the timeline actions page of the HURREVAC user guide for more details (login required). CHANGE: Increased character limit on Timeline Item Abbreviation from 10 to 20 characters CHANGE: Time offset is only in relation to the Arrival of Tropical-Storm-Force Winds (34 kt / 39 mph). Previous nonoperational prompts for arrival of strong tropical-storm-force winds (50 kt / 58 mph) and closest approach of the eye were removed. Actions that were previously saved using those factors may still be listed under Saved Timelines, but are not applied elsewhere in the program. CHANGE: Improved sorting functionality of Saved Timelines list. A Type column was added to distinguish county-based and POI-based actions. Timing Arcs NEW: Timing Arcs can be plotted for new POI-based timeline actions. These arcs are drawn from the exact point rather than the geographic center of a county. CHANGE: Clarified labels on tooltips and legend entries for timing arcs. Evacuation Timing Report NEW: POI-based timeline actions are included in the report. Read the evacuation timing report page of the HURREVAC user guide for examples. CHANGE: Relabeled and reformatted columns for easier interpretation of data. Light blue columns show the relation between Earliest Reasonable TS Wind Onset and Earliest Evac (Action) Start Time data. Blue columns show the relation between Most Likely TS Wind Onset and Latest Evac (Action) Start Time data. CHANGE: Reformatted text style of rows to distinguish evacuation scenarios (bold) and timeline actions (italic). CHANGE: By default, report is initially sorted by Earliest Evac (Action) Start Time. All other columns are now sortable. FIX: Repaired scenarios and actions for Miami-Dade County, Florida. To see correct functionality for Miami-Dade in this report, enter or reenter new scenarios and actions, and delete the old items from your user profile. Points of Interest CHANGE: Geocode Search button renamed as Add POI to better reflect its purpose. CHANGE: Latitude and longitude columns are again displayed by default. These can be hidden by clicking the arrow of any column header, selecting Columns from the list, then unchecking the boxes next to Lat and Lon. CHANGE: Initial Map Display Level slider expanded so that the widest maximum display can be set to level 4 instead of level 5.

The HURREVAC team implemented two changes to the program for the start of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season: enhanced display settings for Points of Interest and a new system for Notifications. Several data layers were recently expanded or added to HURREVAC due to changes in National Hurricane Center products. If you have not already, be sure to read about the developments in our previous announcement. As of June 1, HURREVAC also incorporates the expansion of the Weather Prediction Center’s operational Excessive Rainfall Outlook to Days 4 and 5. Enhanced Points of Interest (POI) Points of Interest (POI) are user-defined locations that you can highlight on the map or analyze for reports. Previously, all POI had the same look and were managed through the User Preferences window. Now, POI appearance can be customized and differentiated according to their type. Plus, the interface is redesigned for easier management of POI types. To open, click the Map Tools folder and select Points of Interest from the list. The Points of Interest window is anchored over the tracking map in the top right corner of the workspace. You now have the ability to assign or edit the POI type directly from this window. The steps for adding, importing, exporting and deleting POI are mostly the same as before. To change the styling of POI, click POI Styles at the bottom of the POI list, or open User Preferences and go to the POI Style Settings tab. This window is anchored over the map in the lower right corner of the workspace. There, you have options to add or remove POI types, then edit and save the styles associated with each. The menus let you customize the label font, font style, font size, font color, symbol size, symbol color, and initial map display level. For example, you could create a POI type called “Hospitals.” All POIs with that type would show up on the map with a blue circle with black label text in the Arial font. Read more step-by-step instructions and examples in the updated HURREVAC User Guide. (login required) Further POI enhancements are in development, look for announcements this summer. Notifications The new notification feature is designed to give you timely information to get the most out of the program. The HURREVAC team plans to send occasional and useful updates about the program’s tools and data. Routine information, like an announcement about changes to a HURREVAC tool, will passively appear in the Notification Center. As warranted, notifications may be sent when there are significant developments during active storms or other high-impact situations. As part of this upgrade, you’ll also see a new look for some of the familiar pop-up windows (dialog boxes) when you complete or confirm an action in HURREVAC. Why notifications? ● when there’s something new that you may not be expecting, like initiation of advisories, a special Tropical Weather Outlook or special advisory. ● when something you’re expecting becomes available, like a landfall update, a storm surge hindcast or SLOSH data download. ● when something you’re expecting is not available, like if a selected map layer does not exist for a particular storm or advisory, or if the team is working to resolve an issue that affects the system. When can I expect notifications? Who is sending them? Some notifications are automatically generated by the system, and many of the familiar pop-up windows in the program will be incorporated into the new look. The symbol for system notifications is an exclamation mark in a yellow triangle. Most system notifications are triggered by a user action (confirmation, errors, completed task, etc.). Users can also expect to see notifications authored and sent by the HURREVAC team (National Hurricane Program partners or Sea Island Software). Notifications that pop over the workspace will be limited to important and time-sensitive situations, mainly during active storms. These will be designated with a red exclamation mark icon. Information that is not time-sensitive or of a lower priority, like an announcement about a new feature in the program, will go to the Notification Center without triggering a pop-up. These are assigned a blue exclamation mark icon. Storm updates will initially be limited to situations that are of concern to the United States and territories, and the intent is to elevate key developments or new data that will be of broad interest to the affected emergency management community. HURREVAC’s notifications are not intended to be a means for users to receive or convey watch and warning information from the National Weather Service, evacuation announcements, or other official communication, so continue to use other sources for those types of information. Where will I find notifications in the program? Look in the upper right corner of the workspace. Click on the new bell icon at the top of the map tools bar to open the Notification Center. The Notification Center can be expanded to cover the tracking map, resized, and individual messages can be opened in a new window. When there is a new or unread notification, there will be a red dot over the bell icon. Once the notification is opened or acknowledged, the dot disappears. High-priority pop-up notifications are anchored in the top right corner of the tracking map. Some system-generated notifications are intended to time out, or expire after about 15 to 20 seconds. These have a small circular countdown timer near the close (X) button. Click the timer icon to stop the countdown and keep the notification on the screen. Is there anything I have to do to get notifications? What if I miss one? No action is required to start receiving HURREVAC’s notifications, the functionality is automatically integrated for every user. Our team is mindful that many people use a variety of messaging platforms, so we’ve made sure that there is no need to delete or manage your HURREVAC inbox, too. System-generated notifications expire automatically. Authored notifications will be removed by HURREVAC’s administrators after a set time, or once they are no longer current. If…