Atlantic · Caribbean · Gulf
Tropical Storm & Hurricane Tracker
Live tropical activity for the Gulf and Florida coasts, mirrored from the National Hurricane Center. The season runs through November 30. The climatological peak, September 10, has passed.
The National Hurricane Center is the official source
Everything on this page is copied from NHC products and linked back to them. For decisions about your safety, property or travel, use the official advisories and whatever your county emergency management office is telling you — not this page, and not any app.
No active tropical cyclones in the Atlantic
There are no named storms, tropical depressions or potential tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, Caribbean or Gulf right now. NHC’s latest outlook is below.
Storm reading for this coast
- Hurricane Isaias Recap: What Happened from Pensacola to Mobile and What It Meant for the Gulf CoastIsaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, at about 8:30 PM CDT on October 9, 2026, with 105 mph winds, per NHC. The timeline, the warnings and when they came down, NHC's surge and rain forecasts next to what gauges and NWS reports recorded, and where to find recovery help.
- Hurricane Prep Checklist for the Gulf Coast: The Last 48 HoursA timeline checklist for the Mississippi, Alabama and Florida Panhandle coast, with lessons from Hurricane Isaias: evacuation zones, water, meds, cash and fuel, shutters and garage doors, generator safety, and what to do once the wind arrives and after it leaves.
- Hurricane Isaias and Southwest Florida: What Happened and What It MeantHurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, on the evening of October 9, 2026, and has since weakened to a post-tropical cyclone in the Tennessee Valley. Southwest Florida was never under a hurricane, tropical storm or storm surge watch or warning. What NHC and NWS Tampa Bay reported for Englewood, Charlotte Harbor, Boca Grande, Venice and Fort Myers, with sources.
- Storm Surge on Mobile Bay, Pensacola Bay and the Mississippi SoundWhy Mobile Bay stacks surge toward its head, how Pensacola's back bays and the Mississippi Sound flood, why the right side of landfall decides it, and what Katrina, Ivan, Sally, Zeta, Nate and Georges actually did, from NHC's own reports.
- Storm Surge on Charlotte Harbor and Lemon Bay, ExplainedWhy storm surge on the Charlotte Harbor coast depends on track, wind direction and our shallow Gulf more than category, with real numbers from Ian, Irma, Helene, Idalia and Milton.
- Hurricane Prep for Boat Owners on Charlotte Harbor and Lemon BayHaul, lift, slip or trailer: how to secure a boat for a hurricane on Charlotte Harbor and Lemon Bay, with real line sizes, drain plug rules, timelines and Florida law.
- Fishing After a Hurricane in Southwest FloridaWhat a hurricane does to Charlotte Harbor's water, where snook and redfish go, dirty-water tackle that works, and the safety and conservation calls to make before you go.
NHC Tropical Weather Outlook
Tropical Weather Outlook NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL 700 PM EST Sat Nov 7 2026 For the North Atlantic...Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of America: Western and Central Atlantic (AL94): A broad, non-tropical low pressure system located several hundred miles south-southeast of Bermuda is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms to the east of its center. The system remains in close proximity to fronts, and recent satellite images indicate the circulation of the low has become less defined today. Subtropical development of this system is not expected while it moves generally eastward and merges with a frontal system over the next day or two. For more information, including Gale Warnings, see High Seas Forecasts issued by the National Weather Service. * Formation chance through 48 hours...low...near 0 percent. * Formation chance through 7 days...low...near 0 percent. && High Seas Forecasts issued by the National Weather Service can be found under AWIPS header NFDHSFAT1, WMO header FZNT01 KWBC, and online at ocean.weather.gov/shtml/NFDHSFAT1.php Forecaster Reinhart
Issued Sat, 07 Nov 2026 23:21:42 GMT. Reproduced verbatim from the National Hurricane Center (public domain). View on nhc.noaa.gov ↗
What the forecast cone actually means
The cone is the most misread graphic in weather. It shows where the center of the storm is likely to track — historically the center stays inside it about two thirds of the time, which also means it lands outside it one time in three. It says nothing at all about how big the storm is.
A large hurricane can bring damaging wind, surge and flooding rain hundreds of miles from the line down the middle. Being outside the cone is not an all-clear, and being on the edge of it is not a near miss. Read the watches and warnings for your own county rather than measuring your distance from the line.
Watches and warnings
- Watch
- Conditions are possible within about 48 hours. This is the point to finish preparations, not to start thinking about them.
- Warning
- Conditions are expected within about 36 hours. Preparations should already be complete, because the weather will deteriorate before the storm arrives.
- Storm surge warning
- Life-threatening flooding from rising water is expected. On this coast surge is the hazard that kills people, and it is driven by the shape of the shelf and the angle of approach rather than the category number.
The Saffir–Simpson scale
The category is based on sustained wind speed alone. It deliberately says nothing about rainfall, surge or the size of the storm — which is why a Category 1 can still be the costliest thing to happen to a coastline in a decade.
| Category | Sustained wind | Typical effect |
|---|---|---|
| Tropical Storm | 39–73 mph | Downed limbs, minor damage, dangerous seas |
| Category 1 | 74–95 mph | Roof, siding and gutter damage; days-long outages |
| Category 2 | 96–110 mph | Major roof and siding damage; near-total power loss |
| Category 3 | 111–129 mph | Devastating. Water and power out for days to weeks |
| Category 4 | 130–156 mph | Catastrophic. Most of the area uninhabitable for weeks |
| Category 5 | 157+ mph | Catastrophic. A high share of framed homes destroyed |
Common questions
- Is a hurricane coming to Florida right now?
- There are no active tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, Caribbean or Gulf right now, and no named storm threatening Florida. This page mirrors the National Hurricane Center and updates through the day, but NHC's own advisories are the official word.
- When is hurricane season in Florida?
- The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30. Activity climbs sharply through August, peaks around September 10, and falls away through October. The overwhelming majority of Florida landfalls happen between mid-August and mid-October.
- Does being outside the forecast cone mean I am safe?
- No. The cone shows the likely track of the storm's center — historically it stays inside about two thirds of the time — and says nothing about the storm's size. Damaging wind, storm surge and flooding rain regularly reach far outside the cone. Follow the watches and warnings issued for your own county.
- What is the difference between a hurricane watch and a warning?
- A watch means hurricane conditions are possible within about 48 hours; a warning means they are expected within about 36 hours. Because conditions deteriorate ahead of the storm itself, preparations need to be finished by the time a warning is issued.
- Is this hurricane tracker free?
- Yes, entirely. Salty Forecast has no ads, no account, no paid tier and nothing held back behind an upgrade. The underlying data comes from the National Hurricane Center, which is public domain.
Local conditions
Radar, wind, tides and water temperature for every town we cover:
Salty Forecast is a free, ad-free weather site and is not affiliated with NOAA, the National Weather Service or the National Hurricane Center. NHC products shown here are US Government works in the public domain. Nothing on this page is an official forecast or an instruction to act — for that, use hurricanes.gov and your county emergency management office.