In a single day, Melissa exploded from a moderate storm into a major hurricane with 170mph winds.
Articles on Hurricanes
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Tropical storms are guided by many different wind patterns: big, like the Bermuda high, and small. A hurricane researcher explains their role in why so many storms veered off into the Atlantic in 2025.
Storm surge is the No. 1 cause of deaths and damage during a hurricane, yet detailed storm surge forecasts are difficult to create. AI could turn that around.
The 2005 hurricane was a disaster made worse by a lack of coordination and communication among governments and emergency leadership on the ground.
Looking back on New Orleans 20 years after Hurricane Katrina is a reminder that while such hazards may be natural, the death and destruction is largely human-made.
States used to be on their own when a disaster hit. Then the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 and the Dust Bowl showed why federal coordination was essential.
Rural hospitals have been closing, putting emergency care further out of reach, but that’s only one of the heightened challenges aging rural communities face after a disaster.
The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program has been particularly important for understanding when a hurricane is about to rapidly intensify, a dangerous situation for coastal communities.
Species-rich islands are in the crosshairs of stronger storms as the climate crisis escalates.
NOAA’s preseason forecast is the 30,000-foot view of what’s likely. Here’s what forecasters will be watching for over the weeks and months ahead.
As climate-related disasters grow more frequent and intense, one group remains dangerously underprepared: older adults. Planning should involve the entire family.
A meteorologist explains three essential components of NOAA hurricane data collection that forecasters everywhere rely on yet are being targeted for federal cuts.
Even if Zelia doesn’t hit towns directly, it’s likely to cause a lot of damage.
NOAA operates fleets of satellites, sensors on airplanes and ocean-going buoys, as well as radar, providing the data used by weather forecasters nationwide – and freely available to anyone.
FEMA pools national resources to help states quickly manage disasters. Without that federal support, each state would be left to build its own expensive response capabilities.
The oceans have been much warmer than average for the past two years, and the planet just set another global heat record. What’s going on?
Disaster recovery isn’t just about repairing bridges, roads and homes. Conservationists from the Smithsonian were on the ground in North Carolina helping families piece their lives back together.
Insurance costs are rising quickly across much of the country. Hurricanes are part of the reason, but it’s the other perils common across the Midwest and Great Plains that complicate costs.
Prisons and jails are difficult to evacuate when wildfires or storms approach. Many of these facilities lack evacuation plans and may keep incarcerated people on-site instead of moving them to safety.
In interviews with residents and builders after disasters from Hawaii to Colorado to Puerto Rico, an engineer and policy specialist found people often overestimating the cost of building back better.
Top contributors
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Professor Emeritus of Geography, Louisiana State University
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Professor of Atmospheric Science and Colorado State Climatologist, Colorado State University
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ARC Future Fellow and Associate Professor in Climate Science, ARC Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather, The University of Melbourne
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Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University
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Professor of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, University of Dayton
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Professor of Political Science, Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University
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Director of Energy Studies, University of Florida
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Furman Public Policy Scholar, New York University
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Professor of Climate Science, UMass Lowell
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Professor of Oceanography, University of Miami
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Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Demography and Public Policy, Penn State
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Assistant Professor of Nursing, University of Michigan
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Postdoctoral research associate, University of Edinburgh
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Distinguished Scholar, National Center for Atmospheric Research; Affiliate Faculty, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
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Research Fellow, American University School of Public Affairs