When an area of disturbed weather develops, the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida begins issuing advisories every six hours. Each advisory contains the longitude and latitude of the system's center, maximum sustained winds, area of tropical storm (gale) force winds, central pressure, speed and direction of movement, and a six-hour forecast. The intensity of storms is usually acquired from satellite observations and reconnaissance aircraft sent out to penetrate the storm.

The storm center position is given in degrees of longitude and latitude. This aids meteorologists and the public in monitoring the hurricane. The reconnaissance aircraft also obtains other vital information, such as maximum winds, area of tropical storm (gale) force winds, and surface pressure. The hurricane advisory will give the radius of gale force winds and the distance and direction from the center. Usually the largest area of gale force winds is the right-front quadrant of the storm relative to its direction of motion. After all data is acquired, information is interpreted and distributed by the National Hurricane Center.

Sample Radar and Satellite Images: Figure 8