Reference · built on requestCommons signalWeather & climate

NHC GIS Data

Tropical cyclone tracks, cones, wind radii, surge, and watches from the National Hurricane Center as shapefile, KMZ, and GRIB2.

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About

The National Hurricane Center, a National Weather Service center, issues forecasts for tropical cyclones in the Atlantic and eastern North Pacific; the Central Pacific Hurricane Center covers its basin. For each advisory NHC publishes GIS packages at nhc.noaa.gov/gis: the forecast track, cone of uncertainty, and watches and warnings; the initial wind field and forecast wind radii; the preliminary best track; arrival time of tropical-storm-force winds; wind speed probabilities at 34, 50, and 64 kt; and, when watches or warnings are up, probabilistic storm surge. Files are shapefiles, KML/KMZ, and GRIB2, announced through the gis-at, gis-ep, and gis-cp RSS feeds.

Through Fibric, an operator watches those feeds, tests your sites against the latest cone and surge layers, and proposes what to do before the next advisory.

This is a reference listing. It documents what Fibric would read from NHC GIS Data and what it could propose, based on the publisher's published interfaces. Fibric builds it under a managed deployment when you request it; selecting it here installs nothing.

Inputs

  • Advisory forecast track, cone of uncertainty, and watches/warnings per storm, such as al062026_5day_latest.zip and its KMZ files
  • Advisory wind field and forecast wind radii, such as al062026_fcst_latest.zip, with initial and forecast radii KMZ
  • Preliminary best track per storm, such as al062026_best_track.zip and .kmz
  • Arrival time of tropical-storm-force winds as KMZ and GRIB2, and wind speed probabilities at 34, 50, and 64 kt
  • Probabilistic storm surge as GRIB2 when watches or warnings are in effect; surge watch/warning and peak surge as KML
  • Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook layers, Atlantic breakpoints, and storm surge communication points
  • RSS feeds gis-at.xml, gis-ep.xml, and gis-cp.xml announcing new GIS files, plus per-storm wallet feeds nhc_at1.xml to nhc_at5.xml

Proposed actions

Read-only. This feed informs operators; it changes nothing.

Proposed actions are target capabilities. Every action runs propose-first and needs a validated deployment and the appropriate permissions.

What you can build

  • Prepare each property in the cone

    The operator intersects your building list with the latest cone, arrival-time, and surge layers and drafts a per-site checklist with the advisory number it came from. You approve the work orders.

    With Storm Prep

  • Hold and reroute shipments into the path

    Delivery addresses inside the 34 kt wind probability area or the surge watch are proposed for hold or reroute before the carrier cutoff, one list per advisory.

    With Weather Hold

  • Stage fuel and crews before landfall

    Arrival time of tropical-storm-force winds sets the deadline for each site. The operator proposes fuel top-ups and standby crews in that order, for your approval.

    With Storm Reserve

  • Keep the evacuation roster current

    When the surge watch/warning or a hurricane warning covers a site, the operator proposes the roster for that site and updates it as advisories change.

    With Evacuation Roster

Requirements

  • A shapefile, KML/KMZ, and GRIB2 reader to turn packages into the layers you test sites against
  • Your site coordinates, so cones, wind radii, arrival times, and surge grids can be intersected
  • A feed reader that checks gis-at.xml, gis-ep.xml, and gis-cp.xml about once an hour, as NHC suggests
  • Basin and storm identifiers (al, ep, cp plus storm number and year) to follow one storm across advisories
Authentication
None. The packages and RSS feeds at nhc.noaa.gov are public HTTPS downloads.

Limits

  • Packages are issued per advisory for active storms; the Atlantic and eastern Pacific season is 15 May to 30 November, central Pacific from 1 June
  • NHC notes these GIS datasets are provided as a convenience and support may not always be available or timely
  • Probabilistic storm surge is published only when watches or warnings are in effect; breakpoints and surge communication points are Atlantic only
  • Advisories come every 6 hours, 3 hours with coastal watches or warnings; the layers do not change between them

Access and pricing

Reference listing. Public feed access is separate from Fibric integration. If you request this feed, your quote covers the build, usage, and support.

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Questions and answers

How often do the GIS layers update?
With each advisory. Forecast/Advisories are issued at 0300, 0900, 1500, and 2100 UTC, and intermediate public advisories every 3 hours when coastal watches or warnings are in effect. The RSS feeds announce new files; NHC suggests checking them about once an hour.
Which basins are covered?
The Atlantic (al) and eastern North Pacific (ep) from NHC, and the central Pacific (cp) from the Central Pacific Hurricane Center, each with its own gis feed. Breakpoints and storm surge communication points are published for the Atlantic only.
How far ahead do the forecast layers go?
Forecast points are given at 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 96, and 120 hours from the advisory time, which is why the track package is named 5day. The Tropical Weather Outlook gives formation probabilities for 48 hours and 7 days.
Ask about NHC GIS Data

Ask about the capabilities and requirements in this listing.

For project-specific requirements, contact Fibric.

This Commons signal listing is developed, published, and supported by Fibric. It reads public data published by NOAA National Hurricane Center (nhc.noaa.gov). Upstream agencies and projects are the property of their respective owners, who are not affiliated with Fibric and do not sponsor or endorse this listing. Trademark policy