NOAA's NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER HOSTS WEB CHAT WITH GLOBE STUDENTS

May 23, 2001 — The director of NOAA's National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla., Max Mayfield, will be taking part in a Web chat on Wednesday, May 23 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. EDT to discuss the science of hurricane forecasting and tracking. Learn what you can do to minimize the risks of danger when a hurricane is forecast for your community. The center's Dr. Lixion Avila, a senior hurricane specialist, will answer questions asked in Spanish. Mayfield and Avila will be chatting with students from the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment program.

Reporters are invited to follow the Web Chat by linking to the GLOBE Web site and following the links from the home page.

Families and coastal communities in the United States, the Caribbean, the Eastern Pacific and along the Gulf of Mexico prepare contingency plans of action when the hurricane season approaches. The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1 and ends November 30. (Click on NOAA image of Max Mayfield speaking at a Washington, D.C., news conference on May 21 regarding the 2001 hurricane season.)

Hurricane Awareness Week, May 20 to 26, is designed to help educate citizens about hurricane forecasting and tracking, and the hazards of hurricanes. The Web chat will provide knowledge to help protect you, your family and your property from hazardous tropical weather. Issues include risks and safety measures involved in high winds and tides, heavy rainfall, and coastal and inland flooding.

GLOBE is a program where students in thousands of United States schools, under the guidance of trained teachers, collect data about atmosphere, hydrology and soils. Scientists use the data, posted by the students on the World Wide Web, for a variety of studies, such as the validation of satellite images used to track seasonal and long-term changes in land cover and the identification of microclimates that experience small-scale variations in temperature and precipitation.

GLOBE is an interagency program of NOAA, NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Departments of Education and State. More than 85 countries have signed bilateral agreements to also allow their schools to participate in GLOBE.

Mayfield will chat with GLOBE students and teachers about hurricane warnings and watches and the center's continuous tracking of tropical cyclones. To prepare for the chat, please visit NOAA's National Hurricane Center Web site and read Tropical Cyclone Frequently Asked Questions.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA's National Hurricane Center

Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE)

Hurricane Forecasters Expect Normal Atlantic Storm Activity in 2001

Hurricanes: Nature's Greatest Storms

NOAA's Weather Page

Media Contact:
Greg Hernandez, NOAA, (202) 482-3091

 

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