National Hurricane Center to begin 2026 tropical outlooks on May 15

The National Hurricane Center will begin issuing daily tropical outlooks for the Atlantic on May 15. The same date marks the official start of the 2026 Eastern Pacific hurricane season. The center previously began Atlantic outlooks on June 1, the first official day of the season, but shifted the start in 2021 after several years of tropical activity in May.

The outlooks are published every six hours and identify tropical waves or disturbances that could develop. They include the probability of tropical cyclone formation over the next seven days. This year the center will use two colors on its graphic maps, adding a gray "x" for systems with little to no potential for development in addition to the traditional yellow areas.

The center also issues tropical discussions year-round that describe significant weather features. These are used by shipping, marine traffic and aviation forecasters. Outlooks for the central North Pacific basin begin June 1.

the hurricane center, said residents in hurricane-prone areas should prepare the same way each year regardless of seasonal forecasts. "Even in seasons where the overall environment is not favorable, you can still have pockets of days or weeks where conditions are favorable for storms to develop," Brennan said.

He added that after 2025, which had no major U.S. hurricane landfall for the first time in a decade, people should not assume the risk has decreased. "It only takes one storm to ruin your year," Brennan stated. Tropical systems are classified by sustained wind speeds.

A tropical depression has winds of 38 mph or less. A tropical storm has winds from 39 to 73 mph. A hurricane has sustained winds of 74 mph or higher. Slow-moving tropical storms can produce extreme rainfall and flooding even without hurricane-force winds.