Hurricane Tracker for Hawaiʻi

Active tropical systems in range of Hawaiʻi, straight from the National Hurricane Center, plus what the forecast cone actually means before you read one.

ACTIVE TROPICAL SYSTEMS

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OPEN THE LIVE STORM MAP →

Read the cone correctly

The cone is not the storm. It shows where the center of the storm is likely to go, and even then only about two thirds of the time. It says nothing about how wide the damaging winds are, and nothing about rain, surf or storm surge. Serious impacts routinely land well outside it. If you are near the cone, you are in this.

The other thing worth knowing: the cone gets wider further out because the forecast gets less certain, not because the storm gets bigger. A narrow tip near day one and a wide mouth at day five is a statement about confidence, not size.

What the live map shows

Forecast cone and track from the National Hurricane Center, the official five day outlook for the storm's center.
Best track, where the storm has actually been, drawn lighter so the observed past reads differently from the uncertain forecast ahead.
Wind field, the current extent of tropical storm force winds, off by default.
Arrival time, the most likely arrival of tropical storm force winds, off by default.
Model tracks, what GFS, ECMWF, UKMET and the other models each independently predict, so agreement or disagreement between them is visible rather than hidden behind a single blended line. Off by default.
Live satellite imagery from NOAA and NASA's GOES-West, on by default when zoomed out, so you see real cloud cover rather than an abstract shape.
The full public advisory text for each storm, not just a link to it.

Who forecasts Hawaiʻi storms

Two offices split the Pacific. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu covers the basin from 140°W west to the International Date Line, which is where a storm sits once it is genuinely threatening Hawaiʻi. The National Hurricane Center in Miami covers the Eastern Pacific east of 140°W, where most storms that eventually reach Hawaiʻi form. A storm crossing 140°W changes which office writes its advisories, but not its behavior.

Central Pacific hurricane season runs June 1 through November 30. Storms outside that window are uncommon, not impossible.

Watch and warning timing

Hurricane or Tropical Storm Watch: those conditions are possible in the area, generally within 48 hours.
Hurricane or Tropical Storm Warning: those conditions are expected, generally within 36 hours.

Preparation that needs daylight, a working road or an open store has to happen in the watch window, not the warning window.

HOW TO PREPARE →