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With Hurricane Gustav now a Category 4 and gaining strength, the 2008 season is really starting to peak in strength.  So gCaptain has put together a list of the best hurricane tracking website to help keep you informed and stay safe.  Below are links and graphs we are using to track Gustav

IBISeye.com tracks any active tropical depression, tropical storm or hurricane with accompanying news and any watches or warnings. Click on the map to interact.

Weather Underground provides forecasts for the US and the world with a fast, easy to use interface. The site is full weather maps, graphics and radar images, including a great tropical weather section with satellite maps, sea surface temperatures and hurricane advisories.

Of course NOAA has some of the most extensive, accurate and up to minute information to help track storms and provides official US weather, marine, fire and aviation forecasts, warnings, meteorological products, climate forecasts and information about meteorology.  NOAA’s National Hurricane Center will provide you with everything you need to know to stay safe and knowledgable.

The US Navy NOGAPS Weather Forecast is another great resource for tracking storms with information provided by the US Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System.

Of the countless sites out there to help track weather, these are just a few of our favorites, so hopefully this will help everyone with their hurricane tracking needs.  After all the best way to stay safe is to stay informed so if anyone out there knows any other great resources you prefer, we would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

LINKS:

IBISeye.com Hurricane Tracking

Weather Underground’s Tropical Weather Page

NOAA’s National Hurricane Center

US Navy NOGAPS Forecast

All these links can also be found in gCaptain Tools Section

If we only had one technology related wish for 2008 it would be that every mariner watched this video. Reminder: This is important people!

FROM WIRED:

While micro-messaging service Twitter may be one of the best tools for citizen reporting in emergencies such as the Southern California wildfires, the service’s real usefulness is its ability to get messages to users’ friends and family and provide evacuation updates — even when cell networks are overloaded, according to homeland security consultant W. David Stephenson.

As important as the updates you wrote about, they’re nowhere near as important as using Twitter to let your family know you’re ok (instead of cell calls, which every time they’re used in disasters end up crashing the network — and don’t get through, either): because they’re packet based, they’re cued up until they can route around obstacles or gaps in the network, and the 140-character limit means they take up a tiny amount of bandwidth, leaving it for those who need it most.

Even cooler, Stephenson tells THREAT LEVEL, are the Red Cross’s Twitter channels.

* The redcross channel lets them push information during a mass evacuation. Since cellphone customers can sign up for Twitter ‘on the fly,’ they will encourage evacuees to text ‘FOLLOW REDCROSS’ to 40404, and sign up for updates. The messages will include information about where the shelters are, distribution sites, and other contact info.

* The safeandwell channel is used more for inbound communication. Those who text ‘FOLLOW SAFEANDWELL’ to 40404 will automatically be followed back. That means they can send their private information as a Direct Message to the American Red Cross. (’D SAFEANDWELL Larry Melman, 205-xxx-xxxx, 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Bay Minette, is safe in a shelter.’) That maintains the privacy of the individual, and also serves to funnel the information to a centralized database.

Stephenson shows how to use Twitter in emergencies in this episode of his video series 21st Century Disaster Tips You Won’t Hear From Officials:

Thanks to Jesse Robbins for the find.

gCaptain’s Twitter Page