There's no app for that.
The National Hurricane Center doesn't have a smartphone app people can download to track a storm's progress or monitor hurricane forecast updates. Instead, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the hurricane center, steers people to buying a weather radio.
"That's 1930s technology," said Dan Sobien, president of the National Weather Service Employees Organization. "It's something very few people have outside marine interests and farming communities. Not only do they not have a weather radio, they don't have a radio at all."
Emergency managers from throughout Florida are meeting this week in Orlando at the 30th annual Governor's Hurricane Conference. It follows the National Hurricane Conference, which was held here in March.
A handful of sessions this week are devoted to better communication with the public, including one dubbed "Hashtags, sharknadoes and catching a ride with a stranger – the role of pop culture in emergency management." It promises to discuss how to use social media to educate the public.
"I'm no mystic, I don't know where technology will go next, but if we can stay on the cutting edge of wherever it goes next, we are saving lives, and there is nothing more important than that," said Sobien, when discussing the lack of a federal hurricane app.
Hurricane center spokesman Dennis Feltgen said as a government agency, the center cannot compete against the private sector and that having its own app would violate that rule.
Last year, the weather service began promoting a mobile program for local weather information that can be downloaded onto a smartphone and functions similar to an app.
Unlike a traditional app that can be bought in an online store, this requires a few steps. Once it's downloaded, though, it functions like a traditional app on a mobile device, although it's really a website — mobile.weather.gov.
Mike Hudson, an NWS meteorologist, said one reason the taxpayer-funded agency doesn't have an app is it wants to make the best use of public dollars.
"There are a plethora of apps already out there, so being a government agency and custodian of taxpayer dollars, do we need to recreate that?" Hudson said. "This is a smart way to make sure we are available and not have to go and do a lot of duplicative work."
Also, Hudson said maintaining an app can be a lot of work when new versions of phones are released.
Many traditional weather apps already use NWS information, especially when alerts are issued for dangerous weather-related occurrences, like rip currents or flooding.
Robert Molleda, the warning coordination meteorologists with the NWS in Miami, said one of the top questions people ask him is if the service has an app.
"They want to get the information straight from us," Molleda said. "For people familiar with apps, this is kind of a workaround that makes sense to them."
But there's no such workaround for the hurricane center, and it's unclear if there will be one.
Susan Buchanan, an NWS spokeswoman, repeated Hudson's assertion that it doesn't have apps because the private weather industry already provides multiple products "tailored to the mobile community."
Apple's iTunes store has more than 200 items under its weather app category.
"We also participate in the Wireless Emergency Alert program, which automatically pushes out hurricane warnings to cellphones in the warned area," she said.
While apps may seem old school when compared to push alerts, Twitter or Instagram, they can still allow for easier sharing of accurate information, said Tom Kelleher, a professor and the chairman of the Department of Advertising with University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications.
"Mobile media can be more interactive, localized and social, and all three of those attributes may be critical in spreading important information in a storm event," Kelleher said. "Another potential benefit is user tracking, which may be helpful to public officials in emergency situations."
In August, Florida Public Radio launched a free "Florida Storms" mobile phone app that includes tropical cyclone information. The app includes information from meteorologists at UF's public radio station.
Bryan Norcross, a hurricane expert with the Weather Channel, said development and upkeep costs mean the hurricane center would likely have to partner with a private company if it wanted an app.
Norcross walked South Florida through Hurricane Andrew in 1992, long before smartphones. But he sees the value in mobile technology.
"I agree that the National Hurricane Center message is quite often fractured by the time it gets to the public, and a direct connection like regular briefings from the center during significant threats would help," he said. "But I still think the distribution platform would have to be private, as a practical and policy matter."
©2016 The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.). Visit The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Fla.) at www.palmbeachpost.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
