RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — As of Tuesday, April 16, we are 46 days away from the official start of hurricane season and early forecasts are already calling for a very active season.

So as we get ready for this potentially active hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center has updated or rolled out new products to keep everyone informed should a tropical storm or hurricane bring impacts.

The first update includes adding more Spanish language products to a variety of forecast and advisory products. They will however be experimental during the 2024 season but will use AI that was tested during the 2023 season.

According to the NHC: “Atlantic basin Public Advisories and Tropical Weather Outlooks which were previously available as Spanish-language text products will now use the new AI translation technique and be issued via new headers that reflect NHC as the issuing office.”

Another big update is that watches and warnings for the United States can now be issued during “intermediate” advisories. Until now, watches and warnings for hurricanes, tropical storms, and storm surges were only issued during the “full” advisories, which are issued at 5 a.m., 11 a.m., 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.

“Intermediate” advisories are the updates to storm strength and forward speed issued at 8 a.m., 2 p.m., 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. as needed. This update allows the NHC to issue critical watches and warnings potentially sooner if needed.

One of the more significant updates will occur to the forecast cone. It is technically an experimental version of the forecast cone, but it will now include tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings as they extend inland in an attempt to better show and communicate impacts for inland communities in the path of a tropical storm or hurricane in the United States. In addition to the inland watches and warnings displayed on the forecast cone all 5 days will be shaded white.

An example of the update to the forecast cone showing watches and warnings extending inland. (Image Credit: National Hurricane Center (NHC))

Other updates include extending the wind radii forecast (or the forecast for the extent of wind) for tropical storms out to days 4 and 5, adding relevant web links into advisories, getting more specific with time zones, and experimenting with tropical rainfall graphics for non-United States forecast areas.

You can read about all the updates for this hurricane season here.

No matter what heads our way, the CBS 17 Storm Team will keep you updated throughout hurricane season.