U.S. National Hurricane Center

What U.S. National Hurricane Center does

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) is a division of NOAA's National Weather Service, headquartered at 11691 SW 17th Street, Miami, Florida. Founded in 1954 as the Naval Hurricane Center and renamed in 1972 when it transferred to NOAA, NHC operates as the official U.S. government forecasting agency for tropical cyclones across the Atlantic and Eastern/Central Pacific basins. It provides 24/7 monitoring of tropical systems, issuing watches, warnings, track forecasts, intensity predictions, and storm surge forecasts for the continental United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

NHC's core product suite includes tropical cyclone forecasts and warnings, the redesigned hurricane forecast cone (2026 release with expanded inland warning coverage), storm surge height predictions, and tropical storm watches and warnings. Its forecasting system integrates GOES-R satellite data (including the Advanced Baseline Imager and Geostationary Lightning Mapper), Hurricane Hunter aircraft reconnaissance, rawinsonde observations, and a multi-model approach combining statistical, dynamical, and ensemble numerical weather prediction models. NHC also participates in seasonal hurricane outlooks and disseminates products through weather.gov, the official NHC website (nhc.noaa.gov), and a broad social media presence (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube).

NHC operates as a federally funded public safety mission rather than a commercial enterprise; all forecasts and warnings are provided at no cost to the public, emergency managers, media, and government agencies. Its "customers" include the general public in coastal and inland areas, federal agencies such as FEMA, state and local emergency management offices, the maritime and aviation industries, and downstream media and technology platforms that consume NOAA data via cloud partnerships with AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. The agency is currently evaluating AI-driven forecasting systems, notably Google DeepMind's hurricane model which outperformed NHC's official forecasts on Hurricane Erin in August 2025.

Name

U.S. National Hurricane Center

Legal name

U.S. National Hurricane Center

Website

https://noaa.gov

Company type

Public

Founded year

1954

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The U.S. National Hurricane Center is a NOAA division headquartered in Miami that provides 24/7 official tropical cyclone forecasts, watches, and warnings for the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific basins, serving the public, emergency managers, and government agencies free of charge.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Miami

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Public Weather Services: The NHC operates as a federal government agency providing free public weather forecasting services. The National Weather Service, under which NHC operates, is funded through NOAA's congressional appropriations as part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) is a federal government agency within NOAA's National Weather Service that issues tropical cyclone forecasts, watches, warnings, and storm surge predictions for the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific basins. It provides 24/7 year-round monitoring with enhanced operations during the Atlantic hurricane season (June 1–November 30), delivering real-time track and intensity forecasts, tropical storm and hurricane warnings, and seasonal outlooks to the public, emergency managers, media, and industry operators.

Product overview

The U.S. National Hurricane Center, a division of NOAA's National Weather Service, operates as the official forecast and warning agency for tropical cyclones in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific basins. The NHC provides a suite of core forecast products including tropical cyclone track and intensity forecasts, the hurricane forecast cone (redesigned for 2026 with expanded inland warning coverage), storm surge predictions, and tropical storm watches and warnings. The agency also contributes to seasonal hurricane season forecasts and monitors Pacific hurricane activity. These products are disseminated as text advisories, visual graphics, and structured data to emergency managers, media, and the public.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Forecast cone redesigned for 2026 to include inland wind warnings, enabling more communities to understand and prepare for hazardous winds

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• NOAA National Weather ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 March 2026The National Hurricane Center is a division of NOAA's National Weather Service, operating within the broader NOAA infrastructure that includes satellite systems, supercomputing, and research capabilities that support hurricane forecasting operations.
• Google DeepMindminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 October 2025Google DeepMind developed an AI hurricane-forecasting model that was tested against NHC forecasts during Hurricane Erin in August. The model outperformed NHC's official forecasts for the first 72 hours and is being actively evaluated by NHC and NOAA for potential operational use.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreTechnology or IntegrationAWS is a cloud partner in NOAA's Open Data Dissemination Program, providing cloud infrastructure for hosting and distributing NOAA environmental data including hurricane forecast products.
• Google CloudcoreTechnology or IntegrationGoogle Cloud hosts NOAA data through the Open Data Dissemination Program, providing cloud platforms for distributing hurricane forecast data and satellite imagery products.
• Microsoft AzurecoreTechnology or IntegrationMicrosoft Azure is a cloud partner in NOAA's Big Data Program, providing cloud infrastructure for public access to NOAA environmental datasets including tropical cyclone information.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Tomorrow.io: A weather intelligence platform combining proprietary satellite radar with AI forecasting for enterprise and government customers. An emerging private-sector alternative for mission-critical weather decisions.
• Google DeepMind: Developed an AI hurricane-forecasting model that outperformed NHC's official Hurricane Erin forecasts in 2025. Represents an emerging AI-native threat/complement to traditional government meteorological forecasting.

Direct peers

• UK Met Office: The United Kingdom's national meteorological agency, providing authoritative government weather and climate forecasts. It is the closest international analog to NHC in mandate, structure, and operational scope.
• Météo-France: France's national meteorological service, providing weather and climate forecasts including tropical cyclone warnings for overseas territories. Comparable as a national government weather authority.
• Australian Bureau of Meteorology: Australia's national weather, climate, and water agency, providing tropical cyclone warnings for the Australian region and southern hemisphere — a direct functional counterpart to NHC.
• Japan Meteorological Agency: Japan's national weather service responsible for typhoon forecasting and warnings across the western Pacific. Operates the same functional role as NHC but for the western Pacific basin.
• European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF): An intergovernmental organization producing global numerical weather predictions and reanalysis datasets. Comparable to NHC in producing authoritative forecast products relied upon by member states.
• Environment and Climate Change Canada (Canadian Hurricane Centre): Canada's national weather service including its dedicated Canadian Hurricane Centre, which issues tropical cyclone forecasts for Canadian territory and waters. Functions as the direct northern peer to NHC.
• India Meteorological Department: India's national weather agency and Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre for tropical cyclones in the North Indian Ocean. Operates cyclone forecasting and warning responsibilities analogous to NHC's.

Broad incumbents

• AccuWeather: The largest private-sector weather forecasting company in the U.S., offering consumer, enterprise, and media weather products. Competes indirectly with NHC in commercial applications while relying on NWS/NHC data as inputs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NWSNHC
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/NOAA
• Facebookfacebook.com/NWSNHC

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about U.S. National Hurricane Center