# New Hurricane Cone Graphic **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 26, 2024, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-hurricane-cone-graphic/996671 "2024-01-26T07:53:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-hurricane-cone-graphic/996671/1 "2024-01-26T07:53:17Z")
> [**The hurricane cone graphic is changing this year. Here’s why experts say it’s needed**](https://www.aol.com/news/hurricane-cone-graphic-changing-why-145241603.html) > > The iconic cone graphic used by the National Hurricane Center to depict the potential path of tropical systems will undergo a noticeable change for the upcoming hurricane season. > > The cone will be deemphasized over land in the continental US, with more emphasis being placed on expected impacts by showing tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings instead. This means you’ll see active tropical alerts instead of a cone where applicable over land. > > Watches and warnings used to only be shown alongside the cone “in a line along the coastline of the affected area,” NHC director Michael Brennan told CNN. Now, the alerts are taking “precedence over the cone,” and “will be predominant on the graphic,” NHC spokesperson Maria Torres told CNN. _More at the link._ What are your thoughts on this change? ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-hurricane-cone-graphic/996671/2 "2024-01-26T08:45:49Z")
Does that make it more or less subject to reinterpretation with a Sharpie? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-hurricane-cone-graphic/996671/3 "2024-01-26T09:47:02Z")
My cynical view: It’s good that experts want to de-emphasize a prediction view that is simple but potentially misleading in its simplicity, and replace it with something that more accurately reflects the uncertain reality. But people want simple, and don’t want uncertainty. So I expect, if the experts aren’t providing the “cone,” viewer demand will lead to the media outlets making the cone themselves, almost certainly with less expertise and worse alignment to reality, and then idiot viewers will incorrectly blame the expert forecasters for a bad prediction. Fingers crossed my cynicism is unfounded. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-hurricane-cone-graphic/996671/4 "2024-01-26T11:35:15Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > What are your thoughts on this change? My thoughts are that an article about something graphical that doesn’t graphically illustrate what they’re talking about is kind of a waste of the internets it was printed on ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-hurricane-cone-graphic/996671/5 "2024-01-26T11:51:59Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > So I expect, if the experts aren’t providing the “cone,” viewer demand will lead to the media outlets making the cone themselves, almost certainly with less expertise and worse alignment to reality, and then idiot viewers will incorrectly blame the expert forecasters for a bad prediction. > [@abcdefghij](#): > > My thoughts are that an article about something graphical that doesn’t graphically illustrate what they’re talking about is kind of a waste of the internets it was printed on I knew this would create a storm of controversy, I just didn’t know it would be here. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-hurricane-cone-graphic/996671/6 "2024-01-26T12:32:56Z")
> [@abcdefghij](#): > > My thoughts are that an article about something graphical that doesn’t graphically illustrate what they’re talking about is kind of a waste of the internets it was printed on They got me to skim the article multiple times looking for said graphic, so I’m sure they got the clip they wanted for me. I don’t know why they just can’t keep posting spaghetti charts. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2024, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-hurricane-cone-graphic/996671/7 "2024-01-26T14:43:36Z")
Part of me feels like it’s pandering to the stupid and uninformed. If there’s a hurricane in the Gulf, you go look at the track _every day_ or even more often than that, and see where it moved _to_. For example, I’ll bet that Hurricane Marco’s cone three days before landfall was significantly different than the one five days before. They update the cone often to show changes in position and conditions, etc… And the cone itself is an indication of uncertainty- they have the predicted track of where they think it will go, and the cone shows where it _could_ go. The wider the cone, the more uncertain the prediction is- that’s why it’s a cone. It shows uncertainty over time. Again, you have to keep up with it, but if you do, it’s a pretty handy representation of what’s going on. So if you’re worried about it, you keep checking- you don’t look at it five or six days out and then just ignore it and be surprised when it doesn’t follow that specific track. Otherwise, part of me wonders if their changes are because it makes it harder to print out and Sharpie it up. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-hurricane-cone-graphic/996671/8 "2024-01-29T02:25:36Z")
Hopefully the new Hurricane Maps will look less phallic.