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Welcome to the Caribbean Early Warnings Using the Potential Tropical Cyclone (PTC) Advisory self-paced online course.

Approximate time to complete: 1 - 1.5 hours. 

As part of the Caribbean project funded by the Climate Risk and Early Warning Systems (CREWS) Initiative, WMO this self-paced elearning course makes use of text, interactive graphics, case-studies and activities to introduce the use of the Potential Tropical Cyclone (PTC) advisory and associated forecast guidance from the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC).  (The US NHC is also a Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (RSMC) for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) . 

A potential tropical cyclone is a tropical disturbance that is expected to develop into a tropical storm or hurricane and impact land areas within 48 hours. Effective use of these forecast products can be instrumental in improving the timeliness of impact-based warnings associated with developing tropical cyclones in the Caribbean. 

This course is aimed primarily at the emergency management community, but it will also benefit forecasters in NMHSs.  

Course Outline:

    • Module 1: Introducing the PTC Advisory Product (~20 min.)
    • Module 2: Tools for Assessing Potential Impacts (~25 min.)
    • Module 3: Effectively Communicating Potential Impacts (~45 min.)
Each module concludes with a knowledge check to help you assess your learning. You must complete each module by viewing every page before you may access the final exam. In order to receive a course completion badge for the course you must score at least 70% on the final exam.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this course, you should be able to:

  • Explain the need for a Potential Tropical Cyclone (PTC) advisory.

  • Describe best practices for communicating Tropical Weather Outlook (TWO) and Potential Tropical Cyclone (PTC) advisory.

  • Explain how the TWO and PTC advisory are used.

  • Integrate PTC and TWO guidance into communications about risk and impacts.

  • Communicate the threats from a potential tropical cyclone.

Target Audiences:

Primary:

Emergency response/disaster management personnel

  • This includes decision makers who must be able to interpret and take appropriate action, based on NMHS and NHC guidance.

  • People in this group are not necessarily meteorologists, and they have a need for accessible training that will help them understand and explain the basic scientific concepts needed to interpret NHC products.

  • The course will also serve as a tool for helping forecasters communicate the meaning of the products to the disaster managers.

Secondary:

NMHS personnel including:

  1. Forecasters at the operations desk

  2. Key decision makers up the chain (including supervisors)


Other audiences who may benefit from this training:

  • Media

  • Geography/meteorology instructors/students

  • General public


Last modified: Wednesday, 1 February 2023, 8:19 AM