Joint Typhoon Warning Center Products in Support of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Operations

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are among the most destructive natural hazards on Earth, causing an average of billions of dollars in damage and thousands of deaths worldwide each year. Over 75% of these TC-related disasters occur within JTWC's area of responsibility (AOR). Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations are essential to saving lives and reducing suffering in the aftermath of TCs. JTWC's forecast and warning products - including Two-Week TC Formation Outlooks, Significant Tropical Weather Advisories, Tropical Cyclone Formation Alerts, and TC Warnings - play a critical role in HADR operations by providing early warning information through a staged approach. These JTWC products, in addition to archived data and Annual Tropical Cyclone Reports, are made available to partner researchers and humanitarian, risk, and civil defense agencies.

JTWC forecast products and archives help HADR organizations identify areas that are likely to be impacted in the near-term or in the future, assess the scale of potential impacts, and coordinate response efforts. In recent years, significant advances in JTWC's TC forecasting capabilities have resulted in more accurate and timelier forecast and warning products, providing HADR organizations with increasingly actionable information required to appropriately prepare for and respond to the impacts of TCs. With sea level rising due to climate change, many countries, island nations, and territories within JTWC's AOR are becoming more vulnerable to the disastrous impacts of TCs. JTWC, in collaboration with its many partners worldwide, is positioned to meet this and other challenges by continuously developing, integrating, and improving new products through innovation and exploitation of emerging scientific advancements and technologies.