IMO, lets get rid of the center line.

[Category 5]

The NHC should take the center line out of their cones. Over and over we're told to not follow the center line and people do it anyway. So, lets get rid of it.

Opinions?

And yes, I'm aware you can turn the line off.

[mitchell]

yes. The line is misleading. What is really is is the center of the cone. A cartographer would tell you that a lines on maps are traditionally used to represent a linear feature, as if there is some highly probable chance that the storm will track along the line. The use of a line to represent a "zone" is bad mapping

[Ptarmigan]

We should just focus on the cone of uncertainty.

[Numlock]

Over and over we're told to not follow the center line and people do it anyway

Sounds like their problem, not the NHC's.

[RL3AO]

People would still look at the center with this track map.




And you can't get rid of the forecast points.

[DanKellFla]

I like the line. I use it as a visual aid to divide up the storm into 4 quarters.

[mitchell]

I like the line. I use it as a visual aid to divide up the storm into 4 quarters.

example of why the line is misleading...the line has nothing to do with the quadrants

[HurricaneRobert]

Sort of like this?

[RL3AO]

Sort of like this?

So New Orleans has a 5% chance of TS winds in the next 5 days and the SE Texas coast 0%. Those maps are horrible from the NHC. Way to conservative and unrealistic.

[HurricaneRobert]

So New Orleans has a 5% chance of TS winds in the next 5 days and the SE Texas coast 0%. Those maps are horrible from the NHC. Way to conservative and unrealistic.

That's the hurricane-force one. The TS-force and 50-knot force ones have a lot of reds and yellows. It would be more useful if they updated it more often.

[DanKellFla]

I like the line. I use it as a visual aid to divide up the storm into 4 quarters.

example of why the line is misleading...the line has nothing to do with the quadrants

"VISUAL AID" .... It is just another tool that has to be used properly for planning purposes. I have to plan for something. As a storm gets closer, the line and the eye usually line up well. It helps me plan for what to expect durring a storm. That doesn't mean a 60 mile wobble won't happen just before landfall.