New 5 Day GTWO

[Florida1118]

Today at 2pm EDT, the NHC will release the new 5 day GTWO. Also, the current TWO will no longer have circles - instead, it will have X's. Looking at the samples, there is only one thing that bugs me a little; a High Chance system will be marked with a red X, as will a remnant system be marked with a red X. Only difference is one is a bit bolder. Otherwise, I'm excited to see the new changes!

[Hurricane_Luis]

This is from the NHC's blog called "Inside the eye".

Beginning today, July 1, 2014, at 2 PM EDT (11 AM PDT), the text TWO will be accompanied by an experimental graphical depiction of the five-day potential cyclone genesis areas. These areas will appear as color-coded hatched areas (yellow, orange and red representing low, medium, and high risks of tropical cyclone formation, respectively). Although the areas or swaths don’t explicitly represent a track forecast, they do provide a general indication of where these systems are headed whenever the formation potential extends over several days.


EXAMPLE

If a hatched formation area is associated with a currently existing disturbance, the location of the disturbance is marked with an ‘X’ on the graphic. Arrows are used to link the location of a disturbance with its potential genesis area if the formation area is displaced from the current location of the disturbance. The overview graphic (above) can occasionally become crowded with disturbances, especially during the peak of the hurricane season, so separate graphics for each disturbance are created to ensure legibility.

The introduction of the five-day graphic on July 1st will be accompanied by an important change to the existing 48-hour graphic. Disturbances on this graphic will no longer be identified with circles or ovals; instead the location of current disturbances will be marked with an “X” for consistency with the five-day graphic.


EXAMPLE

Have a read for yourself if you want. Even thought I copied and pasted it all here.

http://noaanhc.wordpress.com/

[hurricanes1234]

I'm liking it already!

[Steve820]

This new 5-day TWO looks awesome!

[gatorcane]

Yes I do like these new graphics too. Should be helpful as far as the general area the NHC thinks the disturbance is heading for.

One thing though is that I can see cases where an actual forecast track ends up being quite different than what the color swaths are showing especially in cases where systems can move much differently depending upon how quickly they develop or not.