Weather & Preparedness
Hurricane Hub
Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30, with the statistical peak between mid-August and late October. Puerto Rico sits at the heart of the Atlantic basin's most active corridor — understanding the season, its history, and how to prepare is essential for everyone on the island and the diaspora.
Storm alerts on your phone
Get a notification the moment a tropical watch or warning is issued for Puerto Rico — from the NWS alerts we check every 30 minutes. Free, no email, no account; turn it off anytime.
Track Active Storms
No active systems in the Atlantic basin right now. Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 – November 30.
Active alerts
via NWS San JuanIn an emergency · official sources
Live status from official sources — opens in a new tab.
Live wind map of the Atlantic & Caribbean, viaWindy.com. Switch overlays (wind, rain, pressure) inside the map.
For official advisories, watches, and cone forecasts, go to the source:
- National Hurricane Center (NHC) — nhc.noaa.govOfficial advisories, cone forecasts, and active storm tracks for the Atlantic and Pacific basins.
- NWS San Juan — weather.gov/sjuLocal watches, warnings, and forecasts specifically for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Prepare — the Puerto Rico version
Generic hurricane checklists assume the grid comes back in days and the water never goes out. Puerto Rico's reality is different — these lists start from that reality.
Water first
The single most PR-specific preparation: municipal water often goes out with the power, because AAA's pumps and treatment plants need electricity. After María, parts of the island went weeks without reliable tap service. Plan for water the way mainland guides tell you to plan for batteries.
- Store at least one gallon per person per day — and in Puerto Rico, plan for 7–10 days, not the standard three.FEMA's baseline is 3 days for evacuation scenarios; PR restoration timelines argue for much deeper reserves at home.
- Fill bathtubs, cisterns, and large containers when a watch is issued — this water flushes toilets and washes; keep drinking water separate.
- Have a purification fallback: unscented household bleach (8 drops per gallon, 30 min) or a camping filter.Boiling works only while you have gas or power.
- If your building has a cistern, confirm BEFORE season whether the pump needs generator power and who maintains it.
Sources: Ready.gov — Water · CDC — Making water safe
Power, generators & the fridge
Grid restoration in Puerto Rico is measured in weeks, not days — after María, months in parts of the island. Generators save lives and also take them: carbon monoxide from portable generators was a documented killer in the months after María.
- Run generators OUTSIDE only, at least 20 feet from doors and windows — never in a garage, marquesina, or breezeway.CO is invisible and odorless; a battery CO alarm costs less than a tank of fuel.
- Store fuel safely and legally in approved containers; rotate it — gasoline degrades in months.
- Freeze water bottles now: they hold fridge temperature longer during outages and become drinking water as they melt.
- Keep the fridge closed. A full freezer holds roughly 48 hours unopened; a fridge, about 4 hours.A cheap fridge thermometer settles the 'is this still safe' question.
- Charge everything when a watch is issued: power banks, laptops, rechargeable lanterns. Consider a small solar panel for phone charging.
- Report outages to LUMA through their app or outage map so your area is counted — and never touch downed lines.
Sources: CDC — Generator safety & carbon monoxide · FoodSafety.gov — Food safety in a power outage · LUMA — outage map
Your home
Wind does most of its damage through openings and projectiles. An hour of yard work before a storm prevents more damage than anything you can do during one.
- Shutters or 5/8" plywood for every window — taped glass is a myth that leaves bigger shards.
- If you have a zinc (metal) roof, check fasteners and edges BEFORE season; loose panels become projectiles.
- Clear drains, gutters, and the street storm drain you share — most urban flood damage starts with a blocked drain.
- Bring in or tie down everything loose: planters, furniture, tanks. If it can blow, it will.
- Renters: photograph your unit and belongings now, and ask the landlord which shutters/panels belong to your unit.
- Know whether you're in a flood zone (FEMA flood maps cover PR) — it changes whether you shelter at home or leave.
Sources: Ready.gov — Hurricanes · FEMA — Flood maps
Papers & money
After María, card terminals and ATMs were down across the island for weeks — Puerto Rico briefly became a cash economy. Paperwork you can't produce is coverage you don't have.
- Keep cash in small bills — enough for fuel, food, and water for at least a week.
- One waterproof bag: IDs, passports, deeds/lease, insurance policies, medical lists, and a card with key phone numbers on paper.
- Photograph or video every room and the exterior BEFORE season — timestamped proof is the backbone of any insurance claim.
- Save digital copies somewhere off-island (cloud storage) — local devices can be lost with the house.
- Know your policy's hurricane deductible and whether you have flood coverage — standard homeowner policies in PR generally exclude flood.
Sources: Ready.gov — Financial preparedness · FEMA — Document your property
The kit
The standard checklist, adjusted for an island where help can be days away and resupply weeks.
- Water (see above — it's its own section for a reason) and 7–10 days of non-perishable food you'll actually eat, plus a manual can opener.
- Every prescription topped up before season peaks — pharmacies post-storm run on generators and short supplies.Ask your plan about early refills when a storm is named; many allow it.
- First-aid kit, flashlights (one per person), batteries, battery/solar radio — AM radio is how PR gets news when cell service drops.
- Hygiene basics, garbage bags, bleach, work gloves, and a tarp — the week-after kit matters as much as the storm-day kit.
- Pets: food, carrier, vaccination records — most shelters that accept pets require them.
Sources: Ready.gov — Build a kit
When a storm approaches · during · after
Watches mean conditions are possible within 48 hours; warnings mean expected within 36. What you do in each phase is different — and in every phase, official guidance outranks anything written here.
- WATCH issued: execute — fill water, fuel the car and generator, charge devices, cash out, install shutters. Don't wait for the warning; supplies vanish first.
- WARNING issued: finish and shelter. Decide now whether you're staying or going to a shelter — driving during the storm is how people die.Official shelter lists are published by PR emergency management (PREMA/NMEAD) as each storm approaches.
- DURING: interior room, away from windows; the calm may be the eye — wait for official all-clear, not blue sky.
- AFTER: the deadliest phase in PR's recent history. Assume every downed line is live, don't drive through water, run generators outside only, and treat tap water as suspect until AAA says otherwise.
- Check on neighbors — after María, neighbors were the first responders almost everywhere.
Sources: NHC — Watches vs warnings · PR emergency management (PREMA/NMEAD) · NWS San Juan
787daily aggregates news and educational content — we do not issue emergency alerts or official forecasts, and nothing here replaces official guidance. During active storms, act on the National Hurricane Center, NWS San Juan, and Puerto Rico emergency management (PREMA/NMEAD) — not on us.
About the Season
The Atlantic hurricane season officially spans six months, but tropical systems can develop outside those dates. Warm ocean temperatures in the Caribbean — typically above 26 °C (79 °F) — combined with low wind shear and atmospheric moisture create the conditions that allow tropical depressions to intensify into tropical storms and, ultimately, hurricanes.
For Puerto Rico, the threat is direct: the island lies in the path of storms tracking westward from the central Atlantic or curving northward through the Caribbean. Even storms that do not make landfall can bring destructive storm surge, heavy rainfall, and flash flooding to the island's mountainous interior.
Storms are categorized on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, from Category 1 (74–95 mph) to Category 5 (≥157 mph). Category 3 and above are classified as major hurricanes.
Major Storms in Puerto Rico's History
Puerto Rico has absorbed some of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record. This timeline covers the island's most significant landfalls and near-misses, colour-coded by Saffir-Simpson category.
Hurricane María
Category 4September 20, 2017
155 mphPeak winds2017Year≈2,975ImpactMaría made landfall near Yabucoa at approximately 155 mph, making it the strongest hurricane to strike Puerto Rico in nearly 90 years. The storm caused catastrophic island-wide destruction to infrastructure, housing, and agriculture. The resulting power outage became the longest blackout in U.S. history, with many communities without electricity for months. The official death toll was subsequently revised by independent researchers and the government to approximately 2,975.
Learn moreHurricane Irma
Category 5September 6, 2017
180 mphPeak winds2017Year~1M without powerImpactIrma passed just north of Puerto Rico as a catastrophic Category 5 storm — one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded. Although it did not make direct landfall, its outer bands knocked out power for roughly 1 million customers and caused significant damage. It struck just two weeks before María.
Learn moreHurricane Georges
Category 3September 21, 1998
115 mphPeak winds1998YearWidespread floodingImpactGeorges crossed Puerto Rico from east to west as a Category 3 hurricane, battering the entire island with sustained winds near 115 mph. It caused widespread flooding, extensive agricultural losses, and long-term displacement for thousands of families.
Learn moreHurricane Hugo
Category 3September 18, 1989
140 mph (peak)Peak winds1989YearVieques & Culebra hit hardestImpactHugo made landfall in northeastern Puerto Rico with sustained winds near 140 mph at peak intensity before affecting the island. Vieques and Culebra bore the brunt of the storm. Widespread destruction to homes and infrastructure preceded Hugo's later devastation to South Carolina.
Learn moreSan Felipe Segundo (Okeechobee Hurricane)
Category 5September 13, 1928
160 mphPeak winds1928Year>300 in PRImpactOne of the strongest direct hits on Puerto Rico in recorded history. San Felipe Segundo — named both for the saint's day and its later landfall in Florida — made landfall near Guayama with maximum sustained winds estimated at 160 mph. More than 300 people died in Puerto Rico, and nearly the entire coffee crop was destroyed. The storm went on to cause catastrophic loss of life around Lake Okeechobee, Florida.
Learn moreSan Ciriaco
HistoricAugust 8, 1899
>20 in. rainfallPeak winds1899Year>3,000 in PRImpactAmong the deadliest storms in Puerto Rico's recorded history, San Ciriaco struck the island during a period when modern forecasting did not exist. The hurricane produced extreme rainfall — some areas received more than 20 inches — and triggered massive flooding. Estimated deaths in Puerto Rico exceed 3,000, making it one of the most lethal natural disasters in the island's history.
Learn more