Hunker Down Guide to Hurricane Preparedness

Things look calm on the NHC 7 Day Tropical Outlook.

As of today, June 26, 2026, we have only had one named storm in the Atlantic side of the 2026 hurricane season. One of the HunkerDownGuide.com members just asked me "Is this normal?"

In a nutshell, yes.

But it is the perfect time to start your preps:

Today's episode is actually the first lesson in our new course: Hurricane Plan 101 - The Big Question - To Stay or Get-Away.

As the title of the course says, it is about empowering you with tools, data, and resources so that you can make the best possible decision about where you will ride our a tropical storm or hurricane, if it hits your area.

In this lesson, I give an overview of the course and discuss why this is probably the #1 most important decision you will be making. Better to do this when you are calm and have the time to consult the websites, online tools, and even consult with government experts. You will then be able to decide what is your Plan A, and conversely, what is your Plan B.

We will be following up with episodes based on the other lessons over the coming days.

I hope you will come to the HunkerDownGuide.com website and sign up for this FREE course https://www.hunkerdownguide.com/courses. It is based on the chapter in my book "Day Before Disaster" - called Step 1 - Answer the Big Question - To Stay Or Get-Away https://www.hunkerdownguide.com/book/

In today's episode, I look back at the development of the first Atlantic named storm - Tropical Storm Arthur. In our episode a week ago, Arthur was just an area with a 10% chance and it slowly developed into a rain event for the southeast US. I have this episode posted for comments and updates at https://www.hunkerdownguide.com/space/podcasts/post/tropical-thursday-june-18-2026-the

I also do a sneak peak at the new free course here at HunkerDownGuide.com about how to decide if you will shelter in-place or evacuate during a hurricane threat. It is a companion to the Step 1 chapter in my book "Day Before Disaster". The free course is at: https://www.hunkerdownguide.com/courses

In this episode I talk about why it is a great idea to store some emergency water every hurricane season. Clean drinking water is one of those things we take for granted, as in the USA it flows out of every faucet. But a tropical storm of hurricane can easily shut that source down in a moment. Our family had our water essentially cut off with a Boil Water Order for 6 days after hurricane Milton.

Did you know that 3 gallons of water weighs as much as 2 bowling balls? Do you know how to figure out how much water each person in your household needs each day? Do you know how many days worth of water you need to keep ready? How long can you store bottled water?

I cover it all here.  If you have my book Day Before Disaster, reference this in Step 4, page 63. Join us for discussions on this an all types of hurricane prep topics at https://www.hunkerdownguide.com

The post for this episode is:  https://www.hunkerdownguide.com/space/podcasts/post/whatever-you-do-don-t-come-up-short-of

In today's episode, I walk thru the long range forecast from the NHC, which it now shows a 10% chance of development over next 7 days. It looks like this mass of storms will likely move off into eastern Mexico this weekend, but we have to stay aware this time of year.

As usual, you can watch this on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@HunkerDownGuide

Or listen on any audio podcast player - search for "Hunker Down Guide".

I am excited to share a random find I made last week of some really low cost hurricane shutters. I visited one of our local Habitat For Humanity Restore locations and found a mountain of metal shutters for sale. the prices are amazing.

The price they are asking is really a fraction of the cost at any big box store. From $11 to $22. Same shutters new would be 3 to 4 times as much. Not sure if they have these at other Restore locations (900 across the US) but definitely worth a try. I cover this in detail in the latest episode.

Check out this episode on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@HunkerDownGuide or as an audio podcast on any podcast app.

Definitely a source that will get snapped up as soon as the first storm threatens later in the season.

Every Thursday we will do an episode on what is happening in the tropics. Today, June 4, 2026,  I show how to keep an awareness of the tropical weather outlook using official maps. I have a collection of resources on the HunkerDownGuide.com website, and I walk thru some of these in today's show. Everyone is welcome to visit the site and try these yourself.

On the site here, look at the left menu, under the Tropical Weather section. Click on the Hurricane Tracking Room. We will do these tropical weather shows more often, once storms begin to form.

There is a video version of this episode at https://youtu.be/CRCJOqceVWo?si=1nOakSDRWj4yasJy

June 1st officially opens the 2026 Hurricane Season. Well, June 1 is in the Atlantic Ocean, but in the Eastern Pacific it starts May 15. For both these regions that affect the United States, the season ends on November 30th. So we roughly have 6 months ahead of us.

Hurricanes can actually form outside of that 6 month period, but historically, 97% of them fall inside it. There is a terrific graphic of the seasonal tropical activity to give you an idea of when the tropics are most active. They call these the campfire graphs. Atlantic: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/climo/images/2021climo/AtlanticCampfire.png

Paacific: https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/climo/images/2021climo/PacificCampfire.png

September is usually the peak month.

From a preparedness standpoint, these graphs tell us a few things.

Remember, before a hurricane actually hits your area, there is still time to make and execute a plan. Join us at HunkerDownGuide.com as we explore the steps and actions you need to take to prepare and protect your family, home, pets, and property.

This show is all about hurricane prep. Episodes are usually available in both a video (YouTube) and audio-only formats. Below are the episodes, along with a short blog post with links, video, images, etc. You can comment or ask questions on each post too.

You can subscribe on any podcast app by searching for "Hunker Down Guide". On YouTube, subscribe at https://www.youtube.com/@HunkerDownGuide

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