During the hurricane season, Polk State College administrators monitor tropical storm movements. The College is prepared to close if conditions warrant. A closing announcement or status report will be posted on the Emergency Closing page.

Students, faculty and staff can also check PSC's closed circuit TV on both campuses or call our main phone number (863-297-1000) for a closing announcement. Once the College closes and the storm passes, call back for the latest info. Our recorded announcement will be updated with PSC's latest operation status.

During storms, PSC issues press releases announcing our operating status to local radio, TV stations and newspapers. However, the best place to determine whether PSC will be open or closed is to check the web site or phone number, since past experience has shown that the media may omit PSC or make mistakes about our closing status.

The hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

May 20, 2009: Hurricane forecasters at Colorado State, who have been making remarkably accurate predictions of hurricane seasons for years, are predicting just 12 named tropical storms and six hurricanes this summer and fall in the Atlantic Basin, which includes the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The reasons for fewer hurricanes include slightly cooler ocean surface temperatures and stronger winds in the upper atmosphere over the Atlantic.

If the PSC administration determines to close, because of adverse weather conditions or for other unexpected emergencies, these closings may wreak havoc with PSC's College Calendar. Students, faculty and staff will be informed of any date revisions on the college's web site, via PSC's closed circuit TV and other means.

Hurricanes are one of nature's most powerful forces, turning warm ocean water into powerful winds capable of mass destruction. Many people focus only on the heavy rains and high winds that buffet coastal areas and cause storm surge and flooding. As we learned in 2004, Polk County residents are also threaten by strong winds and flooding.

All Floridians need to be aware of the dangers associated with hurricanes and their somewhat weaker counterparts, tropical storms. Preparedness is the key to help you reduce the loss of life and property from these powerful storms.

Officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospherics Administration (NOAA)'s National Hurricane Center say no matter what level of storm activity is predicted during any hurricane season, Floridians should not be complacent. Since 1995, forecasters have noted an increase in overall tropical storm and hurricane activity. Officials warn Florida residents to be prepared. This has the potential to being a dangerous hurricane season, NOAA officials say.

The time to prepare for a hurricane is well before it's forecast to head in this direction. However, the NOAA will help some with preparation time this year. The feds will issue five day hurricane forecasts again this season. Forecasters say that will allow accurate, longer-range outlooks for increasingly populated coastal areas.

During the hurricane season you can follow the latest storm web sites of the National Hurricane Center, the Weather Channel and area media outlets (listed to the left). NOTE: During the height of a storm the large number of people using these web sites will considerably slow them down.

The names of the 2009 tropical storms are: Ana, Bill, Claudette, Danny, Erika, Fabian, Grace, Henri, Isabel, Juan, Kate, Larry, Mindy, Nicholas, Odette, Peter, Rose, Sam, Teresa, Victor, and Wanda.