Key West weather office offers free virtual hurricane training week
Key West's weather office will host free virtual hurricane training July 27-30, with one-hour sessions on sheltering, forecast products and post-storm safety.
The National Weather Service office in Key West will open free virtual tropical training sessions July 27-30, giving Monroe County residents a chance to review sheltering, post-storm safety and the forecast products they will rely on when a storm threatens.
The program will run as three one-hour sessions each day at 11 a.m. EDT, 1 p.m. EDT and 7 p.m. EDT. Registration is required in advance, and each session can hold up to 1,000 people. The National Weather Service says the sessions are tailored to Florida residents, though the material is also relevant to anyone living in the path of tropical cyclones.
Meteorologists from across Florida are coordinating the statewide effort before the peak of hurricane season. The training is meant to help people interpret tropical weather forecast products and turn them into decisions that matter, whether that means deciding when to shelter, when to move early, or how to prepare before watches and warnings tighten around the Keys.
The final day, July 30, will feature a lessons-learned panel with the National Hurricane Center and the Florida Division of Emergency Management. During the presentations, attendees will be muted, but they will be able to submit questions through Q&A tools and a Google form. Certificates of attendance will be available, and personalized certificates can be requested after the training ends.
The weather service is also using the training to reinforce what often gets overlooked after landfall. Its post-storm safety materials warn that hazards continue when the wind drops, including flooding, damaged structures, contaminated water and heat stress risks. The agency says residents should be ready to be self-sufficient for at least one week, a standard that matters in Monroe County, where isolated roads, flooded neighborhoods and delayed utility restoration can make outside help slow to arrive.
The July sessions also fit into the National Weather Service’s broader 2026 preparedness calendar, which tracks Florida hurricane-related observances and other readiness campaigns through the season. For households, renters and business owners across Key West and the rest of Monroe County, the training week offers a free chance to sharpen plans before the next tropical threat forms.
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