The NHC or National Hurricane Center is responsible for keeping track of and observing the likely behavior of hurricanes right from the point when they are tropical depressions. The NHC is located quite appropriately at the Florida International University in Miami, Florida. The main objective of the NHC is to keep people forewarned particularly if a hurricane is headed towards land and by doing so minimize damage to life and property.

The center is responsible for issuing warnings at least 36 hours in advance of conditions that look like they might escalate into a tropical storm or a hurricane. The NHC issues these warnings via the news channels and the NOAA Weather Radio. The NHC is responsible for information on cyclone forecasts for the North Atlantic and the eastern Pacific regardless of whether the storms are going to affect the US or not.

The credit for getting things moving on the NHC goes to President William McKinley who issued a decree in 1998 that led to the development of a hurricane warning network under the Weather Bureau. The NHC came into being in 1967 and worked with hurricane warning centers in New Orleans and Boston for the next two decades.

The NHC works in a very systematic manner is served by hurricane specialists who work eight-hour shifts from May through November. The specialists issue advisories every six hours whenever a depression in there area appears. When the storm season is over the specialists focus on educating the public on storm safety issues.  

The Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch or TAFB is an important wing of the NHC and works all-year round preparing forecasts on weather conditions on the high seas. The TAFB makes use of radars and satellites to obtain information on the position and strength of cyclones.

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ is the NHC website and is regularly updated with information on storm movements, marine forecasts, hurricane awareness information and has a lot of information on the history of hurricanes.