Forecasts and advisories about hurricanes include two major components: movement and intensity. Paths of hurricanes can now be projected up to five days in advance, although with less certainty than the traditional three-day path forecasts. In addition to the path that a hurricane or tropical cyclone will take, projections are made concerning where landfall will occur. The term »landfall« refers to the point where the surface center of a hurricane intersects with the coastline. Because hurricanes can be massive systems with destructive winds extending for hundreds of miles and storm surges occurring along the coast – as well as tornadoes spawned by the system and flooding caused by heavy rain – more attention should be paid to the watches and warnings for an area rather than to the single point of predicted landfall.
