RNC organizers are in the process of ironing out plans to move some of the convention’s events outdoors, several media outlets reported. While the convention is scheduled to begin in Charlotte, North Carolina on August 21, it will conclude with celebrations in Jacksonville, Florida between August 24 and 27.
Event organizers made the decision to split convention activities between the two cities last month after conflict arose between the RNC and officials in North Carolina, who wanted the option of limiting attendance if the virus still had a foothold in the state by August. In the weeks since both states paused their reopening plans due to surges in new cases, and on Sunday Florida set a new record for the highest single-day increase in new cases reported by one state.
With the pandemic situation changing every day, it’s difficult to know what each state will be up against come August 21. Hurricane season, which began on June 1 and lasts through November 30, is similarly unpredictable: It’s impossible to know this far out whether any hurricanes will develop at the time of the convention and, if they do, where they will make landfall.
Scientists with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in May predicted an “above-normal” hurricane season in the Atlantic region. The agency estimated between 13 and 19 storms featuring wind speeds of 39 miles per hour or greater could develop. Between six and 10 of those storms could become hurricanes, and between three and six of those could escalate into category 3, 4 or 5 hurricanes, the agency said.
“As Americans focus their attention on a safe and healthy reopening of our country, it remains critically important that we also remember to make the necessary preparations for the upcoming hurricane season,” Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said at the time. The secretary added that NOAA scientists will actively monitor developing storms so they can warn Americans if a hurricane threat is on the way.
Newsweek reached out to the RNC and the NOAA for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Since the convention only occurs once every four years and changes location from one year to the next, hurricanes are not often a cause for concern. However, the RNC has dealt with hurricane hurdles within the last 10 years: In 2012, the convention in Tampa, Florida had to cancel its first day of events due to an approaching tropical storm.
While the start and end of each hurricane season typically don’t attract large numbers of storms, August and September tend to be active hurricane months. Major hurricanes like Katrina in 2005, Charley in 2004 and Andrew in 1992 all started at the end of August, and each struck Florida as it traveled inland from the Atlantic Ocean.
