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Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke October 11, 2024

As Hurricane Milton moved away from Florida, misinformation about a Hurricane Nadine made landfall

If Your Time is short

  • This image is from news coverage prior to Hurricane Helene and shows the projected trajectory of the storm when it was still a potential tropical cyclone. 

  • The next hurricane could be called Nadine but the National Hurricane Center was monitoring no such storm as of Oct. 10.

Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc in the southeastern United States in late September, and now some Americans are bracing for another deadly storm

"Hurricane Nadine is now coming next week 10/18/24," an Oct. 10 Threads post said. "Looks like the same path as Helene."

The post included an image of a "First Alert Weather" map that says "Tropical Tracker" and shows the projected trajectory of a storm with wind gusts of up to 130 miles per hour. 

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

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The next hurricane could be called Nadine — it’s the next name on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s 2024 list of Atlantic tropical cyclone names — but NOAA was not monitoring any such storm as of Oct. 10, much less forecasting it would follow the same path as Helene. 

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Which brings us to the image of the weather map. The projected trajectory looks like the same path as Helene because it is an image of Hurricane Helene’s projected trajectory. 

WWSB, an ABC News affiliate in Sarasota, Florida, published the image on its website Sept. 23, when Hurricane Helene was still a potential tropical cyclone and had not yet been upgraded to a tropical storm or hurricane. 

We rate claims this image shows the projected trajectory for a hurricane called Nadine False.

Our Sources

Threads post, Oct. 10, 2024

Facebook post, Oct. 10, 2024

National Hurricane Center, Atlantic 2-Day Graphical Tropical Weather Outlook, visited Oct. 10, 2024

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA predicts above-normal 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, May 23, 2024

National Weather Service, Tropical Storm Helene: September 26-27, 2024, visited Oct. 10, 2024

The Associated Press, Death toll from Hurricane Helene rises to 227 as grim task of recovering bodies continues, Oct. 5, 2024

Savannah Business Journal, Sept. 24 - Potential Tropical Cyclone 9 upgraded to Tropical Storm Helene, Sept. 24, 2024

WWSB, 11PM Update: Potential Tropical Cyclone 9 expected to become a tropical storm on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2024

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As Hurricane Milton moved away from Florida, misinformation about a Hurricane Nadine made landfall

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