To join a control zone to an existing storm, complete these steps:
1. Make sure the desired control zone is selected in the Zone Selection tree.
2. Do one of the following:
• Select the Start Storm... option from the Storm menu, or
• Click the Start Storm button () on the toolbar. The Start Storm dialog box opens with the Join Existing Storm pane displayed.
3. In the Join Existing Storm pane, select the storm you want the selected zone to join.
4. Select a date and time for the storm's start date using one of the methods below:
• Leave the Use Current Time option checked. The current system time on the server will be used as the Start Date of the storm in this control zone.
• Uncheck the Use Current Time option. The Start Date of the storm you selected to join will be used as the Start Date of the storm in this control zone, unless you explicitly edit it.
• To then edit the Start Date, select the Start Date field and select a date and time for the storm's start date. Click OK. The selected date and time populate the Start Date field.
5. In the Start Storm dialog box, click OK. The following occurs:
• The Storm Information pane appears in between the Zone Selection and Summary Information panes. The Crew Information pane appears below the Zone Selection and Storm Report panes.
• Storm Management operates in storm mode for the selected control zone.
• If the selected control zone has any child zones not already operating in storm mode, the child zones operate in storm mode as part of this same storm.
Note: If all of the children of a zone are eventually placed under the same storm individually with the Join Existing Storm pane, the parent zone is automatically placed into storm mode when the last child zone is joined to that storm. The parent zone adopts the earliest Start Date of all of its children.