Spotting fake hurricane forecasts on social media

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - If you've seen this "Long Range Weather Outlook" on your social media feed showing Hurricane Irma heading toward Houston, ignore it.

A local Houston reporter chimed in warning it is a fake. So did another news station.

Even the National Weather Service got involved by tweeting the actual forecast, noting forecasts only go out five days along with warning people to keep their eyes out for fake forecasts.

Steven DiMartino is a senior meteorologist with WeatherOptics. He said the National Weather Service is not going to make a forecast 10 days out for a specific city.

The best advice when it comes to getting forecast: head to the National Weather Service website at weather.gov. To find out about hurricanes, click on forecast, hurricane, and you'll see the accurate forecast, five days out.

To those who are spreading the fake forecast, DiMartino says you are going to scare people who just went through a through a catastrophe like Harvey, so have some heart.

As for storm preparedness, meteorologists say have your kit ready and have your evacuation plan in place.