The official start of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season is only 32 days away.

The National Weather Service is wanting Alabamians — both those along the coast and those inland — to bite the bullet and go ahead and get ready.

National Hurricane Preparedness Week starts today (April 30) and lasts until May 6. The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on June 1 and lasts until Nov. 30.

Alabama is not immune to hurricane strikes, the most recent being Category 2 Hurricane Sally in September of 2020.

Sally had 105 mph winds and made an agonizingly slow landfall at Gulf Shores on Sept. 16, 2020, causing widespread wind damage, storm surge and flooding.

Sally is blamed for three direct and three indirect deaths.

The National Weather Service in Mobile is well aware that each year coastal Alabama has an influx of new residents that may not have experienced a hurricane or tropical storm before.

Each day this week the weather service will roll out information to help you get prepared in case one of those storms heads your way.

Here’s a list of the topics this week:

Sunday: Know your risk: Wind and water

Monday: Prepare before hurricane season

Tuesday: Understanding the forecast

Wednesday: Get moving before a storm threatens

Thursday: Stay protected during storms

Friday: Use caution after storms. (Nearly half of hurricane deaths happen after the storm.)

Saturday: Take action today

Read more about National Hurricane Preparedness Week here.

NOAA hasn’t issued its official outlook for the upcoming hurricane season yet. That will come near the end of May.

However, others have issued forecasts, including Colorado State University. Researchers there said there’s a chance that the Atlantic basin could have a slightly below-average season as far as the number of storms goes — although they added that there was more uncertainty than usual in this year’s forecast.

More on hurricanes: Hurricane names Ian, Fiona retired for good