A "Cone of Uncertainty" has become ubiquitous in hurricane forecasting, encompassing the likeliest possible path that a storm might take as it approaches landfall. These forecasts are crucial because they help government agencies at all levels prepare even in these far-from-certain future conditions. Although individual institutions have had to cope with localized impacts of hurricanes or other natural disasters, until the pandemic, postsecondary education, as an industry, has not previously faced the widespread uncertainty caused by a force of nature. While the pandemic has upended normal processes and ushered in a persistent cloud of uncertainty, the growing intensity in the competition over student enrollments will make accurate predictions harder. This article discusses why state policy makers increasingly need tools that include variables essential to recognizing threats to institutional health (differentiated at least by sector) and to student affordability, thus helping them to balance their sense of priorities for the critical resource allocation decisions that hang together in a precarious balance.