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    Hurricanes

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    Gabriel Chang
    Hurricanes are large, swirling storms that form over warm ocean waters and sometimes make landfall. They produce winds of at least 74 mph and can cause extensive damage from high winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surges. Two key factors for hurricane formation are warm ocean waters above 79°F and winds that don't change speed or direction with height. Hurricanes start as tropical disturbances that can grow into tropical depressions and then tropical storms as wind speeds increase, achieving hurricane status at 74 mph. They originate in several ocean basins including the Atlantic and are monitored and tracked by weather agencies between June and November.

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    Hurricanes

    Uploaded by

    Gabriel Chang
    17 views2 pages
    Hurricanes are large, swirling storms that form over warm ocean waters and sometimes make landfall. They produce winds of at least 74 mph and can cause extensive damage from high winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surges. Two key factors for hurricane formation are warm ocean waters above 79°F and winds that don't change speed or direction with height. Hurricanes start as tropical disturbances that can grow into tropical depressions and then tropical storms as wind speeds increase, achieving hurricane status at 74 mph. They originate in several ocean basins including the Atlantic and are monitored and tracked by weather agencies between June and November.

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    Hurricanes are large, swirling storms that form over warm ocean waters and sometimes make landfall. They produce winds of at least 74 mph and can cause extensive damage from high winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surges. Two key factors for hurricane formation are warm ocean waters above 79°F and winds that don't change speed or direction with height. Hurricanes start as tropical disturbances that can grow into tropical depressions and then tropical storms as wind speeds increase, achieving hurricane status at 74 mph. They originate in several ocean basins including the Atlantic and are monitored and tracked by weather agencies between June and November.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    17 views2 pages

    Hurricanes

    Uploaded by

    Gabriel Chang
    Hurricanes are large, swirling storms that form over warm ocean waters and sometimes make landfall. They produce winds of at least 74 mph and can cause extensive damage from high winds, heavy rainfall, and storm surges. Two key factors for hurricane formation are warm ocean waters above 79°F and winds that don't change speed or direction with height. Hurricanes start as tropical disturbances that can grow into tropical depressions and then tropical storms as wind speeds increase, achieving hurricane status at 74 mph. They originate in several ocean basins including the Atlantic and are monitored and tracked by weather agencies between June and November.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    What are hurricanes?

    Hurricanes are large, swirling storms. They produce winds of 119 kilometers per
    hour (74 mph) or higher. That's faster than a cheetah, the fastest animal on land.
    Winds from a hurricane can damage buildings and trees. Hurricanes form over
    warm ocean waters. Sometimes they strike land. When a hurricane reaches land, it
    pushes a wall of ocean water ashore. This wall of water is called a storm surge.
    Heavy rain and storm surge from a hurricane can cause flooding. Once a hurricane
    forms, weather forecasters predict its path. They also predict how strong it will get.
    This information helps people get ready for the storm.

    What Makes Hurricanes Form?


    Scientists don't know exactly why or how a hurricane form. But they do know that
    two main ingredients are needed. One ingredient is warm water. Warm ocean
    waters provide the energy a storm needs to become a hurricane. Usually, the
    surface water temperature must be 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit) or
    higher for a hurricane to form. The other ingredient is winds that don't change
    much in speed or direction as they go up in the sky. Winds that change a lot with
    height can rip storms apart.

    Tropical cyclones are classified as follows:


    A hurricane starts out as a tropical disturbance. This is an area over warm ocean
    waters where rain clouds are building. A tropical disturbance sometimes grows into
    a tropical depression. This is an area of rotating thunderstorms with winds of 62
    km/hr (38 mph) or less. A tropical depression becomes a tropical storm if its winds
    reach 63 km/hr (39 mph). A tropical storm becomes a hurricane if its winds reach
    119 km/hr (74 mph).

    Hurricanes originate in the Atlantic basin, which includes the Atlantic Ocean,
    Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico, the eastern North Pacific Ocean, and, less
    frequently, the central North Pacific Ocean. "Hurricane Season" begins on June 1
    and ends on November 30, although hurricanes can, and have, occurred outside of
    this time frame. NOAA's National Hurricane Center predicts and tracks these
    massive storm systems, which occur, on average, 12 times a year in the Atlantic
    basin.

    What Are the Parts of a Hurricane?

    • Eye: The eye is the "hole" at the center of the storm. Winds are light in this
    area. Skies are partly cloudy, and sometimes even clear.
    • Eye wall: The eye wall is a ring of thunderstorms. These storms swirl around
    the eye. The wall is where winds are strongest and rain is heaviest.

    • Rain bands: Bands of clouds and rain go far out from a hurricane's eye wall.
    These bands

    How Are Hurricanes Named?


    There can be more than one hurricane at a time. This is one reason hurricanes are
    named. Names make it easier to keep track of and talk about storms. A storm is
    given a name if it becomes a tropical storm. That name stays with the storm if it
    goes on to become a hurricane. (Tropical disturbances and depressions don't have
    names.) Each year, tropical storms are named in alphabetical order. The names
    come from a list of names for that year. There are six lists of names. Lists are
    reused every six years. If a storm does a lot of damage, its name is sometimes
    taken off the list. It is then replaced by a new name that starts with the same letter.

    Hurricane Katrina

    Katrina hit Florida and the central Gulf Coast with a double whammy: Like many
    storms, its winds knocked down trees and damaged buildings. But the storm surge
    caused the most damage, as it peaked at an estimated 28 feet in parts of
    Mississippi. Most memorably, this surge breached the levees and floodwalls of
    New Orleans, causing catastrophic flooding in 80 percent of the city and a total of
    $108 billion in damages in all areas affected—the costliest hurricane in history.

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