Defining a Hurricane
A hurricane is a tropical storm that has winds of 74 miles per hour or more. The winds can sometimes reach up to 155 miles per hour. Another characteristic of hurricanes is their massive size that measures from 200 to 300 miles in diameter. In the center of each storm there is what is called the eye of the storm (Image to Right). The eye of the storm is usaually between 20-30 miles and is the calmest part of the storm. Winds here may only be 74 miles per hour. Some hurricanes can last for two weeks or more over open water and can run a path across the entire Eastern Seaboard.
Hurricanes that develop in the Northern Hemisphere rotate in a counterclockwise motion and in the
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Some hurricanes can even develop in the winter time, but that rarely happens, only three have been recorded since 1886.
Hurricanes are not only very violent storms but they are also very dangerous. The primary dangers of the storm are the rain/flooding, high winds, the occasional tornado, flying debris from buildings and nature (i.e. trees), and the storm surges . Storm surges can be between 50 to 100 miles high. These surges may be even more dangerous than any of the other hazards because they can wipe out an entire community near the ocean. Nine out of ten deaths are caused by such surges and annually 17 people die from hurricanes in the United States alone. The deadliest hurricane in United States history was at Galveston Island, called the Texas Storm of 1900. It was a Category 4 hurricane and there was more than 6,000 deaths occured with this storm.
Hurricane Andrew
Vitals: Hurricane Andrew cost the United States more than $25 billion dollars. Andrew also claimed 26 lives and left more than 250,000 people homeless. It lasted eleven days from August 16-27, 1992 and hit land in the Bahamas, southern Florida, and southcentral Louisiana. This particular hurricane originated off the West Coast of Africa in early August, 1992. On August 17, 1992 it became a tropical depression halfway between Africa and the eastern islands of the Carribean. Later on
A hurricane is an advanced tropical storm with winds of 74 miles per hour or more and can cause massive damage to people, wildlife, and structures. The Galveston hurricane and storm surge on a Friday evening in Galveston Texas on September 7, 1900. Many residents were eating dinner unaware of a disastrous hurricane headed toward them. The people were not sure just how powerful the hurricane actually was because they did not have the modern technology that we have today. Their way of determining hurricane statistics was to simply go out on boats and report back information.
When we hear about hurricanes on the news or how one might be closing in on where we live we mostly think of how we are going to protect our self. However, there is one thing that I think most people do not stop and ponder, which is how does a hurricane even get forecast? From the direction it is going to be headed, to how it is categorized. The group that preforms all forecasting for tropical cyclone activity is the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and they cover the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific basins throughout North America. To start it begins with visual observations of the hurricane using reconnaissance airplanes, satellites, ships, buoys, radars, and an assortment of land-based equipment. Likewise, most of the storm’s projected path and
system, or one making landfall just a few nautical miles further to the north, would have
Do you know what a hurricane is? Some might know it as a cyclone. A hurricane is a tropical storm with high powered wind of the most severity. Hurricanes are a dangerous force to be reckoned with.
In the aftermath of Andrew there seemed to have been a disappearance in social classes. Everyone was now in need. The rich were in line with the poor to accept donated food and supplies. It did not matter how much or how little money you had, everyone was treated the same.
According to Brain Dunbar, from Nasa, a hurricane is large swirling storm that produces winds of 74 mph or higher. That is much faster than the world’s fastest animal on land, a cheetah, which speeds range from 68-75 mph. Hurricanes are powerful rotating tropical storms which an average diameter of 100 miles. A hurricane is made up of an eye, the center of the storm, which
A hurricane needs a couple of components to survive. One of them is warm water and the other is winds going the same direction. If a hurricane didn’t have either of those, it wouldn’t last very long or be destructive. Scientists categorize hurricanes by its wind speed using the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. There are 5 categories for a hurricane and each can do dangerous damage. A category 1 hurricane would have winds of 119 to 153 km per hour (or 74 to 95 mph). A category 2 hurricane would have winds going from 154 to 177 km per hour (96 to 110 mph). A category 3 hurricane has winds of 178 to 208 km per hour (111 to 129 mph). A category 4 hurricane has winds of 209-251 km per hour (130 to 156 mph). And finally, a category 5 hurricane has
Hurricanes are considered a major force of nature. The high speed winds and heavy rain make a great combo for the demolition they cause. The hurricane’s wind speeds are are major part of the hurricane actually becoming a hurricane. The way it forms is when warm and moist air rises from the surface. When the air rises it causes a drop in pressure below the warm and moist air.
Hurricane Katrina included many details common to hurricanes. The wind speeds of hurricanes usually have a span from 150 mph to 200 mph. Most hurricanes have temperatures of 80 Degrees Fahrenheit at the very least. When the wind speeds sustain 39 mph it’s considered a tropical depression, or a tropical storm, and is then given a name. When the wind speeds reach 75 mph, it’s then considered a hurricane and is measured on the Safire-Simpson Scale. On the scale they rate the storm from a one through five, depending on their wind speeds and how fast the hurricane is traveling. Hurricanes form
Hurricanes are large, twirling storms that bring strong winds that can blow up to 74 mph or higher. There are two main ingredients that hurricanes need to form, warm water, and consistent winds. If a hurricane does form, it will include the eye, which is the clam center of the storm, around that there is the eye wall which is normally the strongest part of the storm, on the edges of the hurricane are the rainbands, which are swirling “arms” of clouds, rain, and thunderstorms, they can stretch out from the eye for hundreds of miles. After a hurricane forms it is tracked by meteorologists, and other scientists researching the storms, these people categorize it using the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, this scale is measured in five categories, category one has winds 74-95 mph, category two has winds 96-110 mph, category three has winds 111-129 mph, category four 130-156 mph, and finally category five has 157 mph winds and higher.
There are a few necessary components required in order for a hurricane to develop. These components consist of warm tropical water (typically 27°C/80°F), low air pressure, and winds that do not change speed or direction. All it takes is a slight change in a wind current to tear apart a hurricane. As warm tropical water evaporates and condenses in the atmosphere thunderstorms will develop; this phase is called a tropical disturbance. The constant evaporation of water and rising of warm air will lead to an area of very low air pressure, which will later become the eye of the hurricane (NASA 2014). Surface winds will spin around the area of low pressure due to the Coriolis Effect, which is the apparent deflection of wind currents due to the rotation of the solid Earth moving separately from the atmosphere (Britt 2005). When the winds cause the thunderstorms to rotate at a speed below 38 mph it is a
Hurricanes are one of nature’s most natural occurrences and intense phenomenal storms. Yet, as phenomenal as they are, they are still one of the deadliest and disastrous natural occurrences that continue to plague costal residents with fears of their homes being destroyed, their towns wiped out, and loved ones either disappearing or dying.
I woke up early morning and turned on the TV. I could not see anything
The problem of racial discrimination has been portrayed in many films in the last 15 years. However, The Hurricane does a masterful job at addressing this issue, and will leave audience members clenching their fists in anger at the injustice that happened to a man named Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. The movie demonstrates the racial inequity that can be found in our judicial system through the impressive acting by Denzel Washington and the direction of Norman Jewison. The Hurricane makes you wonder who else has been wrongfully accused in the past 30 years.
Hurricanes need two ingredients to form: warm ocean water and wind. There are four stages of a hurricane, depending on the wind speed: tropical disturbance, tropical depression, tropical storm, and hurricane. They first begin as tropical disturbances near the equator, where the temperature of the ocean water is at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit and winds are blowing approximately 23 miles per hour or less across the ocean surface. The wind causes water to evaporate and rise, forming cumulonimbus clouds. As evaporation and condensation continue, these clouds become larger and higher. Winds pick up to between 23 and 38 miles per hour, where the storm has become a tropical depression. Warm air rises and leaves the area with lower air pressure. Areas with higher air pressure move into the low pressure area. Then this warm air rises and more surrounding air moves in to take its place. The system of clouds and wind grow, fed by ocean water evaporating. As the system spins in a circle, an eye forms that is of low pressure. Higher pressure air from above flows into the eye of the storm. When winds reach 39 miles per hour, the storm is called a tropical storm. When winds reach at least 74 miles per hour, the storm is considered a