Hurricanes

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Hurricanes

• Hurricane
• North Atlantic Ocean, North East Pacific Ocean
  East of dateline, or South Pacific Ocean East of
  160 E
• Typhoon
• NW Pacific Ocean West of dateline

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Low pressure at the surface pulls air in
counter-clockwise.High pressure aloft expels the
air in a clockwise direction.
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Winds are breezy at the edge of the storm and
increase to a maximum in the eyewall. Winds are
relatively light in the eye itself.
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Hurricane facts

• Tropical storms need 50 meters of warm water
  (26.5 degrees Celcius) to grow
• The warm water evaporates into the storm,
  releasing the stored heat energy when it
  condenses
• The average hurricane uses as much energy in a
  day as the entire US in 6 months
• Hurricanes help maintain the heat balance of the
  Earth
• Hurricanes can not be stopped with nuclear
  weapons or cloud seeding
• Hurricanes move with large currents of air in the
  atmosphere. The direction of the storm is not
  altered by land masses.

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Hurricane Formation Conditions

• Water temperature of 26.5 oC
• 50 m depth of warm water
• Moist air
• Calm - very little wind
• 500 km from the equator so that the Coriolis
  Effect works!

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Warm ocean waters of at least 26.5 C Warm, humid
airRelatively moist layers near mid-troposphere
(5 km)Minimum distance of at least 500 km from
equator
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1 tropical disturbance 2 tropical depression 3
tropical storm 4 hurricane
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Wind blows the clouds clockwise start pulling
up ocean water. Then the bottom water moves
counterclockwise
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Air sinks into the centre (the eye).
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Wind spins around the eye, where hurricane is the
strongest.
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As the wind flows higher it becomes weaker and
flows clockwise.
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High winds
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Storm damage
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flooding
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Tornado formation
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Resources

• Gerry Bell Hurricanes
• NOAA
• NASA