Hurricanes

Yesterday, I wrote a report on hurricanes. My mom thought it would be a good idea to blog it, so I did.

Hurricanes are massive windstorms with winds over 74 M.P.H. Hurricane season is generally in the summer. Louisiana, Texas, and Florida are on the receiving end of many hurricanes. Hurricanes can be very deadly.

Hurricanes start over the ocean as a “tropical depression.” This is loosely defined as a jumble of clouds in a relatively small area. It needs water to be warm, around 80° F or more. The air needs to cool off quickly as it rises and as this humid air rises, it creates clouds. The wind must blow from the same direction and at the same speed, which will force air upward from the ocean. Typically, hurricanes are formed approximately 180 miles both north and south of the equator. The Corioles Force causes the spin of a hurricane.

The rotation of Earth causes the Corioles Force. If Earth did not rotate, then hurricanes would flow toward the low-pressure center. However, because Earth rotates, a hurricane travels around the low-pressure center. This low-pressure center is the “eye” of the hurricane. Airflow around hurricanes rotates in a counter-clockwise direction in the northern hemisphere, but rotates in a clockwise direction in the southern hemisphere.

Hurricanes are guided by winds in the troposphere. While over the ocean, they gain speed and momentum. When they make landfall, and the eye passes over land, the hurricane starts to slow down gradually. As the hurricane approaches land, storm surges form. Storm surges are large waves formed by the winds and force of the hurricane. Most damage overall is produced by the high-speed winds that come with a hurricane; however, most of the damage near the shoreline is done by the storm surges. For instance, Katrina’s surges took out levies in Louisiana, which caused massive flooding.

These are some special hurricanes. Hurricane Humberto was a weak Tropical depression that quickly flared up to a category 1 hurricane. Humberto's remains merged with a cold front and dropped a lot of rain on areas of Georgia and the Carolinas that were going through a heavy drought. Hurricane Dean was a mighty category 5 hurricane. Hurricanes are quite ferocious.

Here are some records.

• Costliest Atlantic hurricane in history: Katrina caused $81.2 billion in damage.
• Deadliest hurricane: "The Great Hurricane" of 1780 caused approximately 22,000+ deaths.
• Most intense Atlantic hurricane: Wilma measured in at 882 millibars of pressure.

Hurricanes cause billions of dollars of damage each year.