What is a Hurricane?

         Hurricanes are basically severe tropical storms that form mainly in the southern Atlantic Ocean , Caribbean Sea , Gulf of Mexico , and in the eastern Pacific Ocean . Hurricanes gather up heat and energy throughout their way across the oceans.

Evaporating the seawater increases the hurricane’s power. Hurricanes rotate counterclockwise around the center, or eye. When hurricanes hit land, the heavy rain, very strong winds, and massive waves can horribly damage buildings, houses, trees, and cars.  

                                   Hurricane Formation

            Hurricanes are large swirling columns of air. They are formed mostly in tropical or warm places.  The storms must form over waters that are at temperatures of at least 80 F degrees or higher.  They must have a light upper level wind as well.  The winds stay at low speeds and travel across the ocean as tropical waves. Hot, moist air from the ocean is pulled up into the eye of the storm, and becomes a tropical storm. As the air goes up and cools off, the moisture condenses and is released as heavy rain into the winds circulating the eye. The released energy is pumped into the spinning clouds, making it rise and spin faster. When wind speeds reach up to at least 74 mph, the storm is considered a hurricane.

            A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone that is formed over warm water. A hurricane progresses in these forms in order:

Tropical Depression- A Tropical Depression is an organization of thunderstorms and clouds that have a wind speed of 38 mph or less. 

Tropical Storm- A tropical Storm is the second form of a Hurricane. It is an organized system of strong thunderstorms that come with winds that usually range from 39-73mph

 Hurricane-A Hurricane is an intensely strong system of devastating thunderstorms and winds that range from 74mph or higher.

 Hurricanes are rated in categories from 1-5:

Category 1- Winds of 74-95mph

Category 2-Winds of 96-110mph  

Category 3- Winds of 111-130mph

Category 4-Winds of 131-155mph

Category 5-Devestateing winds of 156mph or higher

     As the storm moves across the ocean, the wind speeds increase. Hurricanes are mostly put into five different categories according to the strength of their winds. For example, the weakest hurricanes are Category 1 hurricanes, which have wind speeds anywhere from 74 mph to 95 mph. As the hurricane moves across the ocean, it becomes a complex, very tight mass of wind and rain. Then, the eye becomes clear on satellite pictures. The larger hurricanes can have an eye as big as 35 miles across!