Hurricanes the Tropical Cyclones
What is a hurricane? A hurricane is a tropical cyclone that has a maximum sustained wind of at least 75 mph. The primary energy source for tropical cyclones is the latent heat released when water vapor condenses. Only extremely moist air can supply the energy necessary to spawn and maintain tropical storms, and only very warm air contains enough moisture. Tropical cyclones, therefore, form only over oceans with water temperatures of at least 80 deg F. After they have formed, such storms tend to intensify when passing over warmer water and weaken when passing over colder water.
The rate of condensation heating resulting from the intense rainfall associated with hurricanes is about 100 billion kW. In one day, therefore, a hurricane produces 24 X 100 billion kW h, an amount of energy that lies within the range of the yearly consumption of power by many industrialized nations. The mature hurricane is characterized by an eye--a cloud-free circular region of relatively light winds in the center of the storm. The sinking motion in the eye, which causes the clearing, also produces adiabatic warming and drying. Temperatures at 3 mi above sea level are typically 18 deg F warmer than the hurricane's environment.
Surrounding the eye, which has a diameter of 6 to 60 mi, the winds in the eyewall rotate counterclockwise at maximum velocity, which may exceed 180 mph in the most severe storms. These winds are maintained by the large differences in horizontal pressure between the eye and the outer region of the storm. Although the winds themselves are responsible for much of the storm damage, the waves and tides generated by the wind often cause most of the damage to coastal areas. In hu...
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...t $8.5 billion dollars. The most deadly hurricane recorded in history hit in Galveston, Texas in 1900. It was a category 4 hurricane, and killed around 8,000 people. In second and third place comes Florida. Combine together the grand totals of deaths are around 2,500 people. Just think we are in Florida. Florida also receives the strongest hurricane in history also. Remember to take caution when a hurricane threatens to approach. Always be on the caution and be ready for a storm to pop up.
Bibliography:
References:
Explorezone.com- http://explorezone.com/hurricanes
USA today.com- www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/whurwhat/whurwhat.htm
WW2010 University of Illinois- http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/hurr/stages/home.rxml
Extreme Science- www.extremescience.com
Science Daily- www.sciencedaily.com
Yahoo -- www.yahoo.com
Mamma- www.mamma.com
Leading up to the hurricane, many scientists expected the storm to dissipate over the ocean and cause little to no harm (Rappaport). The scientists were relying on faulty equipment that said that due to slow air speed and l...
Hurricanes are born over the warm waters of tropical oceans and are formed by a low-pressure system caused by the heating of water. The heat causes the air to rise and form lower pressures in a feedback loop, making the hurricane stronger. Heavy rain results from a condensation of water and strong winds develop from warm air rushing to the eye of the hurricane. Essentially, greater storms and winds occur when the hurricane feeds of the rising temperature of the water. In addition, researchers studied disturbances and intense thunderstorms in the atmosphere over Western Africa and believe they are partly to blame for extreme hurricanes affecting the United States and Canada. While these are all the main ingredients of a perfectly natural process, they were not the primary causes of the damage done by Hurricane
Throughout the course of history many natural disasters have challenged America and have caused unforgettable devastation. Our nation has experienced it all such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and wild fires. Perhaps, the deadliest natural disaster in American history as far as this day is to be Hurricane Galveston in 1900. The United States suffered a great loss of Americans on September 8, when a category four hurricane formed the city of Galveston, Texas. Hurricanes are categorized by their wind speed and hurricane Galveston reached a measure concentration that matches to a modern-day Category 4 storm. Catastrophic damaged occurred, it is recorded that that hurricane Galveston destroyed more than 3,600 buildings. It was possible for the hurricane
Today, I will talk about three main hurricanes that have made the biggest impact on the United States. My goal is to inform you about the three most deadly hurricanes to hit the United States which were the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane and Hurricane Katrina of 2005.
Isaac Storm On Friday evening, September 7, 1900, many of the 37,000 residents of Galveston, Texas, were settling down to dinner, few if any of them concerned about the steady 15 mph northerly wind rattling their windows. Within 48 hours, at least 8,000 of the townspeople would be dead, victims of the single worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Relatively few people are aware that the deadliest natural disaster in the United States was the hurricane that struck Galveston Island on September 8, 1900. One of the best resources that can be found to help fully understand the significance of this storm is Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson.
Tropical waters serve as the perfect breeding and growing place for a hurricane. Storms, such as Katrina, are able to develop because of the availability of water vapor over tropical oceans. This creates the ideal environment for the growth of a hurricane (Ahrens & Sampson, 2011).
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A hurricane is easily the most powerful storm that mother nature can throw at us. Every year, people who live on the coasts fight hurricanes with no dismay. A hurricane is simply too strong. Their winds reach speeds of 75 mph. Winds around the eye wall can reach 130 to 150 mph.
The United States of America has dealt with many hurricanes that have cost a great amount of damage. However, there is one hurricane that happened in 2005 that stands out among the others, Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst hurricanes to hit the United States, a category 5 on the Saffir/Simpson Hurricane Scale. An estimated 1836 people died because of the hurricane and the flooding that happened after (Zimmermann 1). Katrina initially began forming over the Bahamas on August 23rd, as a tropical depression....
Hurricanes are enormous heat engines that generate energy on a staggering scale. They draw heat from warm, moist ocean air and release it through condensation of water vapor in thunderstorms. The current hurricane that occurred was Big Sandy. FEMA became involved with the issue when the hurricane hit Rockaway, New York. President Obama declared a major disaster on October 30, 2012.
A Hurricane is a tropical storm with winds more than 74 miles per hour (mph). Hurricane wind damage is influenced by the duration and change of wind direction, amount of rainfall and how well land structures are build. Hurricanes are measure in five different categories and each category can produce different degree of damages. Category One Hurricane has sustained winds 74-95 mph. Category Two Hurricane has sustained winds of 96-110 mph with very strong winds that can produce widespread damage and extensive damage to power lines. Category Three Hurricane has sustained winds of 111-130 mph that will cause extensive damage with near total power loss that could last several days to weeks. Category Four Hurricane has sustained winds of 131-155 with extremely dangerous winds causing devastating damage. Finally, a category five hurricane has sustained winds greater than 155 mph. This is a catastrophic damage storm. Category five can have severe injury or death due to wind blown debris. A Category five hurricane can produce extensive power outages that will last for weeks to perhaps months. Therefor...
Hurricanes are one of the deadliest and most expensive natural disasters around. They are more common in areas of humid yet moist weather so they are very foreign to certain places. But to the places were hurricanes are the norm, the people take them extremely seriously because they kill people and ruin countless amounts of property. Hurricanes can attack and harm people in so many ways they can kill people, leave them homeless, it leaves children orphaned and disable them. On the west coast of the United States and other places hurricanes aren’t taken as seriously as other more common disasters, such as, earthquakes and volcanoes yet the hurricane can be a lot more damaging that both of those. Hurricanes are cyclones that develop over warm oceans and breed winds that blow yup to 74 miles per hour.
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A hurricane is a type of natural disaster that can be harmful and destructive to anything in its way. Every year five to six hurricanes are formed, damaging and destroying people’s homes, landmarks, and anything in its path (“Hurricane”). Before a hurricane is developed it is known as a tropical storm. To be a tropical storm wind speed must be at least thirty eight miles per hour (“Hurricane”). Once wind speeds reaches seventy four miles an hour it can then be classified as hurricane (“Hurricane”). Large scale storms, like hurricanes have a variety of ways to measure the sev...