Hurricanes-Purple

Hurricanes Fiona Qu and Alcy Torres Purple Class

media type="youtube" key="zP4rgvu4xDE" height="315" width="420" align="center"

Introduction Hurricanes are huge rotation storms that occur over warm waters. (1) They are on such a large scale that they are able to be seen from space. They start from a few strong thunderstorms, and eventually escalate to a hurricane when the windspeeds become greater than 74 mph. They are capable of destruction and the loss of lives, but demonstrate the power of Earth.

If you are interested in hurricanes occurring right now, please go [|here] to see the 2011 tracking data for Hurricanes in the Atlantic.

Dangers Hurricanes are earths strongest tropical cyclones becoming extremely dangerous to people as well as nature. Hurricanes can produce strong winds, storm surges, flooding, tornadoes, and rip tides (2). Strong winds can directly uproot trees, destroy buildings, sink ships, and flip cars (2). A storm surge is huge mass of water that crosses the coast where the eye of the storm goes onto land. They are about 65-80km wide. (6) Apart from storm surges, flooding also occurs with heavy precipitation. This causes a dangerous environment for residents who think they're safe because they don't live on the coast (2). Tornadoes have proved to become very dangerous during rain storms because they become very hard to see causing many casualties (2). Rip tides are strong currents which push away from shore as a strong storm is near. Rip tides are narrow strong narrow currents that bring anything in their path away from shore (2).

Conditions of Formation

=
Hurricanes begin as thunderstorms, where low atmospheric pressure moves towards the warm tropical ocean where they grow and intensify in the moisturized air (4). The ocean water must be warmer than 26.5 degrees celsius or 81 degrees Farenheit (2). Ultimately the heat and moisture from the ocean serve as an energy source for hurricanes (2). Since air moves from high pressure to low pressure, it begins to move towards the atmospheric lows above the ocean (4). Air moves towards the atmospheric lows in all directions but curves to the right in the Northern hemisphere and to the left in the Southern hemisphere due to the Coriolis effect. This process allows the rotation in the converging air masses (4). The eye of a hurricane is where the greatest windspeed's are as well as the most precipitation (6). The air in the eye slowly descends and heats by compression (6). Since the air compresses the molecules excite making the eye the warmest part of the storm. (6) When the hot moist air masses meet they rise into the atmosphere creating low pressure establishing a tropical depression which is a cluster of storms (2). After some time, the tropical depression intensifies to becomes a tropical storm with winds reaching 39-73 mph. As surface pressures continue to drop, a tropical storm becomes a hurricane (2). ======

Historical Examples Many people in the United States are familiar with Hurricane Katrina. It occurred in the summer of 2005 and primarily impacted the Gulf Coast. (5) It started as a tropical depression in the southeast Bahamas. (5) The hurricane traveled to Florida, where the windspeeds slowed down slightly, but then escalated when it reached the Gulf of Mexico. (5) The Hurricane itself was extremely large, and the damaging af termath was widespread. 80% of New Orleans was underwater, over 1.7 million people lost power and there was approximately 100 billion dollars worth in damages.. (5)

To read about another damaging hurricane named Hurricane Ike, click [|here].

Safety Although the effects of a hurricane can be disastrous and wreck havoc on people and property, there are ways to prepare and protect yourself before, during and after the hurricane.

B efore:
 * Make sure to prepare an emergency kit filled with essentials. (3)
 * It is helpful to learn the Hurricane evacuation routes near you, so you are able to use them if necessary. (3)
 * Secure your property by covering windows with plywood or permanent storm shutters. (3)
 * Install a generator so you will be prepared if the power goes out. (3)

During:
 * Stay indoors, and take extra care to stay away from glass. It may shatter, and harm you and those around you. (3)
 * Find refuge in an interior room on a low level. (3)
 * Do not go on elevators. (3)
 * If there is no shelter available, stay under a sturdy object. (3)

After:
 * Listen to the radio to be alerted about flooding or rainfall. (3)
 * Pay attention to damaged powerlines and report them so the risk of being electrocuted can be minimized. (3)

Sources 1)"Hurricanes." //Gale Science in Context//. Gale, 16 Feb. 2011. Web. 12 Jan. 2012. . 2) "Hurricanes: Online Meterorology Guide." //Department of Atmospheric Sciences -// //University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign//. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2012. . 3) "Hurricanes." //Ready//. FEMA, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2012. . 4) "How do Hurricanes Form?" //Carolina Environmental Diversity Explorations//. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2012. . 5) "Hurricane Katrina." //NOAA Satellite and Information Service//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2012. . 6) Tarbuck, Edward J, and Frederick K Lutgens. //Earth Science//. Boston, MA: Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.