Hurricanes are the most awesome, violent storms on Earth.
People call these storms by other names, such as typhoons or cyclones,
depending on where they occur. The scientific term for all these storms is
tropical cyclone. Only tropical cyclones that form over the Atlantic Ocean
or eastern Pacific Ocean are called hurricanes.
Whatever they are called, tropical cyclones all form the same way.
Our understanding of the formation of hurricanes and other tropical
storms is still expanding. There are a variety of theories in circulation
about how hurricanes form, but there is no definite answer at this point
in time.
Thanks to a variety of research projects, scientists have been able to
isolate six factors which appear to be the necessary conditions required
for the formation of any tropical storm. There are some tropical storms
that can gain strength without meeting each of these six factors.
Wind is moving air that is measured on the Beaufort Scale. Warm air rises
and cool air comes behind it to take its place. As the earth spins, the wind
moves towards the northern hemisphere. This is commonly called the
Coriolis Effect.
Winds move at different speeds and are called different names based
on how they are measured on the Beaufort Scale. The Beaufort Scale
measures winds on a scale from 0-12 which goes from calm air right
through to strong winds, gales to hurricanes.
Winds are also grouped and named by the direction they travel, with the
windiest place in the world being Antarctica.
Hurricanes begin when areas
of low atmospheric pressure move off Africa and into the Atlantic, where
they grow and intensify in the moisture laden air above the warm tropical
ocean.
Air moves toward these atmospheric lows from all directions and curves
to the right under the influence of the Coriolis effect, thereby initiating
rotation in the converging windfields. When these hot, moist air masses
meet, they rise up into the atmosphere above the low pressure area,
potentially establishing a self reinforcing feedback system that produces
weather systems known to meteorologists as tropical disturbances, tropical
depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes.
used 4x4 pickup trucks
