Fisherman's Emergency Guide
How a hurricane forms and builds in its travel across the sea.
They are called Hurricane here in the United States. The strongest of the circulating storms, also called cyclones or typhoons in the western Pacific. Hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean usually begin to form in the southern Atlantic off the coast of Africa, usually during Hurricane season, which runs from June 1st. through November 30th.
An Approaching storm during hurricane season.
What makes a hurricane form?
Hurricanes need four conditions to form:
Winds off the West African coast converge and begin a counter clockwise circulation. Sometimes these winds move across the Atlantic Ocean in the form of a tropical wave, never forming into a hurricane, and bringing little more than rain.
- low air pressure
- warm temperatures
- moist ocean air
- tropical winds
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But quite often, the warm temperatures and atmospheric conditions are just right and the wind speeds increase and form an eye. At this stage it is a tropical storm. As air rises and cools, moisture condenses and is released in the form of heavy rain and combines with the torrential winds that are now circling the eye. The energy that is released pumps into the rotating cloud mass. This action makes it rise and spin faster. When the wind speeds reach 74 miles per hour, the storm is now a hurricane. The hurricane travels across the Atlantic Ocean, and the wind speeds increase with no hindrance from land. There are five categories in which a hurricane is classified.
The classification system is called the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Intensity Scale. The weaker hurricanes with wind speeds of 74 to 94 mph are referred to as category 1 storms, and while dangerous they normally cause little damage. The most powerful hurricane ever recorded was a category 5 with sustained winds of 200 miles per hour. Some hurricanes move quickly and produce less rainfall, while others move slower and can produce torrential rain squalls with downfalls that often exceed 15 inches of rain.
The forward right quadrant (12:00 - 3:00) of the hurricane is the strongest part of the storm. The eye of the hurricane is clear and calm and can fool the unsuspecting into thinking the hurricane is through, only to be caught of guard when the back end of the storm begins its pass over land. While hurricanes can be tracked, predicting where they will make land fall and when can be tricky. These storms often change course, and can sway from their predicted path by several miles even when just a few miles off shore.
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