Every year between June 1 and November 30 (commonly called hurricane season), hurricanes threaten the eastern and gulf coasts of the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. In other parts of the world, the same types of storms are called typhoons or cyclones. Hurricanes wreak havoc when they make landfall, and they can kill thousands of people and cause billions of dollars of property damage when they hit heavily populated areas.
In this article, we’ll discuss how hurricanes form and move, and look at the destruction and damage they can cause. We’ll also examine how meteorologists track hurricanes. You’ll be amazed at the power and impact of these storms.
According to the National Hurricane Center, “hurricane” is a name for a tropical cyclone that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean. “Tropical cyclone” is the generic term used for low-pressure systems that develop in the tropics.
“Tropical cyclones with maximum sustained surface winds of less than 17 meters per second (39 mph / 62.7 kph / 34 knots) are called tropical depressions. Once the tropical cyclone reaches winds of at least 17 meters per second (m/s), it is typically called a tropical storm and assigned a name. If winds reach 33 m/s (74 mph / 119 kph / 64 kt), then it is called a “hurricane.”
| “Hurricane”According to the National Hurricane Center, the word “hurricane” comes from the name “Hurican,” the Caribbean god of evil. |
Hurricanes are defined by the following characteristics:
- They are tropical, meaning that they are generated in tropical areas of the ocean near the Equator.
- They are cyclonic, meaning that their winds swirl around a central eye. Wind direction is counterclockwise (west to east) in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise (east to west) in the Southern Hemisphere (more about this later).
- They are low-pressure systems. The eye of a hurricane is always a low-pressure area. The lowest barometric pressures ever recorded have occurred inside hurricanes.
- The winds swirling around the center of the storm have a sustained speed of at least 74 mph (119 kph / 64 kt).