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Understanding Hurricanes: Formation, Impact, and Notable Facts

This video resource focuses on hurricanes, specifically addressing their formation as tropical cyclones, the characteristics that define them, and the statistics surrounding their occurrence, including significant hurricanes like Katrina. It explores the science behind these storms, from the warm seawater they require to the stages of development, and discusses key facts such as their size, wind patterns, and naming conventions. For those interested in learning more, a related video is available at the library.

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Understanding Hurricanes: Formation, Impact, and Notable Facts

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Presentation Transcript

  1. today • Hurricanes • Beginning of a video • the video will be at the library (“Hurricane Katrina: the storm that drowned a city”) on reserve in media services

  2. READ for Wednesday • first two pages of ch. 8 • sec. 8.2: Tropical cyclones • p. 246 (Hurricanes) • go on-line and watch http://learners.gsfc.nasa.gov/mediaviewer/birth_hurr/

  3. Clickers, of course (you’re here and so you get credit)

  4. Hurricanes (“tropical cyclones”) • A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone: low-pressure system that forms in the tropics • Accompanied by thunderstorms • Hurricane is used in the northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans • Names of Atlantic hurricanes are rotated on 6-yr basis

  5. A joke when I was a kid… • Why don’t hurricanes ever have boy’s names?

  6. A joke when I was a kid… • Why don’t hurricanes ever have boy’s names? • Have you ever heard of a himicane? (Boys and girls names used since 1979) • Other ocean basins have names generally more applicable to the cultures of people who live there

  7. Some 2005 statistics • 28 named storms (21 in 1933) • 15 hurricanes (12 in 1969) • 4 major hurricanes hit the US (3 in 2004 and other years) • 7 tropical storms before Aug. 1 (5 in 1977)

  8. And some hurricane facts • Generally ~ 300 miles (500 km) wide • The eye at the center is generally 20-40 miles across (30-65 km) • Hurricane-force winds stretch outwards from the center of the storm anywhere from 25 to 150 miles (40 - 240 km) • The right side of the storm is more dangerous

  9. How do hurricanes form? • Need • warm seawater • warm air • weak winds • Coriolis effect

  10. stages • Tropical disturbance • Tropical depression • Tropical storm • Hurricane

  11. Tropical depression: disorganized group of thunderstorms http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/hurr/stages/td.rxml

  12. If your last name starts with H - P, please put your name on a piece of paper, together with the name of the person next to you, and answer this: What happens to the warm rising air in the center of a growing tropical storm (and why) ?

  13. Tropical storm (Katrina, Aug. 30, 2005) http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/hurseas2005/Katrina1315z-050830-1kg12.jpg

  14. Eye and eyewall of the hurricane • Winds can’t get in to the core • Air sinks in the core • Strongest winds in the system in the eyewall NASA photo

  15. How do hurricanes die? • need warm water to replenish system • need warmth • need water • need weak wind

  16. Why is damage greater on the “right” side of a hurricane? 20 mph 100 mph

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