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Hurricanes Facts

Hurricanes Facts
A hurricane, also known as a tropical cyclone, is a storm system that rotates rapidly. It has a low-pressure center with thunderstorms in a spiral formation that produce high winds and a lot of heavy rain. Tropical cyclones, depending on where they are located and how strong they are, can be called hurricanes, typhoons, tropical storms, tropical depressions, and cyclonic storms. Hurricanes form over bodies of warm water, gaining their energy from the water that evaporates from the surface of the ocean. This evaporated water then forms clouds and ultimately rain. Once a cyclone reaches 75 mile per hour winds, it is classified as a hurricane.
Interesting Hurricanes Facts:
The practice of naming hurricanes began in 1953.
Originally hurricanes were given female names, but beginning in 1979, they could have either male or female names.
The majority of hurricanes do not reach land; instead they remain at sea.
If you lived in Australia you would call a hurricane a willy-willie.
Most hurricanes move forward at a speed of less than 20 miles per hour. A 1938 New England hurricane had a forward speed of 70 miles per hour. It is the fastest forward moving speed on record.
The Atlantic Ocean's hurricane season starts June 1st and ends on November 30th.
The Pacific Ocean's hurricane season starts May 15th and ends on November 30th.
The waves, heavy rain and winds that come ashore during a hurricane can cause considerable damage to anything in their path.
Heavy waves caused by hurricanes are called storm surges.
Florida is hit by 40% of the hurricanes that affect the United States each year.
The most destructive part of the hurricane is the eye wall, which is made up of the storm clouds rotating around the eye itself.
A category one hurricane has winds between 74 and 95 miles per hour.
A category two hurricane has winds between 96 and 110 miles per hour.
A category three hurricane has winds between 111 and 130 miles per hour.
A category four has winds between 131 and 155 miles per hour, and a category five has winds reaching speeds of more than 155 miles per hour.
If a hurricane has been extremely large and destructive its name is often retired. Hurricanes Mitch, Andrew and Katrina were all so destructive that their names were retired.
Hurricane Katrina was a category five hurricane. It hit Louisiana in 2005, and caused so much destruction that the costs reached $91 billion in damages.
A hurricane hit Galveston, Texas, an island city, in 1900. It had 130 mile per hour winds and 15-foot waves came ashore, killing approximately 8,000 people.
A hurricane can drop more than 2.4 trillion gallons of water (as rain) in one day.
A hurricane can also produce tornadoes, and flooding of coastal regions.
The center of the hurricane is called the eye of the storm. It is usually calm. The size of the eye can range from 2 miles to 200 miles wide.
In the past 200 years it is estimated that approximately 2 million people have died as a result of hurricanes.


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