Hurricanes Essay, Research Paper

Of all of nature?s forces

that exist hurricanes could be considered one of the most powerful of all these

forces that can cause tremendous amounts of destruction is such a little amount

of time. A hurricane is a powerful whirling storm of winds that measure 200-300

miles in diameter. Hurricanes are an area of low pressure that forms over the

oceans in tropical regions in either the north Atlantic Ocean or eastern north

Pacific Ocean. In the west Pacific Ocean hurricanes are called typhoons, and in

the Indian Ocean they are called Cyclones. Hurricanes develop from easterly

waves that over the oceans warm waters. These easterly waves are long narrow

regions of low pressure that occur in ocean winds called trade winds. The waves

may grow into a tropical depression, which are winds from 1 to 31 miles per

hour. Then they can grow into a tropical storm, which are winds from 32 to 73

miles per hour. These waves then turn into what you call hurricanes and

hurricanes are winds greater than 74 miles per hour. The winds swirl around a

portion of the storm called the eye. This is a calm area in the center of the

storm. It is about 20 miles in diameter and has little wind and clouds. The

storm clouds called that are around the eye of the storm are called wall clouds.

Inside these wall clouds are where most of the heaviest rains are and where the

strongest winds are. Outside of the wall clouds are clouds called rain clouds.

They have winds and rain and make up most of the diameter of the storm but

nothing as powerful as the wall clouds. Hurricanes usually occur within the

months of June to November, most occur in the month of September. Eight

Hurricanes occur a year on average but as many as 15 have occurred in one years

time in the Atlantic Ocean. In the Northern Hemisphere the winds of a Hurricane

move around the eye counter clockwise due the gravitational pull from the North

Pole. In the Southern Hemisphere the winds move around the eye clockwise. The

eye of the hurricane travels over land at an average of 10 to 15 miles per hour.

The atmospheric disturbance that causes hurricanes start approximately in the

latitudes between 5-30 degrees on both sides of the equator. Hurricanes start

moving towards land picking speed, strength, and size. They will then drift away

from the equator as they reach temperate latitude where they are called extra

tropical and travel over the land bring havoc and destruction to all that they

pass over. The winds and the rains over the sea along with the force of the sea

produce huge waves called a storm surge. These storm surges cause lots of

flooding and damage to coastlines, especially if they happen at high tide. The

storm weakens as it moves over land because hurricanes need the warm sea to

supply energy to it through evaporation. Also the friction of the storm over the

land causes the storm to slow down. Meteorologists of the National Weather

Service keep a close watch over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to see of there

are any storms brewing. They collect such information as air pressure,

temperature, and wind speeds. By doing all this they will be able to forecast

where and when a hurricane will begin, where it will travel, and how strong it

is going to be. Meteorologists get information about hurricanes by satellites,

airplanes and by radar. It is shocking to see the amount of destruction from the

power of a hurricane that can be caused. To put this in a better perspective: A

hurricane in one day averages 1.6 X 1013 kilowatt-hour, which is 8000 times more

than all the electrical power generated in the United States in one day. This is

also equivalent to a daily explosion of 500000 atomic bombs, the 20-kiloton

Nagasaki variety. This is absolutely amazing to think about. Many people have

been trying to find ways to slow down the speeds of hurricanes for the longest

time now. What is needed is a small input that can make a large amount of

natural instability. The first attempt was done with 91 kilograms of crushed dry

ice, and although it is not known for certain scientists think that this did

effect the storm because it changed direction which was not anticipated. The

Environmental Science Services Administration and the US Navy conducted the

second attempt. They dropped heavy doses of silver iodide by planes into the

wall clouds of the storm. It was reported that after the first day of this

experiment the winds decreased by 31% and by 15% on the second day. There is a

scale in which hurricanes are rated on and that is the Saffir Simpson Scale. It

looks like this: Category Wind Speed Severity Storm Surge 1 74mph-95mph weak 4-5

ft. 2 96mph-110 mph moderate 6-8 ft. 3 111mph-130mph strong 9-12 ft. 4

131mph-155mph very strong 13-18 ft. 5 * 155 mph devastating * 18 ft. There have

been many hurricanes in the past but some of the most remembered ones are

Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. This was the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in

the Western Hemisphere. In 1989 there was Hurricane Hugo. In 1992 there was

Hurricane Andrew that hit the Florida region causing $22 billion in damage. And

then most recently, Hurricane Bonnie that hit in the Carolinas, causing

tremendous damage and devastation. Hurricanes are an act of nature and although

they are attempted to be controlled, they can?t really ever be changed. This

is why nature is so amazing, making hurricanes, one of nature?s most powerful

weapons, even more amazing.