In the United States, the eastern and Gulf coasts are in danger of being
slammed by hurricanes during hurricane season from June through
November. Hurricanes that hit the eastern coast of the United States are
born many miles away in the Sahara desert. The waters in the North
Atlantic Ocean are typically at their warmest while the Sahara is at its
hottest from June through November, so the chances of a hurricane are
highest during those times.
Before we begin, if you need extra help, or need to see a video on
hurricane formation, click this link Hurricane Formation Videos.
Sometimes seeing the images in action can further clarify understanding.
A hurricane is a complex weather system that can be simply explained as a
funnel of warm, wet air. Think of your sink, and the water swirling down
the drain now, put that swirl up in the sky.
Magnify it about a thousand times in size and speed. A hurricane is a non
frontal system whose air has a distinct circular flow. It is created for those
of us in the USA, when hot air over the Sahara is released into the North
Atlantic.
A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a low pressure center
and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and flooding rain.
Tropical cyclones feed on heat released when moist air rises, resulting in
condensation of water vapor contained in the moist air.
They are fueled by a different heat mechanism than other cyclonic
windstorms such as nor'easters, European windstorms, and polar lows,
leading to their classification as warm core storm systems.
The term tropical refers to both the geographic origin of these systems,
which form almost exclusively in tropical regions of the globe, and their
formation in Maritime Tropical air masses. The term cyclone refers to such
storms cyclonic nature, with counterclockwise rotation in the Northern
Hemisphere and clockwise rotation in the Southern Hemisphere.
Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to
by many other names, such as hurricane, typhoon, tropical storm, cyclonic
storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone.
