Hurricanes

Hurricane Alex, a category 3 storm at its strongest, traveled north along the east coast of North America in
August 2004 causing flooding, strong waves, and rip tides along the coast.
NOAA

As a strong hurricane heads towards the coast, people prepare -— boarding up houses,
packing the car, and evacuating. These storms can spell disaster for people in hurricane-
prone areas. Hurricanes are the most powerful of all weather systems. They are also huge
— the average hurricane spreads across 340 miles (547 km).

How Hurricanes Form

Hurricanes form from disturbances in the atmosphere over warm, tropical ocean water.
They die down when they move over land or out of the tropics and into cooler latitudes.
These storms are called hurricanes in the Atlantic and typhoons or tropical cyclones in
other areas of the world. Because of the Coriolis effect, the storms rotate counterclockwise
in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. At the center of
the rotating storm is a small area of calm weather and clear skies called the eye of the
storm. Surrounding the calm of the eye are the most intense winds of the storm and the
thick clouds of the eyewall.

Hurricanes grow when a storm travels over areas of warm ocean water and there are low
winds outside the storm and high levels of moisture in the atmosphere. With the Make a
Hurricane simulation, you can figure out what areas of the Atlantic are most prone to
hurricanes.

Not all storms are the same. Large and strong storms cause much more damage than small
storms. In the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific, the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is used to
describe hurricanes by their wind speed. Storms with winds less than 74 miles per hour
are known as tropical storms. And if the wind speeds are less than 40 miles per hour, the
storm is called a tropical depression.

Hurricane Damage

When a hurricane approaches land, strong waves and wind batter coastal towns.
Hurricanes also cause a tremendous amount of rain to fall in a short amount of time,
which can cause rivers to flood their banks and inundate areas that are both near the coast
and further inland. But most coastal hurricane damage is typically flooding caused by
storm surge and rainfall. Storm surge is the temporary rise in sea level that happens as the
winds of the storm push water towards the coast. The low pressure of the storm and other
factors also have an impact on storm surge. If storm surge happens at the same time as a
high tide, the effect is more intense and more areas are flooded.

Hurricane Forecasting

As a hurricane moves across an ocean, scientists try to forecast where and when the storm
will reach land. Their forecasts allow warnings to be issued in areas that the storm is likely
to hit, giving people time to get out of the way. Watching hurricanes with weather
satellites and using computer models to develop forecasts, scientists are able to predict
the likely path of the storm. The models take into account what we know about the
specific storm and what we know about the atmosphere and ocean. Since 1953 each
hurricane has been given a name to help warn people that a new storm is on its way.

The time of year when hurricanes are likely to form is called hurricane season. This
window of time is different in different regions of the world. In the North Atlantic,
hurricane season is from June 1st to November 30th each year.

Hurricanes and Climate Change

We know a lot about how human-caused climate change is affecting hurricanes and
tropical storms now, and how it will likely affect them in the future. Climate change is
causing hurricanes to become more intense, with larger amounts of precipitation. There's
also evidence that it's causing more hurricanes in the Atlantic.
A storm surge is a rise in sea level that occurs during tropical cyclones, intense storms also
known as typhoons or hurricanes. The storms produce strong winds that push the water
into shore, which can lead to flooding. This makes storm surges very dangerous for coastal
regions.

Tropical cyclones are circular storms characterized by high winds and heavy rainfall. They
form over warm, tropical oceans. The center of a cyclone is called the eye. The eye is
surrounded by a ring of clouds called the eye wall, where the winds are strongest.
Surrounding the eye wall are clouds that spiral outward, called spiraling rain bands.

A storm surge is primarily caused by the relationship between the winds and the ocean’s
surface. The water level rises where the winds are strongest. In addition, water is pushed
in the direction the winds are blowing. The rotation of the Earth causes winds to move
toward the right in the Northern Hemisphere and toward the left in the Southern
Hemisphere—a phenomenon known as the Coriolis effect. If a cyclone develops in the
Northern Hemisphere, the surge will be largest in the right-forward part of the storm. In
the Southern Hemisphere, the surge will be largest in the left-forward part of the cyclone.

Another factor contributing to storm surge is atmospheric pressure. Atmospheric

pressure is the force exerted by the weight of air in the Earth’s atmosphere. The pressure
is higher at the edges of a cyclone than it is at the center. This pushes down the water in
the outer parts of the storm, causing the water to bulge at the eye and eye wall—where
the winds have helped add to the rise in sea level.

More factors contribute to the strength of a storm surge as the dome of water comes
ashore. The water level can reach as high as 10 meters (33 feet) if the storm surge
happens at the same time as high tide. The slope of the land just off the coast also plays a
part: Water will more easily flood a shallow coast than a steep one.

Storm Surges and Coastal Communities

Tropical cyclones, and the storm surges they generate, are a serious hazard for coastal
areas in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Developing in the late summer
months (July-August in the Northern Hemisphere, January-February in the Southern
Hemisphere), when the waters are warmest, tropical cyclones hit regions as far apart as
the Gulf Coast of the United States, northwestern Australia and Bangladesh.

When a cyclone hits land, the accompanying storm surge will most often flood the
surrounding coastal area. Flooding is responsible for most deaths and economic damage
associated with tropical cyclone landfalls. When a hurricane hit Galveston, Texas, in 1900,
the storm surge was responsible for approximately 6,000 deaths. In East Pakistan (now
Bangladesh), the Bhola cyclone killed as many as 500,000 people in 1970. The storm surge
from the Bhola cyclone was estimated to be 10 meters (33 feet) high.

Improvements in forecasting cyclones and issuing early warnings to the public have
become indispensable as both coastal populations and the occurrence of extreme storms
continue to rise.

However, even sophisticated meteorology and storm warnings do not always protect
against devastating storm surges. Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge flooded the U.S. coastal
communities of Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as the urban areas of New Orleans,
Louisiana, and Biloxi, Mississippi, in 2005. The flooding killed more than 1,500 people in
New Orleans alone, and caused millions of dollars in damage. Homes, businesses, schools,
and hospitals were destroyed.

Still, improvements in forecasting greatly benefit regions like the Chesapeake Bay, in the
U.S. states of Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay suffered severe damage from
Hurricane Isabel in 2003. Emergency managers failed to predict Isabel’s extreme storm
surges, which caused widespread flooding in the region.

Now, meteorologists and emergency managers monitor the storms forming in the
southeast more closely. New computer simulations by the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) examined the effects of a Category 4 hurricane (131-155
mph winds) landing in the U.S. states of North or South Carolina, hundreds of miles south
of the Chesapeake. The simulation showed the hurricane could produce storm surges as
high as 5 or 6 meters (18 or 20 feet) along the Chesapeake shoreline. FEMA used the latest
version of its computerized SLOSH model to predict the surge. An acronym for "Sea, Lake,
and Overland Surges from Hurricanes,'' the SLOSH program is used by the National
Weather Service and the National Hurricane Center.

The Maryland Emergency Management Agency is now working with the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers and local officials to turn the SLOSH simulation data into updated maps for
emergency planning. The new maps show how far inland flooding could stretch under
certain conditions. With this new forecasting data, emergency planners and citizens will
be better prepared for storm surges.

Government agencies can arrange for residents to evacuate. Some residents don’t have
cars and may require transportation to safer ground. Others may not have a place to go
and require emergency shelter. Many residents, such as those in hospitals and prisons, are
especially at risk.

Advance warning of a strong storm surge also allows homes and businesses to prepare for
damage. Business owners can relocate expensive machinery or tools to safe areas, and
homeowners can board up windows to protect against strong floods or move furniture
and other valuables to a second story.

Wetlands

Coastal residents can reduce the damage done by a storm surge by protecting local
wetlands. Wetlands, such as swamps, estuaries, and mud flats, act as sponges for tropical
cyclones. As the cyclone makes landfall, the marshy land and plants absorb the water and
the energy of the storm surge. Silt and swamp vegetation prevent the most intense part of
the storm surge from hitting homes and businesses.

Estuaries are such an important part of our natural environment that the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) created the National Estuary Program in 1987.
This program seeks to improve the quality of estuaries to protect important wildlife
habitats, public water supplies, and coastal regions affected by severe storms.
The development of coastal wetlands for housing, industry, or agriculture reduces the
natural barrier that wetlands provide. Communities can protect themselves against storm
surges by maintaining healthy coastal wetland ecosystems.

FAST FACT

The Saffir-Simpson Scale

Just before the 2010 hurricane season, scientists removed storm surge from the Saffir-
Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, a five-category system that describes the strength of the
storms. The problem, scientists said, is that the size of a storm surge doesn't always match
up with the strength of a hurricane. It was the first change to the scale in about a decade.

Storm surge forecasts will still be part of hurricane advisories.

FAST FACT

Different Names, Same Storm

Hurricanes and typhoons are the same as cycloneswhich name is used depends on what
part of the world the storm is in. The storms are called hurricanes in the North Atlantic
Ocean, the Northeast Pacific Ocean, or the South Pacific Ocean. They are called typhoons in
the Northwest Pacific Ocean.

FAST FACT

Storm Tide

If a cyclone makes landfall while the tide is rising, the tide and the cyclone can create an
especially high storm surge. This is sometimes referred to as a "storm tide."
Discuss the following questions:

1. Why are hurricanes so formidable?

2. What type of damage do they cause? Why?

3. What scale is used to measure hurricanes?

4. How can we protect ourselves from hurricanes?

5. What speeds need to be reached for a storm to be considered a hurricane?

6. What’s the difference between hurricanes and typhoons?