Where hurricanes often occur. What is a hurricane

How is it different from a storm, typhoon, strong wind, tornado or tornado? Why are hurricanes so destructive? Is it possible to predict the birth of a hurricane and avoid a collision with it? Let's try to figure it out.

What is a hurricane?

A hurricane is a very strong one whose speed exceeds 120 kilometers per hour. If it reaches 180 kilometers, then the hurricane is considered very strong. It can be tropical and have nothing to do with the tropics. The first are formed, as the name implies, over the tropics. Tropical cyclones occurring over Pacific Ocean, often called typhoons. They are accompanied by an area of ​​low pressure. Hurricanes that appear over the Atlantic are often simply called cyclones. Non-tropical hurricanes can occur in other places on the planet, but the reason for their appearance is the same: the difference in temperature and atmospheric pressure in different areas. The most dangerous are hurricanes that form near the coast. They, rushing at breakneck speed, are capable of sweeping entire cities out of their way. What is a hurricane? This is a terrible danger that man has not yet learned how to prevent. These are hundreds of dead, a destroyed economy, destroyed cities.

Hurricane Katrina

It happened in August 2005 and remains one of the

the most destructive. It began to form on Bahamas and within a day he achieved such strength that he received the fifth, highest category, before reaching America. This means that the wind speed exceeded 280 kilometers per hour. Not all technical devices can move at such speed on the ground. Having reached the United States, Katrina killed 1,836 Americans. More than 700 of them lived in New Orleans. Four states were immediately affected by the hurricane. They declared an emergency, but could not prevent the destruction: people do not yet have such skills. The damage that Katrina caused to the United States amounted to $125 billion. What is a hurricane? This is also, as the experience of New Orleans has shown, rampant crime. Marauders moved freely throughout the destroyed city, plundering shops and miraculously surviving buildings. Several attacks on the city hospital were reported. Truly a hurricane is a terrible test for people.

How does a hurricane form?

The photo above shows how warm air and cold masses collide. If the water temperature in the tropics exceeds 27 degrees, then the likelihood of a hurricane increases many times over. Colliding with each other, air masses of different temperatures form an area of ​​​​low pressure, which becomes the birth point of a hurricane. The speed of its development and movement can also be influenced by observing the weather from space, scientists have learned to predict where exactly there is a threat of a hurricane. But they are not yet able to calculate either its strength or the exact path of movement. It is good if governments manage to evacuate the population of those places that could be destroyed by uncontrollable disasters. And if not?

As long as humanity has lived on Earth, it has been trying to conquer nature. But he doesn’t always succeed in this. Natural phenomena often bring loss, fear and even death to humanity.

Hurricane: definition

One such natural phenomenon is a hurricane. What is a hurricane? This is a wind whose speed reaches one hundred and twenty kilometers per hour or more. A hurricane constantly moves through a certain area for at least 9-12 days. The strength of a hurricane is determined on a scale of twelve.

This force of nature can be compared to an earthquake. On its way, the hurricane demolishes buildings, levels villages, and destroys bridges and roads. He easily lifts a person off the ground and throws piles of all kinds of garbage on him.

Forecaster observations

Forecasters call hurricanes by names to distinguish between these terrible forces. Using special aircraft and radars, hurricane movements are monitored. Therefore, they try to warn people that a disaster will soon hit them.

Scientists, conducting observations, have established that these natural phenomena have their own cyclical nature and most often occur in the last months of summer. At this time of year, the water warms up very much and evaporates upward. At the same time, cold air currents arrive below, and a vortex begins to be born. It can be up to thirty-five kilometers wide. And in its center the weather is completely calm, while the storm and wind are raging at the edges of this funnel. The width of such a hurricane sometimes reaches 400-600 kilometers. It rushes to land, where after a few days it loses its strength.

There are also hurricanes in Russia from time to time. This occurs in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, Kamchatka, Chukotka and Sakhalin.

> What is a hurricane?

What is a hurricane?

A hurricane is a wind that blows at a speed of more than 32 meters per second for a long time. It is also called a typhoon - a vortex with low atmospheric pressure inside. Tropical cyclones are often called hurricanes, especially in the North and South America. A storm is considered to become a hurricane when wind speeds exceed 120 kilometers per hour, and at wind speeds of 180 kilometers per hour, a hurricane is called a major hurricane. The most dangerous hurricanes are those that form close to the coast. They not only sweep away everything in their path, but also bring huge waves onto the shore.

It is interesting that in America it is customary to give typhoons female names, and in alphabetical order, starting with the letter “A”. But every year they start giving names anew.

Hurricanes always form in tropical latitudes, over the ocean. The further you are from the equator, the less likely you are to encounter a hurricane. The occurrence of a hurricane is explained by many reasons. The difference in atmospheric pressure, the force of the Earth's rotation, the difference in the temperatures of the upper and lower layers of the atmosphere - these are the reasons why a hurricane may or may not appear. In order for a typhoon (sea hurricane) to occur, the water temperature must rise to at least 27 ° C. Interestingly, the storm turns into a hurricane when the wind speed is more than 120 kilometers per hour, and at a speed of 180 kilometers per hour, the hurricane is called a strong hurricane.

A tornado is an atmospheric phenomenon that looks like a rapidly rotating funnel up to 1.5 kilometers high, emerging from thundercloud to the surface of the earth or water. It occurs when there is an alternation of cold and warm layers of air. Inside the funnel, the air rotates at great speed and rises. A tornado is a very dangerous natural phenomenon. It moves at a speed of 30 to 60 kilometers per hour and can travel about 30 kilometers, destroying everything in its path! People cannot yet predict the appearance of a tornado, which is why it is difficult to escape from it. In America, tornadoes are called tornadoes.

A storm is a very strong wind. A storm can occur during a tornado, as well as during a thunderstorm and the passage of a tropical cyclone. Wind speed during a storm earth's surface can reach 50 meters per second. Such winds cause enormous destruction. Storms also happen at sea, but they are called differently then: storms and reach speeds of more than 20 meters per second. Ships often sink in storms. And coastal buildings can be destroyed by waves brought by a storm. It should be noted that man has not yet learned to either prevent or avoid storms. Interestingly, when the wind speed exceeds 30 meters per second, the storm is called a hurricane, and short-term increases in wind up to 20-30 meters per second are called squalls.