So, here's the who, what, where, when, why and how of hurricanes, albeit rather abbreviated!
Who: The National Hurricane Center, of course! They are located in Miama, FL and are responsible for most of the forecasting and research into hurricanes for the United States and, well, pretty much the entire Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. They also take care of the west coast as they can get hit with hurricane remnants pretty easily.
What: Hurricanes are large, violent storms that form over and feed off of the warm oceans. In the Pacific they are called Typhoons. They are named and if a storm is significant enough, the name is retired. Recently retired names are Katrina, Andrew, Ike, and Rita. Many different entities try to predict how many hurricanes will make landfall each year as well as how many of them will be named. Not only that, but there are levels of hurricane formation: easterly wave, tropical disturbance, tropical depression, tropical storm, and hurricane (Cat I through IV based on the Saffir-Simpson Scale).
Where: It is possible for hurricanes to strike almost any coastline . . . but the most familiar to us here in the United States are ther hurricanes that begin on the African continent. A low pressure area propagates westward off the Liberian (-ish) coastline, usually a little north of the equator. This area will transit across the Atlantic Ocean and go all the way through the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico or up the Atlantic Coastline.
When: Hurricane season officially starts June first of every year and lasts until November 30th. It is possible to have hurricanes form before the official start to the season and after the official end, but that doesn't happen too frequently.
Why: When the atmosphere is juuuuuuuust right, a hurricane can form over warm summer waters. The storm feeds off of the heat energy stored in the ocean and uses this energy to get bigger and stronger. A hurricane is a perfect engine as far as energy consumption goes; everything within the hurricane works in harmony and in direct correlation to ocean temperatures. For a true hurricane to form, the atmosphere must also cooperate . . . the engine needs a "chimney" or exhaust pipe. But, the main reason hurricanes are hurricanes is because of the ocean water temps in the summer time! Check out NHC's FAQ's!
How: How should you prepare? What if you don't live on the coast? No problem . . . NHC has a whole website dedicated to this topic! Having a battery back up or hand crank weather radio is a must, especially since televisions are going digital. Those old hand held TV's won't be working in a few weeks! I reccomend the Midland SAME NOAA All Hazards radio and it is sold by Amazon. Other things to do are to pay attention to storms as they approach the coast. Going inland and out of the storm's path is always the best option (inland flooding is actually the biggest issue with storms once they make landfall, as far as casualties), but if you must stay, follow NHC's guidelines.
Now you have just enough information to make you dangerous . . . so be mindful of the storms as they approach. Get your children involved by going to the NHC website to follow storms and see radar and satellite updates. See if you can predict which cloudy areas will form areas of interest! This can be a great learning experience for the summer time!
Good Luck & Happy Hurricane Hunting!
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