What are Hurricanes? Severe Tropical Storms mph winds 600+ miles across Move East to West at 15+ mph Happen mostly in the Summer months How do Hurricanes form? Large amounts of warm water evaporate to create low pressure systems and cumulonimbus clouds. High pressure air pushes up in low pressure zone and causes the bands of clouds to rotate counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. The strongest part of a hurricane is the Eye Wall, located outside the calmest part; the Eye. How long does a Hurricane last? 2-4 days on shore The Damage of a Hurricane There are 3 main damage factors of a hurricane: 1.Storm Surges are giant waves of water 2.High Winds can destroy buildings and cause tornadoes 3.Massive Rainfall causes flooding Hurricanes are the most powerful storms on the planet- it can cost billions of dollars to recover from one Saffir Simpson Scale uses wind speed and damage to put hurricane in one out of 5 categories. Facts about Hurricanes Costliest- Hurricane Katrina- $81.2 billion Deadliest- Great Hurricane- 22,000 lives lost Strongest Land Hurricane- The Great Labor Day Storm Longest- Hurricane John- 31 days Fastest Moving- Hurricane Emily- 69 mph Most Tornadoes- Hurricane Ivan- 127 Resourcescontent/np/na/fom/hurricanes/i mg/title-2.jpghttp://www.worldbook.com/wb/ content/np/na/fom/hurricanes/i mg/title-2.jpgcanes-on-a-plane _clip_image001.jpghttp://uas.noaa.gov/news/hurri canes-on-a-plane _clip_image001.jpgv/stories2005/images/katrina- eyewall jpghttp://www.noaanews.noaa.go v/stories2005/images/katrina- eyewall jpgom/Hurricane_Emily/Hurr icane_Emily_Main.jpghttp://www.mthurricane.c om/Hurricane_Emily/Hurr icane_Emily_Main.jpgarth/images/hurricane_formatio n.jpghttp://www.windows.ucar.edu/e arth/images/hurricane_formatio n.jpgs%20Pages/usa/Images/florida -hurricane-damage.jpghttp://scrapetv.com/News/New s%20Pages/usa/Images/florida -hurricane-damage.jpg/files/2007/10/hurricane- katrina_blog.jpghttp://halmapr.com/news/apollo /files/2007/10/hurricane- katrina_blog.jpg/archives/katrina_image.jpghttp://www.persianstudents.org /archives/katrina_image.jpgurricane_Wilma/Hurricane_Wil ma_Main.jpghttp://www.mthurricane.com/H urricane_Wilma/Hurricane_Wil ma_Main.jpg