Forecasting Hurricanes
Forecasting hurricanes has two components to it: where the hurricane is going (track) and how strong it is going to be (intensity). Hurricane forecasting has improved over time, “In 1992, hurricane forecasts were issued to only three days, but now they are issued to five—and soon they will be given for up to a week.” (Main). Predicting hurricanes is extremely difficult, but the development of faster computers and better satellite data has decreased the error percentage of forecasting hurricanes.
Hurricane Fran hit North Carolina and Virginia on September 5, 1996. Meteorologists used the limited technology that they had to try and forecast the hurricane before, during, and after. One of the technologies that they used
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The Hurricane Center is trying new ideas on how to better forecast hurricanes, “The Hurricane Center introduced experimental warnings for storm surge, the rise in sea level that can accompany hurricanes and arrives ahead of them” (Main). The experimental warning maps show the meteorologists where the storm surge flooding could likely occur, and how high the water could reach above the ground. The improvement of forecasting is due to, “much of the improvement comes from faster computers and better models, which allows for more accurate predictions of a storm’s behavior” (Main). The progression of faster and more advanced technology has made forecasting more accurate. The development of better computers is leading to more accurate predictions, “As the computers get faster, the computer model’s resolution increases, the ability to see higher and finer detail in the atmosphere increase. So as the models get better, our forecast errors go down” (Casey). Computers are helping lead to lower error percentage for forecasting hurricanes. Although computers are getting better, satellites are also helping the error percentage go down. The computer uses information given by meteorologists, and the meteorologists get their calculations or measurements from satellites, “You have to get the model off to a good start so part of the key to improving predictions is better measurements of the atmosphere …show more content…
A hurricane lab at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science helps meteorologists discover more about forecasting hurricanes. The scientists there “use an enormous water tank to recreate massive storms—some as strong as a Category 5 hurricane, with wind speeds of 157 miles per hour” (De Diego). The hurricane lab helps scientists understand how hurricanes move on their track and how their intensity grows. Meteorologists are still not very sure of how intensity grow because “The hurricane intensity depends on things going on much smaller scales. Waves, the organizations of individual clouds and thunderstorms, complexes to rain bands—everything is happening on a smaller scale, and that’s part of what makes it difficult” (De Diego). People still do not understand how the intensity of hurricanes changes. There has been very little improvement in how experts can predict the intensity. It is so difficult to predict because “the problem is that intensity requires data from inside the hurricane, which is harder to get than data required to forecast the storm’s track” (Casey). The intensity is tied to the inner core of the hurricane, essentially what is going on in the eye wall. Satellites can help see this, but 10 years ago the satellites were not as able to see those kind of structures (Casey). It would be nice if there was a simple calculation to
Hurricane Season, directed by Tim Story, follows a high school basketball coach named Al Collins, played by Forest Whitaker, who builds a team of players around the Louisiana area that were affected by the devastating Hurricane Katrina, and leads them to a state championship. On the way, Coach Collins encounters many obstacles, such as where to play, trying to recruit players and keeping them from joining other teams, and also negative influences in the locker room. All of these issues they faced kept them motivated and helped the team become more of a cohesive unit and winners.
National Hurricane Center. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, 1 Dec. 2009. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. .
This is extremely dangerous. Technology is so far advanced, it is unneccisary for a human being to risk his or her life for data that can be found a simpler and safer way. In paragraph 4, Ralph O'Hair describes the intence winds that beat and endanger the plane "like a stick in a dog's mouth." It must be very unnerving, to be thrown around like that. The reason for brave pilots to do this now is explained in paragraph 10, "As it flies through the eyewall and the hurricane's center, the airplane launches dropsondes, small instruments attached to parachutes. The devices fall to the ocean and transmit bursts of data to the airplane twice every second. The data includes temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, as well as the speed and direction of winds." It is neccisary for scientist and meteorologist to come up with a safer way to collect
Leading up to the hurricane, many scientists expected the storm to dissipate over the ocean and cause little to no harm (Rappaport). The scientists were relying on faulty equipment that said that due to slow air speed and l...
Hurricanes are born over the warm waters of tropical oceans and are formed by a low-pressure system caused by the heating of water. The heat causes the air to rise and form lower pressures in a feedback loop, making the hurricane stronger. Heavy rain results from a condensation of water and strong winds develop from warm air rushing to the eye of the hurricane. Essentially, greater storms and winds occur when the hurricane feeds of the rising temperature of the water. In addition, researchers studied disturbances and intense thunderstorms in the atmosphere over Western Africa and believe they are partly to blame for extreme hurricanes affecting the United States and Canada. While these are all the main ingredients of a perfectly natural process, they were not the primary causes of the damage done by Hurricane
The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 was a natural disaster that left the people of Galveston with an unimaginable and terrifying experience,various personal stories, and a massive cleanup job that led to building the sea wall and raising the elevation of the city. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 was the biggest natural disaster in American history. When it came there was little warning and once the citizens were warned it was too late to leave. The waves and rain from the hurricane flooded the whole city over fifteen feet high with water. During the storm people experienced many events that would change their lives. Everyone who survived this hurricane had a story, a story that could be tragic, happy, or full of stress. Once the storm was over there was an immense amount of debris that needed to be cleaned up. The people of Galveston had to look for bodies and people who were buried alive. Galveston had to rebuild everything and start all over. The people living there came up with an idea to build a seawall that would protect Galveston from large waves created by another hurricane. They then also raised the city by as much as 17 feet in some areas.
On August 29, 2005, the third strongest and biggest hurricane ever recorded in American history hit the Gulf Coast at eight o’clock a.m. The interaction between a tropical depression and a tropical wave created a tropical storm later referred to as Hurricane Katrina (FAQS, 2013). Forming over the Bahamas, Hurricane Katrina gradually strengthened as it moved closer and closer to the Gulf of Mexico. Recorded on August 28th, 2005, Katrina jumped from a category three storm to a category five storm with maximum sustained winds up to 160 miles per hour. Although other hurricanes, such as Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Wilma, exceeded Katrina, this dominant storm was classified as the fourth most intense hurricane based its pressure capacity. Once Hurricane Katrina hit land, it was pronounced as a category four storm moving slowly. While people thought that the slow speed of this storm prevented trauma, records show that Katrina did more damage than any fast-moving storm could have ever achieved (Solanki, 2013). Katrina produced abundant debris. The debris was in such large quantity that if it was stacked together on a football field, the rubble would reach the elevation of ten and a half miles. The size of Katrina also caused 90,000 square miles to be affected. Once proclaimed a category three storm, Hurricane Katrina slowed to the speed of 155 miles per hour. At this point in time, Katrina proved to be the sixth most prevailing hurricane traced in history. (Solanki, 2013). Several different aspects of life were impacted by Hurricane Katrina such as availability of gasoline, economic issues, and the ability to have an adequate supply of drinking water (Solanki, 2013). Hurricane Katrina was a large storm ...
...save lives. Another advance in hurricane safety is weather predicting technology. At the time of the storm, there were no warning sirens and although the people were aware that bad weather was coming, they were used to dealing with storms and were unaware of the deadly disaster that was approaching.
Hurricanes are formed over tropical waters. These intense storms consist of winds over 74 miles per hour (Ahrens & Sampson, 2011). The storms addressed here are Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy. This paper will explore the contrasts and comparisons between these two horrific storms.
A hurricane is easily the most powerful storm that mother nature can throw at us. Every year, people who live on the coasts fight hurricanes with no dismay. A hurricane is simply too strong. Their winds reach speeds of 75 mph. Winds around the eye wall can reach 130 to 150 mph.
Hurricanes begin as tropical disturbances in warm ocean waters with temperatures of at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit. These low pressure systems are served by energy from the warm seas. If a storm reaches wind speeds of 38 miles an hour, it is known as a tropical depression. A tropical depression becomes a tropical storm, and is given a name, when its sustained wind speeds top 39 miles an hour. When a storm’s sustained wind speeds reach 74 miles an hour, it becomes a hurricane and earns a category rating of 1 to 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Hurricanes are powerful atmospheric vortices that are intermediate in size. Hurricanes are unique and powerful weather systems. The word “hurricane” comes from a Caribbean word meaning “big wind”. Views of hurricanes can be seen from a satellite positioned thousands of miles above the earth.
A tropical cyclone is a warm-core, low-pressure system producing high winds that spiral counter-clockwise (in the northern hemisphere) and inward, with the highest winds near the center of circulation. The large counter-clockwise and inward flow is characteristic of the nearly symmetric structure of tropical cyclones as they are comprised of rain bands spiraling toward the center. These warm-core storms typically form over the tropical and subtropical oceans and extract their energy from the heat content of the oceans. Tropical cyclones are organized into three main states, depending on their overall structure and maximum wind speed. The three main categories are: Tropical Depression • Closed low-pressure system • Winds must rotate fully around the closed low-pressure center • Maximum sustained winds of up to 39 mph Tropical Storm • Appear more circular than a Tropical Depression, indicating more organization • Clearly recognizable rotation • Maximum sustained winds from 39 to 73 mph Hurricane • Well-organized, often with a distinct eye • Pronounced, strong rotation • Maximum sustained winds greater than 73 mph • Large range in intensity is described by the Saffir-Simpson Scale
A hurricane is a type of natural disaster that can be harmful and destructive to anything in its way. Every year five to six hurricanes are formed, damaging and destroying people’s homes, landmarks, and anything in its path (“Hurricane”). Before a hurricane is developed it is known as a tropical storm. To be a tropical storm wind speed must be at least thirty eight miles per hour (“Hurricane”). Once wind speeds reaches seventy four miles an hour it can then be classified as hurricane (“Hurricane”). Large scale storms, like hurricanes have a variety of ways to measure the sev...