Hurricanes and tornadoes are two of the most deadly weather phenomena to occur. They both can and will destroy anything in their path and can kill thousands of people at a time. Both are caused due to instability in the atmosphere and can happen out of nowhere. There are more hurricanes than tornadoes in a year. There is no way to really prepare for a tornado, but hurricanes give some time for preparation. Hurricanes and tornadoes are both similar and different in regards to how they form, where they form, the destruction they cause, their characteristics, and frequency.
Tornadoes usually occur within large thunderstorms which are called supercells. During the storm, cold and warm air combine. The cold air falls as the warm air rises. The warm air will then twist into a spiral and form a funnel cloud (How Are Tornadoes Formed). The wind coming into the storm starts to swirl and forms a funnel. The air in the funnel begins to spin faster and faster, creating a very low pressure area which pulls more air into it (How A Tornado Forms). On the other hand, hurricanes are areas of low air pressure which form when the ocean waters are over 80 degrees, and air from the high pressure area pushes in to the low pressure area. The "new" air becomes warm and moist and rises. The surrounding air swirls in to take its place as the warm air continues to rise. When the warm, moist air rises and cools, the water in the air forms clouds. The clouds and wind spin and grow fed by the heat of the ocean and evaporating water. When the water evaporates, it causes the clouds humidity and forces the air together which leaves behind low pressure. As the storm rotates faster and faster, an eye forms in the center. The eye of the storm is very calm and c...
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...5 and 30 degrees North latitude typically move toward the west. Sometimes the winds in the middle and upper levels of the atmosphere change and steer the cyclone toward the north and northwest. When tropical cyclones reach latitudes near 30 degrees North, they often move northeast” (Tropical Cyclone Climatology).
Hurricanes and tornadoes are both similar and different in regards to how they form, where they form, the destruction they cause, and their characteristics. They form when pressure interacts with the environment. Hurricanes and tornadoes are both extremely dangerous and can not be prevented. No state or country is completely free of tornadoes and hurricanes. There are more tornadoes than hurricanes per year with around 1,200 tornadoes, and ten to fifteen hurricanes. They can give little to no warning at all and can and will destroy anything in their path.
How are tornadoes created? Tornadoes are the result of an extremely large storm called a supercell. A supercell is a storm that has the presence of a mesocyclone. A mesocyclone possesses a deep, persistently rotating updraft. These storms are also referred to as rotating thunderstorms. There are five classifications of thunderstorms: supercell, squall line, multi-cell, and single-cell.
Tornadoes are “violent windstorms that take the form of a rotating column of air or vortex that extends downward from a cumulonimbus cloud” as Tarbuck and Lutgens (2012) explain.
A tornado forms by the combination of warm, moist air and cool, dry air which creates instability in the atmosphere. The change of wind direction and increasing wind speed creating an invisible, horizontal spinning effect in the lower atmosphere. Most tornados form from thunderstorms but some form from
In 2008 Hurricane Ike made land fall to the east coast line in Galveston Texas. The storm surge water that Ike produced flooded the east coast region of Houston and Galveston. It has been estimated over billions of dollars in damage to home owners, business owners, and cause numerus of deaths. The mass destruction that Ike caused had people coming up ways to prevent or lessen the effects if a storm like this would ever occur in the future. A storm surge project was drafted and submitted to politicians is being delayed due to funding issues. Money should not be the major delay when it comes to saving homeowners, business owners, and a life of a person.
Tornadoes are powerful and destructive phenomena created in strong thunderstorms. Tornadoes are most common in the United States, and in the U.S., they are common in an area called Tornado Alley. Every year, tornadoes wreak havoc on the countryside, towns, and even cities. The deadliest tornado in U.S. history crossed over three states, destroyed 15,000 homes, and killed almost 700 people. There are only a couple of people on record that claim to have been in and seen the center of a tornado and lived. Tornadoes even have their own rating scale, based on their wind and damage level.Tornadoes are powerful vortexes created in thunderstorms, are common in the U.S., have its own rating scale, have only been seen on the inside a few times, have the potential to demolish towns, and can take lives.
When Hurricane Sandy hit shore in 2012 it left behind a path of debris and destruction that the coastal communities of New Jersey and New York were not adequately prepared for. Starting as a tropical cyclone in the Caribbean, Sandy made its way up the Atlantic coast before making a sharp turn for the densely populated northeast. Unlike other hurricanes in the region, Sandy maintained momentum as it moved north and met unusually warm waters that helped fuel the storm’s enormous power. It made landfall during a high tide that creating record storm surges, that resulted flooding and massive damage. On its journey, the the hurricane accumulated energy as it merged with a low-pressure system coming from the west. These conditions created the vicious weather system that dumped rain and snow across the region. The destruction costs were among the highest in history, and more than a year later, communities are still working to recover. To many, Sandy was a wake-up call, creating a new sense of urgency to make cities and neighborhoods resilient in the face of natural disasters. Storms are an inevitable part of living on the coast, but the need for long-term recovery and preparation for the future is growing due to the threat of climate change.
Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Harvey were two very destructive hurricanes that left many people without a place to call home. Both hurricanes brought mass destruction to states in the South causing mass evacuation. Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Harvey are alike in many ways, while also very different.
A hurricane is a low pressure area that forms over a warm ocean in the early summer and in the early fall and. the two biggest factors of causes of a hurricane is water and moist air because the water surface rises and then gets mixed with cooler air to condense and form storm clouds. When a hurricane starts in the Atlantic it starts when a thunderstorm off the west coast of Africa drifts up towards the Atlantic. A minimum distance of at least 500km, from the equator, is needed because it is too humid near the equator for a hurricane to start.so that’s why hurricanes form above the equator it where it’s cooler. Wherever the hurricane forms (on the water) it needs to be at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit (the water), that’s how you get water vapor which, because the water is warm, which powers the hurricane (the water vapor releases latent heat of condensation to power the hurricane).the water vapor acts like a fuel source. Strong winds also play a big role in causing a hurricane because it helps bring up more water vapor. These winds also spiral inwards so the hurricane canes get its spiraling motion. Th...
Hurricanes are tropical, violent storms in which many things are destroyed. But, if you know the proper ways to be safe, the hurricane will affect you very minimally.
Most of my knowledge of hurricanes has come from Hurricane Katrina and the devastation I saw portrayed on the news. My other source is from a family-friend who lives in Florida who has had to endure a hurricane or two. Hurricanes are amazing at inflicting pain, poverty, filth, and illnesses on communities. They are a great way to spread pollution with all the debris. With all the houses, vehicles, and other massive objects hurricanes plow over, it is easy for them to be ruined then dumped miles away. Hurricanes not only bring man-made materials from here to there, but also bring plants or animals from the ocean into the mainland. Flooded streets may become the new home to poisonous snakes or dangerous fish or sharks. There are infinitely possibilities of being bitten, drown, or undiscovered. Hurricanes are brutal and violent natural disasters to endure and can be deadly in many cases.
Hurricanes are extremely large area’s of low pressure that are over the ocean in either the North Atlantic ocean, or the eastern North Pacific Ocean. If a hurricane is in the western Pacific Ocean than it is called a typhoon. One in the Indian Ocean is called a cyclone. The danger region of a hurricane is normally in the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean. The hurricane season is the six month time period from June-November. The peak month of hurricanes is September.
Hurricanes are one of the deadliest and most expensive natural disasters around. They are more common in areas of humid yet moist weather so they are very foreign to certain places. But to the places were hurricanes are the norm, the people take them extremely seriously because they kill people and ruin countless amounts of property. Hurricanes can attack and harm people in so many ways they can kill people, leave them homeless, it leaves children orphaned and disable them. On the west coast of the United States and other places hurricanes aren’t taken as seriously as other more common disasters, such as, earthquakes and volcanoes yet the hurricane can be a lot more damaging that both of those. Hurricanes are cyclones that develop over warm oceans and breed winds that blow yup to 74 miles per hour.
Hurricanes originate as tropical disturbances over warm oceans with trade winds. The tropical turbances intensify into tropical depressions, and eventually into a tropical storm. They only originate in the tropical trade winds because the ocean temperatures are quite warm there. Powered from the heat that the sea gives off, they are steered by the east trade winds and the temperate west ones, as well as by their own ferocious energy. Around their core, winds grow with a tremendous amount of velocity creating violent seas. As they move toward the shore, they move the ocean inward, while spawning tornadoes and producing torrential rains and floods.
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
Most tornadoes evolve from energy. Tornadoes come from the energy released in a thunderstorm. As powerful as they are, tornadoes account for only a tiny fraction of the energy in a thunderstorm. What makes them dangerous is that their energy is concentrated in a small area, perhaps only a hundred yards across. Not all tornadoes are the same, of course, and science does not yet completely understand how part of a thunderstorm's energy sometimes gets focused into something as small as a tornad...