What
happens in a hurricane?
The winds of
a hurricane cover hundreds of miles and spiral counterclockwise
at a speed of 75 miles per hour and up. The lower few thousand
feet of a hurricane move inwards towards the center of the
storm (the "eye") and upwards - gaining speed as
they approach the wall of the eye. The eye of the storm is
a very cool, calm patch of weather about 20 miles wide, then
the 2nd half of the storm hits with the winds striking from
the opposite direction.
<<< SideNote: We
Floridians send the kids outside to play during the eye
of the storm. You can only take so much family togetherness,
then most Moms are ready to risk losing a child or two
to save her sanity. The kids you think are worth keeping
should stay close by - you only get about 1/2 hour to an
hour before the other side of the storm hits, and it will
be hitting hard. >>>
Storm
surge is the mound of ocean water up to 20 feet high
that can come ashore with a hurricane. Evacuation zones
are identified by the likelihood of being flooded by this
rising water. Most hurricane-related deaths are from storm
surge flooding. Storm surge flooding can occur over 100
miles of coastline and may extend inland several miles.
Hurricane Bonnie
Feeder bands of
clouds streaking out from the extreme edges of a hurricane
are not to be ignored. We call them "feeder bands" because
they are pulling moisture up from the ocean "feeding" the
clouds of the storm. Typically a day or two after the hurricane
has passed the remainder of the feeder bands will come ashore,
dropping incredible amounts of rain. Often the flooding caused
by these rains causes more damage than the actual hurricane.
How
are hurricanes named?
Lots of people think
that hurricanes were always named after women - because of
our volatile nature, no doubt - and that only recently did
they start alternating between male and female names because
of feminist outcry. Not true.
Prior
to 1950 storms weren't officially named at all. From 1950
to 1952 they were named simply Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog,
Easy, Fox, George...not very imaginative, but it sufficed.
From 1953 to 1978 someone (my guess a man going through a
nasty divorce) decided to use only female names. Finally,
in 1979, they started alternating between male and female
names.
Hurricanes
are named alphabetically, years in advance and starting the
alphabet over each year. (If you get a Hurricane Wanda, you
know you have had a busy storm season!) The Atlantic and
the Pacific have separate naming lists.
These
are the names assigned to Atlantic storms for the 2021 Hurricane
Season
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