Your Daily Facts about Hurricanes
The word hurricane comes from the Taino Native American word, hurucane, meaning evil spirit of the wind.
The first time anyone flew into a hurricane happened in 1943 in the middle of World War II.
A tropical storm is classified as a hurricane once winds goes up to 74 miles per hour or higher.
Hurricanes are the only weather disasters that have been given their own names.
All hurricanes begin life in a warm moist atmosphere over tropical ocean waters.
A typical hurricane can dump 6 inches to a foot of rain across a region.
The most violent winds and heaviest rains take place in the eye wall, the ring of clouds and thunderstorms closely surrounding the eye.
Every second, a large hurricane releases the energy of 10 atomic bombs.
Hurricanes can also produce tornadoes. They are not as strong as regular tornadoes and last only a few minutes.
Slow moving hurricanes produce more rainfall and can cause more damage from flooding than faster-moving, more powerful hurricanes.
Hurricane Floyd was barely a category I hurricane, but it still managed to mow down 19 million trees and caused over a billion dollars in damage.
Most people who die in hurricanes are killed by the towering walls of sea water that comes inland.
In the Pacific Ocean, Hurricanes are generally known as typhoons. In the Indian Ocean they are called tropical cyclones.
The man who first gave names to hurricanes was an Australian weather forecaster named C. Wragge in the early 1900s.
The first hurricane of the year is given a name beginning with the letter “A”.
Hurricane season is from June to November when the seas are at their warmest and most humid, which are ripe conditions for a hurricane to develop.
The planet Jupiter has a hurricane which has been going on for over 300 years. It can be seen as a red spot on the planet. This hurricane on Jupiter is bigger than the Earth itself.
In 1938, a man on Long Island bought a barometer. The instrument signaled a hurricane but the man thought it was defective and went back to the store to complain. When he returned, he found his house has been swept away from a hurricane. It turned out the barometer was correct.
In the 1950′s and 1960′s, people went to Hurricane parties with party-goers to watch hurricanes rather than flee from danger. There were claims that in 1969, Hurricane Camille wrecked a hotel where a hurricane party was being held and killed 8 people. Some survivors who were at the hotel at the time claim there was never a hurricane party there and that the actual number of fatalities were not accurate. Nevertheless, a hollywood movie was created out of this story.
Hurricanes didn’t start having boys’ names until 1979.
Most hurricanes die at sea when they pass over areas of cooler water.
In 1967, a hurricane in Texas caused more than 140 twisters.
The worst hurricane damage is often caused by a storm surge. A storm surge is like a giant wall of water pushed onshore by hurricane winds.
In 1989, Hurricane Hugo completely destroyed several forests in South Carolina.
In 1971, Hurricane Ginger lasted for over three weeks.
In 1970, a hurricane in Pakistan killed more than 300,000 people.
When a hurricane is especially devastating, its name is permanently retired and another name replaces it.
In 1944, the US Navy’s Pacific fleet was crushed by Typhoon Cobra, which sank three destroyers and damaged many ships.
Bangladesh was a country that was created from a hurricane. In 1970, this region of Pakistan was struck by a cyclone and 500,000 people died. The people felt their government did not do enough to help after the disaster so in 1971, they voted to be independent of Pakistan and Bangladesh was born.
Hurricanes do not occur in the South Atlantic Ocean, where the waters are too cold for them to form.
Plants have developed different ways of protecting themselves from powerful winds. Palm trees trow mainly in tropical parts of the world where hurricanes sometimes occur. Their flexible trunks bend and spring back in high winds but rarely break.
Taping your windows in preparation for a hurricane is a waste of time and money. Tape does not strengthening the glass. Flying debris will smash a taped window as if the tape weren’t there.
Hurricane Fox was the first storm to be named in an official weather bureau advisory.
Two hurricanes were named Alice in 1954. One in June and one in December.
The first hurricane with a male’s name was Hurricane Bob which hit near New Orleans in July 1979.
The first hurricane to hit the American Colonies happened on August 25, 1635.
