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huricane.dat
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1993-03-27
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HURRICANES
Hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones are all the same thing, but with
different names. Some countries call them one name, and other country
may very well call it something else. These are known as the greatest
storms on earth, and for good reason. In order for a tropical storm to
have hurricane status, it must have minimum wind speeds of 74 MPH. Along
with those high winds, you have ocean waves of over 45 feet. They are
basically a large, rotating wind system that starts over warm tropical
waters. It has a calm central core or 'eye', is within high walls of
thick clouds, and its internal temperatures are higher than in the
surrounding atmosphere. Hurricanes usually dump heavy to torrential
amounts of precipitation, and have internal tornado-like whirls. As a
hurricane approaches land, it causes the tide to rise. This rise is to
the right of the storm compared to its forward motion. It washes and
erodes beaches, destroys on-shore buildings, and will drown many people
who do not take the warnings seriously. The National Weather Service
does give plenty of warnings about such disasters -- these are well in
advance, and are very accurate. For the United States, hurricanes usually
begin in the Gulf of Mexico, and proceed north to the southern states,
and up to the Carolinas.
A typical tropical storm season lasts six months -- June through November.
The Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico are usually the origins of such
tropical storms. June storms are usually small and of little consequence.
As the season approaches its peak, September, the storms increase in both
size and wind speed. The Atlantic ocean reaches temperatures near 80
degrees F. (27 degrees C.), which becomes the main storm generating
location. One third of all North Atlantic storms happen in, or close to
September. There is a slight decrease of major storms in the second half
of the month, then an increase during early October. This is when the
Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico once again become the origin of such
storms.