Hurricanes



With all the talk about Hurricane Joaquin recently, I thought it would be helpful to know exactly what a hurricane is and some other information about them.

What Are They?:
They are a certain type of cyclone: a spinning storm that rotates around a low pressure center. Hurricanes that hit the Bay Area usually form in the Caribbean and travel up the east coast. They consist of large thunderstorms and high winds reaching up to 155 miles and hour, and spin counter-clockwise.

Names:
When the winds in a cyclone reach 39 miles an hour the storm is named based on a 6-year rotating list while male and female names are alternated every storm. This eliminates confusion if meteorologists are tracking more than one storm. Hurricane names are taken out of circulation if a particular hurricane causes serious damage to an area.

Categories:
Hurricanes are also classified by wind speed based on category. A category 1 storm has the lowest winds while a category 5 has the highest. These labels can sometimes be deceiving because a low category hurricane may cause more damage than a higher category storm because of flooding and the amount of rainfall.

Watches and Warnings:
A hurricane watch is when the storm is likely to come in the next 48 hours. When a watch is issued you should be on the lookout for high wind and heavy rain and start preparing just in case. A hurricane warning is when it's likely to come in the next 36 hours. When a warning is issued you should make plans for the next few days and purchase food, water, and other essentials in case you're not able to get supplies during the hurricane, or it leaves you without power. Be sure to always check local weather websites when one of these is issued in your area.

Keep updated with local weather and stay safe!

-Emma

If you want to know more about being prepared visit this website:
http://www.ready.gov/kids

If you want to read more about this topic and see where I got my information, visit these websites:
http://www.hurricane.com/what-is-a-hurricane.php
http://www.capitalgazette.com/blogs/weather/cgnews-joaquin-now-a-hurricane-20150930-story.html
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