Introduce what the Hurricane is to element school students - Essay Example

What is a Hurricane? Just a few weeks ago, New York experienced one of the worst hurricanes to have hit America in decades. This storm type practically erased the state of New York from the map of America, destroying homes, leaving people without power, and redefining the US coastline in the process. We all know the bad things that can happen when a hurricane hits the area where we live, but do we really understand what a hurricane is and what it is all about? According to the Weather Whiz Kids website (What is a Hurricane?), a hurricane is “.

a huge storm! It can be up to 600 miles across and have strong winds spiraling inward and upward at speeds of 75 to 200 mph.” This kind of weather usually enters what is called an Area of Responsibility and lasts sometimes for more than a week because it is passing over the open ocean at the slow speed of 10-20 miles per hour. It usually moves in a counter-clockwise direction over the warm ocean waters in the Northern Hemisphere, but then moves clockwise when it is in the Southern Hemisphere.

While the hurricane is passing over the warm water, it starts to gather heat and energy with the help of water evaporation which also increases the power of the storm. Remember our grandparents often telling us that there is a “lull before the storm”? That is exactly what happens before a hurricane unleashes its deadly winds and water over the population of an area. The “eye” of the storm is what our grandparents normally describe to us which is known to have light winds and fair weather.

But the minute the storm hits land, this calm is replaced by heavy rain, strong winds, and large waves that come crashing onto land. This is what destroys our surroundings. The hurricane, which is known as a typhoon in the Western Pacific, tends to dissipate or disappear by weakening and drying up once it passes over large and long bodies of land. It dies because the storm feeds on warmth and water, without it, the storm will not be able to exist. Not all hurricanes are created equally though.

That is why the Saffir Simpson Hurricane Scale helps our weather professionals determine the strength of the hurrican before it hits land. the warnings range from the lowest wind speed of Category 1 all the way to the destructive Category 5 hurricane. However, a hurricane is destructive regardless of the category because the destruction will rely mostly upon the areas hit and what hazards exist in that area (What is a Hurricane?). In the United States, we have what is called a Hurricane Season that lasts from May 15 to November 30.

During this time, we have around 100 hurricanes a year. 12 that form over the Atlantic Ocean, 15 in the Eastern Pacific, and the rest in various areas around America. ResourcesN.A. (n.d.) About hurricanes. How Do Hurricanes Work? Retrieved from http://www.miamisci.org/hurricane/howhurrwork.html?233,216N.A. (n.d.). Hurricane. EchantedLearning.com. Retrieved from http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/weather/hurricane/N.A. (n.d.). What is a hurricane?. hurricane.com. Retrieved from http://www.hurricane.com/what-is-a-hurricane.phpN.A. (n.d.). What is a Hurricane?

Hurricanes. Retrieved from http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-hurricane.htm