Hurricane

What is a hurricane? A hurricane is a great spinning mass of air, with clouds and rain, where the winds continually blow at over 74 miles an hour.

A hurricane seen from space. The eye is the cloudless region in the centre.

A hurricane seen from the ground.

A hurricane (also known as a tropical storm and a typhoon) is the largest storm in the world. It is formed when very hot air near the Equator moves over very hot oceans. Huge amounts of warm moisture are evaporated from the oceans and the heat of the moisture gives the storm the energy it will need to become so violent. As the hot air moves away from the Equator, it begins to form into giant spinning wheels of air which can be seen by the cloud that forms in them.

One of the best places to see a hurricane is from space. Satellites can look down on hurricanes and see them as ‘catherine-wheels’ of spinning cloud.

The strange hole in the middle is called the ‘eye’ of the hurricane. In the eye there is almost no cloud and no wind.

Video: Paths of hurricanes.
Video: Flooding due to Hurricane Katrina.

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