Hurricane Infographic

HURRICANE Hurricanes form above warm ocean waters between 5 and 20 degrees of northern and southern latitudes IS A WIND. IT GOT ITS NAME FROM THE EVIL AMERICAN INDIAN GOD HURAKAN An essential condition for a hurricane is a huge mass of warm water, which temperature must be above 26.50 C. Wind speed in spiral eddies reaches 240 to 320 km/h. At a certain height the heated wapor reaches dew point and gets condensed. The heat energy released as a result warms up the air, which climbs up to feed the newly formed cyclone. The ocean water, which is warmer than air, begins to evaporate. The masses of heated vapor rise upwards forming a low-pressure. The rotatory component of wind speed twists the wind. The rotation draws increasing masses of air outside into the vortex. The main source of hurricane energy is the heat released when water vapor condenses in a rising air current. This explains why hurricanes quickly peter out when they hit dry land. The cyclone assumes the silhouette of a giant funnel, its narrowest part facing down. BEAUFORT WIND SCALE In 1806, British Admiral Francis Beaufort proposed the following wind scale: SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE In the early 1970s Herbert Saffir, a civil engineer, and Robert Simpson, director of the U.S National Hurricane Center, worked out CATEGORY NAME/WIND SPEED scale to assess hurricane force on the basis of CALM the storm wave and wind speed: LESS THAN 1 KM/H LIGHT AIR 1 1.5 KM/H CATEGORY NAME/WIND SPEED WAVE HEIOHT MINIMAL 1-2 m 1 LIGHT BREEZE 120/150 KM/H 6-11 KM/H 2 MODERATE 2-2,5 m GENTLE BREEZE 12-19 КМ/H 150/180 KM/H 4 3 EXTENSIVE 2,5-4 m 180/210 KM/H MODERATE BREEZE 20-28 КМ/Н 4 EXTREME 4,-5,5 m 210/250 KM/H STRONG BREEZE 39-49 КМ/Н CATASTROPHIC more than 7 MODERATE GALE 50-61 КМ/H more than 250 КМ/Н 5,5 m FRESH GALE 62-74 KM/H STRONG GALE 75-88 КМ/Н 10 WHOLE GALE 89-102 KM/H STORM 11 103-117 KM/H SURVIVAL MASTERY 12 HURRICANE 12 more than 117 KM/H Source: survival-mastery.com