Year after year, several powerful hurricanes named after personal names struck the coasts of the United States and the Caribbean. This happens between June and November and results in deaths and serious material disasters.
Since 1953 the method was used to designate hurricanes with proper names. At first it was women, and since 1978 the names of women and men have alternated. Below is a list with the alphabet. When a new storm appears, the World Meteorological Organization baptizes it with a name that begins with the first free letter. This list is renewed every six years.
How and where do these cyclones form?
It should be noted that typhoons, cyclones, and hurricanes belong to the same family, it’s just a matter of name. In the Pacific Northwest they are called typhoons, south of the same ocean and in the Indian Ocean they are called cyclones. There are hurricanes in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.
However, all of these meteorological phenomena are tropical cyclones and, in principle, a tropical wave. This tropical wave almost always arises off the coast of Africa. Due to the momentum of the trade winds, this area of low pressure is beginning to move towards the coasts of America. Tropical waves don’t always end in a devastating hurricane. To do this, a few circumstances must be met, e.g. B. the sea temperature, which must be higher than 27 ° C, and wind.
When rotating winds or other winds that maintain their power from the sea are found, creating more water-laden clouds, a storm will result. This storm is electric and as it moves through the warm water it starts a cyclone. This occurs when the warm air of the storm rises and combines with the temperature of the sea.
When the winds collide, the low pressure air begins to spin. As a result, the pressure will drop even further in altitude. This sucks warm air from the surface with dry, cool air from above. Both collide in the storm.
How are strong and less intense hurricanes classified?
Hurricanes are divided into categories from 1 to 5. It depends on their strength. This size is determined by the speed of the winch. A storm becomes a hurricane when its winds exceed 118 km / h. Depending on their intensity, they cause major economic disasters.
Thus, the classification of all hurricanes fits into the following table:
- 1 goes from 118 to 153 km per hour.
- 2 goes from 154 to 177 km per hour
- 3 goes from 178 to 208 km per hour
- 4 goes from 209 to 251 km per hour
Hurricanes with wind speeds of more than 252 km / h belong to category 5 and leave almost complete destruction. The hurricanes that cause great tragedy are removed from the hurricane list. The name of this hurricane will never be used again.
