November 19, 2012

Over the years there has been a history of many catastrophic hurricanes to hit the US. Meteorologists can determine their strength and categorize them. One of the most costliest hurricanes in US history is Hurricane Andrew.

Strength and Formation

Hurricanes form over warm water. They also maintain their strength from warm water. Hurricanes weaken when there is no water present. Hurricane season in the Atlantic is from June 1st to November 30th (June, July, August, September, October, and November) and hurricane season in the Eastern Pacific is from May 15th to November 30th (May, June, July, August, September, October, and November). Also, when a tropical storm forms near Japan in the North-West Pacific it is called a typhoon, not a hurricane. Hurricanes form in the Atlantic Ocean.

Categorizing and Naming

The Siffir-Simpson scale is used to categorize hurricanes. The scale ranges from category 1 to category 5. Category 1 is winds of 74-95 mph. Category 2 is 96-110 mph. Category 3 is 111-129 mph. Category 4 is 130-156 mph. And the last, most dangerous category is 5, which is winds higher than 157 mph.

Hurricanes used to be named by their location. Now, their names are picked from 1 of 6 lists. From 1950 to 1952, the names were only male names. In 1953 they switched to female names. The names remained female until 1979, then they added male names back to the list. When a hurricane does lots of damage, the name is retired.

Hurricane Andrew

Hurricane Andrew formed on August 14, 1992 and made landfall on August 24, 1992. Andrew hit Florida, Louisiana, and the Bahamas. It was the cause of 23 deaths in the United States and 3 in the Bahamas. Andrew had wind speeds 142 mph and gusts around 170 mph. It was the third most intense hurricane to ever hit the US and one of the costliest, too. The damage caused by Andrew left a total of 26.5 billion dollars in the United States and 250 million dollars in the Bahamas.
I hope you learned some stuff about Hurricane Andrew and how hurricanes are categorized and named. I also hope you learned some stuff about the strength and formation of hurricanes.

-Josie Galloway