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Explorezone.com's hurricane site is modeled after a news-type web page. Unfortunately, it looks like it has not been updated since last year (2000). Still, we can find useful information there about hurricanes. There are short sections on how a hurricane forms and forecasting a hurricane, which can serve as a useful introduction. It lists the ten most deadly, costly and strongest hurricanes to hit the United States.
To explore further how a hurricane is formed, let's visit Hurricanes Online Meteorology Guide . First, they define what hurricanes are: tropical cyclones with winds greater than 64 knots. It then goes on to describe how hurricanes develop from thunderstorms. This discussion is very detailed, with important terms defined using active links. The various stages of a hurricane (tropical depression > tropical storm > hurricane) are investigated next. Once the hurricane is formed, there are a number of very recognizable features: the eye (centre of the hurricane), the eye wall (hurricane's most devastating region) and the spiral bands (banded structure within the clouds). The winds are at a maximum at the eye wall and both the wind and pressure fall to a minimum in the eye. You can fly through a 3-D hurricane and interact with an Atlantic hurricane on this site but both require downloading a plug-in. Interacting with a hurricane allows you to chose any hurricane from 1950-2000 and trace its path and see its progression, from tropical storm to a category hurricane. Hurricane Hunters is an interesting site. Hurricane hunters fly into hurricanes to obtain data such as pressure, location of the centre and wind speeds. Take the cyberflight into hurricane Opal and see what it's like to be inside a hurricane. The cyberflight includes pictures and movies to make your journey enjoyable. How are hurricanes named, you ask? In 1953 it was decided to use a list of women's names. Then in 1979 that was changed to include men's names. According to FEMA for Kids Hurricanes , there are six lists of names that are used in rotation. A name is only retired if the hurricane was very costly or deadly and is replaced with a new name. Retired names for hurricanes are listed on the FEMA site (or Retired Hurricane Names). Take a look at the six-year list of hurricane names for Atlantic storms (or WorldWide Tropical Cyclone Names for a more extensive list) while you are there. Go To Page: 1 2
The copyright of the article Hurricanes in Science Websites is owned by Patrice Bentham . Permission to republish Hurricanes in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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