How do hurricanes form?

Hurricanes don’t occur all over the world. Basically, there are two reasons for this:

*Weather conditions have to be just right for this type of storm and some places don’t have the climate for it.

*Storms called “hurricanes” only occur in a few specific locations on the planet – North Atlantic, South Pacific and Northeast Pacific.

In other parts of the world similar storms are given a different name. In other parts of the Pacific, the storms are called typhoons. In the Indian Ocean and the southwest section of the Pacific, these storms are cyclones.

With that settled, we can begin to understand just what makes these hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones happen. Basically, winds have to reach speeds of more than 74 miles per hour, a threshold set by the agencies that track such information. During the six-month period from June through November, hurricanes form when the water temperatures are 80 degrees Fahrenheit and above. In addition, major storms develop above water that has a depth of at least 150 feet.

If the air pressure is sufficiently low and the atmosphere is unstable, conditions are becoming “ripe” for a hurricane. With the right amount of moisture and winds close to the surface of the ocean, a hurricane will probably form and begin its natural cycle.

Of course, hurricanes are a product of Mother Nature and like many other things in nature they don’t stick to the “plan.” Even with decades of intense study by meteorologists and other scientists, hurricane formation is still not an exact science. Research shows that the rotation of the Earth has a definite effect on hurricane formation, as do a number of other, more minor factors.

The Basic Hurricane Pattern

A disturbance in the atmosphere that might be a less-destructive tropical storm moves over 80-degree water, causing the warm, moist air to rise. The result is a low-pressure area that is gradually filled with high-pressure air that is naturally cooler. That cool air becomes warmer and rises naturally. Of course, all of this moving mass is quite moist. This leads to cloud formation in the disturbed area of the atmosphere, which begins to spin or circulate (remember the Earth’s rotation is a factor). At this point the storm has enough energy to start moving along a somewhat predictable path.

While hurricanes are the strongest and are potentially deadly, they do have a tendency to dissipate rapidly. Because it takes an almost perfect combination of factors to build a hurricane the loss of any of these ingredients can destroy the storm. If the temperature drops by one degree or the storm comes in contact with a landmass, the intensity drops significantly. The result may be a milder storm or ultimately, no storm at all.

While all of us are bombarded with information about hurricanes and their destructive force, the truth is that they don’t impact living things as often as we might think. Many of the storms that form over tropical oceans never reach the point of becoming a hurricane.