The Eye of The Storm Chapter 7

 Name given to violent windstorms of the Atlantic Ocean, The Carribben Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico  Different name in other regions  Baguio (Philippines)  Cyclone (Indian Ocean)  Typhoon (Pacific Ocean)

 Forms over large bodies of water  Approximately 8 – 15 degrees North or South of the Equator  Can reach 800 km in diameter and height of about 3 km  Winds move in a circular motion around the centre  Centre is called the eye (calm sunny region about 50 km)

 Move across land or water  Wind rotate  Counter clockwise in Northern Hemisphere  Clockwise in Southern Hemisphere  In Northern Hemisphere they travel northwest and than travel eastward  In Southern Hemisphere, they travel southwest and than travel eastward

 Huge amounts of moist air above the ocean are heated by the sun  This causes the air to rise  The warmer the ocean water, the greater the amount of rising air  Air is replaced by cooler, heavier air  Blows inward in a spiral  Starts as a tropical disturbance  As wind speed picks up changes from tropical disturbance to a hurricane

 Storm surges –  sudden rises in sea level created by high winds pushing water towards the land  Along coastal areas  Hurricanes are fill of moisture so they cause a large amount of rain to fall  Creating mudslides, flooding in low lying areas, swollen rivers

 Saffir Simpson Scale  Measures the intensity of the hurricane  Gives the height above normal tides (storm surges)  Uses wind speed from 75 km/h – abvoe 248 km/h to identify the severity  Beaufort Scale  Measures wind speed  Velocity above 120 km/h are classified as hurricane  Scale ranges from

 September of 1988  Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale  Over $2 billion property damage on Puerto Rico  Dominican Republic was hit by floods, leaving people homeless  Blew itself out along the Gulf of Mexico

 October of 1998  Strongest hurricane at 290 km/h through the Atlantic basin  Category 5  Began as a tropical disturbance in the SW Carribean Sea  Tremendous amount of rain over Centa America  Caused mud slides and floods  Broke over Mexico