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There is a ritual of sorts that goes on in Florida every year when folks get wind of the news that a big storm is a-brewing. Windows are boarded, boats are dry-docked and grocery stores and home improvement stores are picked clean of anything that might come in handy in the unlikely event that a massive hurricane hits.

What keeps people going through the annual routine of following spaghetti models and prepping for the big one in the Sunshine State and other coastal areas is that many have seen a hurricane or two, and they know the kind of serious destruction these storms can cause. From an 18th-century hurricane that ravaged the Caribbean to the devastating blow issued by Sandy in 2012, history is replete with stories of the wreckage and ruin that come with a major storm.

By definition, a hurricane is a tropical storm with winds above 74 miles per hour (119 kilometers per hour). The systems occur all over the world. In the Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans, they are called hurricanes. In the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, they are called cyclones and in the Western Pacific, they are called typhoons.

The following hurricanes aren't necessarily the deadliest of all time, or the costliest. But they all sit at the intersection of property damage, powerful winds and human tragedy, and all captured the world's attention for differing reasons. We've listed them in order of lives lost.

Hurricane Michael decimated the Florida Panhandle, particularly in the Panama City Beach, Mexico Beach and Cape San Blas, when it made landfall Oct. 10, 2018 as a Category 5. It was the strongest hurricane ever to hit that area and only the second Category 5 to make landfall on the Gulf Coast. Michael also was the first Category 5 storm to hit the U.S. since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Hurricane Michael started as a typical weak October Caribbean tropical system. However, once the system moved over warm Gulf of Mexico waters, it rapidly intensified and became a major hurricane with sustained winds of 161 miles per hour (259 kilometers per hour). The catastrophic damage was caused from wind and storm surge, and spread inland into southwest Georgia.

Michael caused 16 deaths in four states, including Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. Damage estimates from the Insurance Information Institute from Michael total between $9 and $12 billion.

After traveling through the Gulf of Mexico in late August 2017, Hurricane Harvey arrived in the United States as a Category 4 storm. At the time it was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the continental United States in a decade, after 2005's Hurricane Wilma. The arrival of Harvey coincided with its peak intensity: winds of 130 miles per hour (215 kilometers per hour). Coastal communities in Texas like Corpus Christi and Galveston were hard-hit, but the most striking damage was in Houston, the fourth-largest city in the country.

Flooding in Houston was severe, as Harvey remained over the area for days, dumping up to 50 inches (127 centimeters) of water in certain locations. That's the same amount of rainfall Houston usually sees in an entire year, all deposited in a four-day span, and the area's ecosystem and manmade environment were both overwhelmed. The storm also affected communities like Beaumont, Texas, where the entire city was cut off from fresh drinking water. Then-FEMA director Brock Long called Harvey " probably the worst disaster the state's seen."

More than 13,000 people required rescuing throughout Texas, and an overall 30,000 people from that state were displaced by floodwaters. And while Texas was hardest-hit, the storm also affected communities in Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and beyond. Damage estimates were around $121 billion, making it the fourth-most expensive hurricane in U.S. history.

Harvey claimed at least 82 lives in Texas. Officials say that number includes those who died as a direct result of the storm, drowning in flash floods or on roads.

When Hurricane Camille hit in August 1969, it was a nasty storm that brought heavy flooding and 200-mile per hour (320-kilometer per hour) winds to the Gulf Coast and later Virginia. It also was one of only two Category 5 hurricanes to hit the Continental U.S. since 1900. (Since then two others have made landfall: Andrew in 1992 and Michael in 2018.) After forming near the Cayman Islands in August 1969, Camille first blew through Cuba as a Category 3 but intensified in the Gulf of Mexico making a beeline for Mississippi where it made landfall between Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian Aug. 18. Exact wind speed at landfall is unknown, as weather instruments were destroyed, though estimates put suggest gusts were as high as 200 miles per hour (322 kilometers per hour). However, with 900 mb pressure at landfall, Camille still ranks as the second most intense hurricane to hit the continental U.S.

Winds as high as 100 miles per hour were clocked across much of Southern Mississippi, leading to wind damage far inland. A 24-foot (7-meter) storm surge also contributed to major devastation in Mississippi. Camille eventually weakened to a tropical storm as it moved up the East Coast and reached Virginia, but the storm continued to dump upward of 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain on the region, contributing to flash flooding and mudslides just 120 miles (193 kilometers) from the nation's capital. The storm resulted in 256 deaths and more than $1.4 billion in damage.

Camille played an important role in hurricane tracking in that it spawned the creation of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which ranks storms from categories 1 to 5 based on wind speed. Category 1 hurricanes blow winds ranging from 74 to 95 miles (119 to 153 kilometers), while those in the Category 5 range feature wind speeds of more than 156 miles (251 kilometers) an hour. The system is designed to give residents in danger zones a better idea of what to expect from a brewing storm.

Hurricane Katrina is often referred to as a man-made, rather than natural, disaster by those who fault infrastructure problems for the decimation caused by this storm that ravaged New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast.

On Aug. 26, 2005, Hurricane Katrina looked like a hurricane that was fizzling out, but it began rapidly strengthening to Category 5 levels over warm water in the Gulf of Mexico. By Aug. 28, a mandatory evacuation order was issued for New Orleans. As the Category 3 hurricane reached the city, water topped over its systems of levees causing them to break and the streets to flood. Eventually, 80 percent of New Orleans was underwater.

Katrina left residents who couldn't - or chose not to - evacuate stranded in their homes with waters rising around them. Forty percent of hurricane-related deaths were from drowning. Slow federal government reaction to the plight of those affected led to claims of incompetence and even deliberate disregard for poor and Black people.

In all, Hurricane Katrina claimed 1,833 lives and at $161 billion is considered the costliest hurricane in U.S. history. The Federal Emergency Management Agency called it "the single most catastrophic natural disaster in U.S. history."

Hurricane Katrina also displaced 400,000 people to areas like Houston and Atlanta. Many never returned. An upgraded system of levees was completed in 2013, but officials are worried about the massive cost of maintaining them with a shrunken tax base.

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The Americas have been hit with some major hurricanes throughout the decades. But which were the worst ones in history?

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Things Explained: Hurricanes: The Most Violent Storms on Earth

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Things Explained: Hurricanes: The Most Violent Storms on Earth

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Hurricanes: The Most Violent Storms on Earth | Things Explained | PBS LearningMedia

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This episode of Things Explained talks about how hurricanes form, how they impact the mainland U.S. and specifically Georgia, and ways we can help minimize storm damage.

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Hurricanes only form over really warm ocean water of 80°F or warmer. The atmosphere (the air) must cool off very quickly the higher you go. Also, the wind must be blowing in the same direction and at the same speed to force air upward from the ocean surface. Winds flow outward above the storm allowing the air below to rise. Hurricanes typically form between 5 to 15 degrees latitude north and south of the equator. The To learn more about hurricanes, Prepare a disaster supplies kit for your home and car. Include a first aid kit, canned food and a can opener, bottled water, battery-operated radio, flashlight, protective clothing and written instructions on how to turn off electricity, gas, and water. Have a NOAA weather radio handy with plenty of batteries, so you can listen to storm advisories. Have some cash handy as well, because following a hurricane, banks and ATMs may be temporarily closed. Make sure your car is filled with gasoline. Hurricanes

What is a hurricane?
A hurricane is a huge storm! It can be up to 600 miles across and have strong winds spiraling inward and upward at speeds of 75 to 200 mph. Each hurricane usually lasts for over a week, moving 10-20 miles per hour over the open ocean. Hurricanes gather heat and energy through contact with warm ocean waters. Evaporation from the seawater increases their power. Hurricanes rotate in a counter-clockwise direction around an "eye" in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere. The center of the storm or "eye" is the calmest part. It has only light winds and fair weather. When they come onto land, the heavy rain, strong winds and large waves can damage buildings, trees and cars.

>Click Here to get your very own Hurricane Tracking Chart.

How do hurricanes form?
Coriolis Force is needed to create the spin in the hurricane and it becomes too weak near the equator, so hurricanes can never form there.

What is storm surge?
Storm surges are frequently the most devastating element of a hurricane. As a hurricane's winds spiral around and around the storm, they push water into a mound at the storm's center. This mound of water becomes dangerous when the storm reaches land because it causes flooding along the coast. The water piles up, unable to escape anywhere but on land as the storm carries it landward. A hurricane will cause more storm surge in areas where the ocean floor slopes gradually. This causes major flooding.
As you watch the storm-surge animations, notice the effect that the physical geography of each coastline has on storm surge. Also, note the waves on top of the ocean's surface. Wind, waves, and sea-level rise all contribute to storm-surge damage.

Shallow-Water Coastline

Deep-Water Coastline

With technology the way it is, there are computer models that allow forecasters to predict the amount of storm surge that will affect a coastal area. These are called Slosh Models and take into account a storm's strength, its path, how the ocean shallows, and the shape of the land. Then it calculates how much storm surge a hurricane will probably cause.

The Atlantic hurricane season is from June 1 to November 30, but most hurricanes occur during the fall months. The Eastern Pacific hurricane season is from May 15 to November 30. (Below is a graphic that shows you when hurricanes are most active across parts of the world.)
When does hurricane season start?

Who names hurricanes?
From 1950 to 1952, tropical cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean were identified by the phonetic alphabet (Able-Baker-Charlie-etc.), but in 1953 the US Weather Bureau switched to women's names. The rest of the world eventually caught on, and naming rights now go by the World Meteorological Organization, which uses different sets of names depending on the part of the world the storm is in. Around the U.S., only women's names were used until 1979, when it was decided that they should alternate a list that included men's names too. There's 6 different name lists that alternate each year. If a hurricane does significant damage, its name is retired and replaced with another.
Atlantic Hurricane Names
Eastern Pacific Hurricane Names
Nothing except geography. Tropical storms occur in several of the world's oceans, and except for their names, they are essentially the same type of storm. In the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Eastern Pacific Ocean, they are called hurricanes. In the Western Pacific Ocean, they are called typhoons. In the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal, and Australia, these types of storms are called cyclones.
What is the difference between a hurricane and a typhoon?
(This is a satellite animation of Hurricane Georges, which struck the Mississippi Gulf coast in 1998.)

The brave "hurricane hunters" work for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Each mission lasts about ten hours, with the crews passing four to six times through the storm. The planes carry radar, sophisticated computers, and weather instruments that determine characteristics such as temperature, air pressure, wind speed, and wind direction inside the hurricane. The crews also release instruments that measure temperature, air pressure, and wind at different levels as the devices drop through the hurricane toward the ocean. By mission's end, NOAA can warn everyone in the hurricane's path. (Below is a satellite image of Hurricane Mitch back in October 1998. The Hurricane Hunters flew into the eye of Mitch just as this Category 5 hurricane with winds of 155 mph smacked right into Central America.)

Who are the "Hurricane Hunters"?
Coastal beach erosion is the wearing away of land, the removal of beach or dune sediments by wave action, tidal currents, wave currents, or drainage. Waves are generated by storms, wind, or hurricanes and can cause coastal erosion. This may take the form of long-term losses of sediment and rocks, or merely the temporary redistribution of coastal sediments.

What is coastal beach erosion?

Hurricanes...Past and Present
Tropical Tracks: Click to see the tracks of this year's storms.

Know the Lingo Past Hurricane Info: Click to find all the data and information about a specific hurricane by just knowing the year.
HURRICANE WATCH - Hurricane conditions with sustained winds of 74 mph or greater are possible in your area within the next 36 hours. This WATCH should trigger your family's disaster plan, and protective measures should be initiated. Especially, those actions that require extra time such as securing a boat and leaving a barrier island.
TROPICAL STORM WATCH - Tropical Storm conditions with sustained winds from 39 -74 mph are possible in your area within the next 36 hours.
HURRICANE WARNING - Hurricane conditions are expected in your area within 24 hours. Once this WARNING has been issued, your family should be in the process of completing protective actions and deciding the safest location to be during the storm.

COASTAL FLOOD WATCH - The possibility exists for the inundation of land areas along the coast within the next 12 to 36 hours.

COASTAL FLOOD WARNING - Land areas along the coast are expected to become, or have become, inundated by sea water above the typical tide action.

SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY - A small craft advisory is a type of warning issued by the National Weather Service, most frequently in coastal areas. It is issued when winds have reached, or are expected to reach within 12 hours, a speed marginally less than that which is considered gale force, usually 25-38 mph.

Click Here to see if there are any active warnings in your area.
Hurricane Stages
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

Category

Winds (MPH)

Pressure (Millibars)

Pressure (Inches)

Storm Surge
(Feet)

Damage

3

111-130

964-945

28.47-27.91

9'-12'

Extensive

Click Here to watch a variety of videos teaching you the ins and outs of nature's fury. I would like to give a special thanks to Pinellas County Emergency management for putting these instructional videos together.
Hurricane Safety Tips

BEFORE A HURRICANE: Have a disaster plan and a pet plan ready. Before a storm threatens, contact your veterinarian or local humane society for information on preparing your pets for an emergency. Board up windows and b ring in outdoor objects that could blow away. Make sure you know which county or parish you live in and k now where all the evacuation routes are.

Stay away from low-lying and flood prone areas. Always stay indoors during a hurricane, because strong winds will blow things around. Leave mobile homes and to go to a shelter. DURING A HURRICANE: If your home isn't on higher ground, go to a shelter. If emergency managers say to evacuate, then do so immediately.
AFTER A HURRICANE: Stay indoors until it is safe to come out. Check for injured or trapped people, without putting yourself in danger. Watch out for flooding which can happen after a hurricane. Do not attempt to drive in flooding water. Stay away from standing water. It may be electrically charged from underground or downed power lines. Don't drink tap water until officials say its safe to do so.

Evacuation Tips: Here is a list of tips on what you should do, if you chose to evacuate as a hurricane approaches.
Hurricane Activities
Hurricane Supply Checklist: Here is a list of what what you will need if you chose to stay at your home during a hurricane.
Lesson Plan: Here is a great lesson plan on learning about hurricane safety. In this activity, Owlie teaches kids about hurricanes and quizzes them about what they learned. Note: This is a PDF file, so you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Lesson Plan: Here is a great lesson plan on understanding hurricanes. Students will learn how wind speed increases the height and why higher waves occur in shallower water. This activity is for grades 6-8.

Lesson Plan: Here is a great interactive lesson plan on allowing kids to create their very own hurricane. It lets you try to create ideal hurricane conditions by changing the winds, latitude, moisture, and sea temperature. It even keeps score! This is a great activity for 5-8th graders.Lesson Plan: Here is a great lesson plan on elementary reading comprehension. This lesson contains a broader vocabulary, more hurricane facts, and more thought-provoking writing prompts. It works well for grades 3-5. Note: This is a PDF file, so you need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader. Lesson Plan: Here is a great interactive lesson plan that lets kids aim a hurricane. It lets you move the hurricane symbol, high pressure symbol and low pressure symbol to track your very own hurricane. Sometimes your hurricane will make landfall, other times it misses the U.S. all together. It lets kid understand how important the setup of weather impacts where hurricanes go.

Pressure Experiment: Here is an experiment that shows how pressure is created in our atmosphere by sucking an egg in a bottle. This is a very cool experiment!
Science Fair Project Ideas: Here is a complete list of science fair project ideas. Discover the science behind the weather that impacts us every day.
Make A Barometer Experiment: Here is an experiment that allows the kids to make a barometer.

Evaporation Experiment: Here is an experiment that shows kids how evaporation takes place.

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Weather Wiz Kids weather information for kids

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Weather Wiz Kids is a fun and safe website for kids about all the weather info they need to know. It contains tools for weather education, including weather games, activities, experiments, photos, a glossary and educational teaching materials for the classroom.

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Science >> Earth Science for Kids

Weather - Hurricanes (Tropical Cyclones)

What is a hurricane?

A hurricane is a large rotating storm with high speed winds that forms over warm waters in tropical areas. Hurricanes have sustained winds of at least 74 miles per hour and an area of low air pressure in the center called the eye.

Different Names for Hurricanes

The scientific name for a hurricane is a tropical cyclone. Tropical cyclones go by different names in different places. In North America and the Caribbean they are called "hurricanes", in the Indian Ocean they are called "cyclones", and in Southeast Asia they are called "typhoons."

How do hurricanes form?

Hurricanes form over the warm ocean water of the tropics. When warm moist air over the water rises, it is replaced by cooler air. The cooler air will then warm and start to rise. This cycle causes huge storm clouds to form. These storm clouds will begin to rotate with the spin of the Earth forming an organized system. If there is enough warm water, the cycle will continue and the storm clouds and wind speeds will grow causing a hurricane to form.

Parts of a Hurricane

Eye - At the center of the hurricane is the eye. The eye is an area of very low air pressure. There are generally no clouds in the eye and the wind is calm. Don't let this fool you, however, the most dangerous part of the storm is at the edge of the eye called the eye wall.

Eye wall - Around the outside of the eye is a wall made up of very heavy clouds. This is the most dangerous part of the hurricane and where the highest speed winds are. The winds at the eye wall can reach speeds of 155 miles per hour.

Rainbands - Hurricanes have large spirally bands of rain called rainbands. These bands can drop huge amounts of rainfall causing flooding when the hurricane hits land.

Diameter - Hurricanes can become huge storms. The diameter of the hurricane is measured from one side to the other. Hurricanes can span a diameter of over 600 miles.

Height - The storm clouds that power hurricanes can become very tall. A powerful hurricane can reach nine miles into the atmosphere.

The structure of a hurricane

Where do tropical cyclones occur?

Tropical cyclones occur over the ocean in areas near the equator. This is because there is plenty of warm water in these areas to allow the storms to form. There are seven major areas in the world that tend to produce tropical cyclones. See the map below.

Locations of tropical cyclones throughout the world

When do hurricanes occur?

Hurricanes that form in the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean occur between June 1st and November 30th each year. This is called hurricane season.

Why are hurricanes dangerous?

When hurricanes strike land they can cause huge amounts of damage. Most of the damage is caused by flooding and storm surge. Storm surge is when the ocean level rises at the coastline due to the power of the storm. Hurricanes also cause damage with high speed winds that can blow downtrees and damage homes. Many hurricanes can develop several small tornados as well.

How are they named?

Hurricanes in the Atlantic are named based on a list of names maintained by the World Meteorological Organization. The names go in alphabetical order and the storms are named as they appear. So the first storm of the year will always have a name that starts with the letter "A." There are six lists of names and each year a new list is used.

Categories

Tropical cyclones are categorized according to the speed of sustained winds.

Tropical Depression - 38 mph or less

Tropical Storm - 39 to 73 mph

Hurricane

Category 1 - 74 to 95 mph

Category 2 - 96 to 110 mph

Category 3 - 111 to 129 mph

Category 4 - 130 to 156 mph

Category 5 - 157 or higher mph

Interesting Facts about Hurricanes

Hurricanes rotate counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. This is due to the rotation of the Earth called the Coriolis effect.

The letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z are not used for the first letter when naming hurricanes.

The names are alternated between boy and girl names.

Weather forecasters draw a cone showing where they think the hurricane is most likely to travel.

You can always find out the latest information on hurricanes at the website of the National Hurricane Center which tracks and forecasts hurricanes.

Activities

Take a ten question quiz about this page.

Listen to a recorded reading of this page:

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Earth Science Subjects

Science >> Earth Science for Kids

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Kids learn about hurricanes (Tropical Cyclones) including how they form, names, eye, eye wall, rainbands, locations, seasons, facts, and categories.

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Experts Say

Weather expert Michael Wyllie joined Weather Watch on October 22, 2004, for a live interview.
Question: What causes a hurricane?
Michael Wyllie: Basically, a hurricane forms when we have a tropical wave move off the coast of Africa. It moves in a westerly direction into the warm waters of the tropical Atlantic Ocean. This wave turns into a low-pressure system, and if conditions are just right, the low-pressure system can build strength and turn into a tropical cyclone and eventually become strong enough to become a hurricane. Some of the required conditions would be warm, tropical waters of 80 degrees Fahrenheit; high pressure in the upper atmosphere; and weak winds aloft so that it doesn't shear off the top of the system.
Question: What does the temperature, air pressure, moisture, and wind have to be for a hurricane to form?
Michael Wyllie: These can vary but usually the required temperatures are water temperatures more than air temperatures. The water temperatures really need to be around 80 degrees. Pressure usually needs to be around 1,000 millibars or higher when the system begins. For moisture, many times what we see in the beginning of a storm's evolution is thunderstorms develop so you have heavy rains before the system even has a closed low-pressure system. Winds, many times in the development stages of a tropical system, are below 30 miles per hour.
Question: How strong can hurricanes be?
Michael Wyllie: Hurricanes can develop into strong, category 5 storms, with wind gusts exceeding 200 miles an hour. Some of the super typhoons in the Pacific, which are the same as the hurricanes that we see here, have had sustained winds close to 200 miles an hour.
Question: How do hurricanes gain strength?
Michael Wyllie: Hurricanes gain in strength when they go over areas of warm water and low sheer in the upper atmosphere. Just the right types of conditions with warm water and weak wind shear allow them to strengthen. Sometimes during the life of a storm, they will move across these areas of very warm water near 90 degrees, and very low wind shear, and the storm can intensify rapidly. We saw that during Ivan, where the storm went over an island and lost strength, then gained strength when it went back over the water west of Florida.
Question: What was the biggest hurricane ever?
Michael Wyllie: In size, I would say Mitch — which was a storm that went into the Gulf of Mexico and did quite a bit of damage — was a category 5 and the size of the storm filled most of the Gulf as it moved towards South America. It was probably one of the largest storms we have seen in the last couple of years. It was over 500 miles across.
Question: How do you know all this stuff about hurricanes?
Michael Wyllie: I've been with the National Weather Service for 27 years and have spent the last 14 years as a Meteorologist in Charge. In the Northeast part of the country, I've been working in weather for the past 22 years in both Boston and New York. In order to learn more about hurricanes, you are basically going to learn math and science. You are working with the sciences but it's a lot of math and a lot of computers. Computers are very important for forecasting, and they are why we are able to create the models so fast. As the technology gets better, the models get better and faster.
Question: How do you track the hurricanes?
Michael Wyllie: We track the hurricanes through satellites, which are getting better and better with technology. At night we use infrared satellite pictures and during the day we use regular pictures. We are able to determine the periods of strengthening and weakening of these storms, which helps us determine the storm cycles and helps us forecast what to expect with the life of the system. Once they get closer to land, we use the hurricane hunters, which are reconnaissance planes that fly right into the eye of the storm and use dropsens. These are equipment packages that we release from the bottom of the plane. They fall through the storm and tell us wind speeds, temperatures, and pressure of the eye and the eye wall. Those are the two main ways we track hurricanes.
Question: Why do hurricanes show up on computers as a big, doughnut shape?
Michael Wyllie: They look like doughnuts because the eye of the storm is normally cloud-free and rain-free, and if you are in there, the wind speeds are pretty light. That is because the eye has the lowest pressure. Surrounding that eye is what we call the eye wall and that usually has the strongest winds and the heaviest rain of the hurricane. As you go away from the eye wall, the winds and the rains diminish. So what you see as a doughnut hole is the eye of the hurricane and the calm of the storm.
Question: How do they choose the names for the hurricanes? Does it take time or do they just throw in a name that comes to mind even if it's weird?
Michael Wyllie: the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) selects the names. They select 6 years worth of names for the Atlantic Basin and repeat the names every 6 years. If there is a significant storm they will actually retire its name like they do great ball players. "Hurricane Andrew" was retired in 1992 because it did so much damage to South Florida. This year they will probably retire a bunch of names. Once they retire a name, the WMO will meet again and pick replacement names.
Question: Why did all the hurricanes hit Florida so hard?
Michael Wyllie: Actually, it was very unusual for Florida to be hit this many times. It's only the second time in history that Florida was hit that many times. Some of the areas that were hit in Florida had not been hit in more than 50 years, including the area that was hit twice by both Frances and Jeanne. I think the last time that happened was in the 1800s. It was just an anomaly this year. It was just Florida's turn.
Question: Do you think we will be able to stop a hurricane or prevent them from happening?
Michael Wyllie: Back in the 1960s, they had a project called Storm Fury that tried to seed hurricanes. What they did was use chemicals to try and diminish the storm, but it didn't work and caused lots of destruction instead. What they found was you could make hurricanes, and even thunderstorms, lesser in one area but it would make it worse in other areas. They call it Weather Modification, and unfortunately it doesn't always work. I'm not saying it won't happen, but right now controlling hurricanes is something that has not been followed up on by scientists. Learn more about this in the National Weather Service's Hurricane Myths: Frequently Asked Questions.
Question: Have you been in a hurricane before? If yes, when and what was it called and how many?
Michael Wyllie: The first time I remember being in a hurricane was in 1960. It was Hurricane Donna and I was 7 years old and on Long Island. That's what got me into the field of meteorology. We had the eye of the storm pass over the house where I lived and we went outside during the eye, and all the kids were out swimming in the water in the street when our parents yelled at us to come back in because the storm was coming back. It was really cool. I was also in Hurricane Eloise my first day of graduate school at Florida State University. I was in Hurricane Gloria in 1985; I was in New York City at the time and we got the weak side of it. And that was it.
Question: Where is the best place to hide from a hurricane besides a shelter?
Michael Wyllie: If you are told to evacuate, do so. That's the first thing. If you have to evacuate, your best bet is to go inland to someone else's home. Shelters should be your last resort. If you are in your house and it gets really bad, go into an interior room without windows, similar to what you would do for a tornado. If necessary, go into an interior bathroom, and if you must bring a mattress to put on top of you when you hide in the tub.
Question: Why do you like hurricanes?
Michael Wyllie: I always found hurricanes really fascinating. They are able to spin up from nothing to a hurricane in a short amount of time. It is a unique weather event and it is something that is a rare event for us in the Northeast. There is something about the strength of these storms, and the way they come and go so quickly; I find them fascinating. Once you start studying them, it gives you respect for nature.
Question: Do you like your job?
Michael Wyllie: The job of a meteorologist is very exciting. It is something where you are interacting with nature and it's always different. No forecast is the same. Something is always different. Every time you think you have it down, something changes. When you think you have that snowstorm figured out and it's going to drop a foot of snow, it will turn and start to rain on you. It's never predictable.
Question: Are hurricanes classified the same way as tornadoes?
Michael Wyllie: No, they are different. A hurricane is a large tropical low-pressure system and is classified by the Saffir-Simpson scale from a category 1 to a category 5 storm where category 5 is the strongest. A tornado actually is spawned from a thunderstorm cloud. It is a much smaller-scale feature and the damage, while very intense, is much more localized. It is classified by what is known as the Fujita Scale, from the weakest F0 to the strongest F5.
Question: What are the categories of hurricanes?
Michael Wyllie: Category 1 is a minimal hurricane with winds of 74-95 miles an hour. Category 2 has winds from 96-110 mph. Category 3 is from111-130 mph and Category 4 is 131-155mph. Category 5 has winds greater than 155 mph. What is the difference among a typhoon, cyclone, and tropical cyclone? Cyclone is the generic name for a low-pressure system; all hurricanes and typhoons are actually cyclones. Winter storms are actually cyclones. Typhoon and tropic cyclone means the same thing. A typhoon is the same storm as a hurricane but it occurs in the eastern Pacific.
Question: What is a tropical disturbance?
Michael Wyllie: We have a list of stage development for a hurricane. The first stage is a tropical wave and that is just a curvature in the trade wind easterlies, which are winds from Africa towards Caribbean. If that tropical wave gets some thunderstorms to develop on it and they remain on that wave for more than 24 hours, that's a tropical disturbance. And this is what we track on the satellite, especially looking at the 24 hour time period. The next stage of development, when that disturbance begins to form a defined circulation and becomes a depression with maximum sustained winds of 38 mph, is called a tropical depression. When they are watching the depression and it gets to the point where it is beyond that stage, it becomes an organized system of thunderstorms where the winds are sustained 39-73 mph. Then it becomes a tropical storm and earns a name. Once the winds pick up to above 73 miles an hour, then you are in your hurricane.
Question: What is a tidal surge?
Michael Wyllie: A tidal surge is actually not a tidal surge. The surge from the hurricane is called a storm surge because it is an abnormal rise in the water level because of wind stress and pressures of the hurricanes. The highest surge is found to the right of where the eye of the storm makes landfall. We can see 10, 20, and even 30-foot surges in water just prior to the eye making landfall. If you have a strong hurricane with a 20-foot storm surge coming on shore, it will also have wind waves on top of it that will do a lot of the damage. That's why we evacuate people on the coastline during a hurricane.
Question: When meteorologists forecast, how can they tell what's going to happen 3 days before that specific date?
Michael Wyllie: We use numerical models. We have several of these models to assist us in our forecasting. We use information on the surface of the earth in addition to many levels above the surface of the earth that assist us in determining where low pressure systems will be in 1, 2, 3 and even up to 7 days in advance. This is what helps us determine where the cold and warm air will move across the country. Forecasting has become a lot more sophisticated even in the last 10 years due to the increase in technology. Now we put information into a database, and the computer gives the forecast and crunches the numbers for us.

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Scholastic.com | Online Activities: Weather Watch

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Experts Say Weather expert Michael Wyllie joined Weather Watch on October 22, 2004, for a live interview. Question: What causes a hurricane? Michael Wyllie: Basically, a hurricane forms when we have a tropical wave move off the coast of Africa. It moves in a westerly direction into the warm waters of the tropical Atlantic Ocean.

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Teaching Tools | Resources for Teachers from Scholastic

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Hurricane Floyd

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Teaching Tools | Resources for Teachers from Scholastic

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There is a ritual of sorts that goes on in Florida every year when folks get wind of the news that a big storm is a-brewing. Windows are boarded, boats are dry-docked and grocery stores and home improvement stores are picked clean of anything that might come in handy in the unlikely event that a massive hurricane hits.

What keeps people going through the annual routine of following spaghetti models and prepping for the big one in the Sunshine State and other coastal areas is that many have seen a hurricane or two, and they know the kind of serious destruction these storms can cause. From an 18th-century hurricane that ravaged the Caribbean to the devastating blow issued by Sandy in 2012, history is replete with stories of the wreckage and ruin that come with a major storm.

By definition, a hurricane is a tropical storm with winds above 74 miles per hour (119 kilometers per hour). The systems occur all over the world. In the Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans, they are called hurricanes. In the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, they are called cyclones and in the Western Pacific, they are called typhoons.

The following hurricanes aren't necessarily the deadliest of all time, or the costliest. But they all sit at the intersection of property damage, powerful winds and human tragedy, and all captured the world's attention for differing reasons. We've listed them in order of lives lost.

Hurricane Michael decimated the Florida Panhandle, particularly in the Panama City Beach, Mexico Beach and Cape San Blas, when it made landfall Oct. 10, 2018 as a Category 5. It was the strongest hurricane ever to hit that area and only the second Category 5 to make landfall on the Gulf Coast. Michael also was the first Category 5 storm to hit the U.S. since Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Hurricane Michael started as a typical weak October Caribbean tropical system. However, once the system moved over warm Gulf of Mexico waters, it rapidly intensified and became a major hurricane with sustained winds of 161 miles per hour (259 kilometers per hour). The catastrophic damage was caused from wind and storm surge, and spread inland into southwest Georgia.

Michael caused 16 deaths in four states, including Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. Damage estimates from the Insurance Information Institute from Michael total between $9 and $12 billion.

After traveling through the Gulf of Mexico in late August 2017, Hurricane Harvey arrived in the United States as a Category 4 storm. At the time it was the first major hurricane to make landfall in the continental United States in a decade, after 2005's Hurricane Wilma. The arrival of Harvey coincided with its peak intensity: winds of 130 miles per hour (215 kilometers per hour). Coastal communities in Texas like Corpus Christi and Galveston were hard-hit, but the most striking damage was in Houston, the fourth-largest city in the country.

Flooding in Houston was severe, as Harvey remained over the area for days, dumping up to 50 inches (127 centimeters) of water in certain locations. That's the same amount of rainfall Houston usually sees in an entire year, all deposited in a four-day span, and the area's ecosystem and manmade environment were both overwhelmed. The storm also affected communities like Beaumont, Texas, where the entire city was cut off from fresh drinking water. Then-FEMA director Brock Long called Harvey " probably the worst disaster the state's seen."

More than 13,000 people required rescuing throughout Texas, and an overall 30,000 people from that state were displaced by floodwaters. And while Texas was hardest-hit, the storm also affected communities in Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee and beyond. Damage estimates were around $121 billion, making it the fourth-most expensive hurricane in U.S. history.

Harvey claimed at least 82 lives in Texas. Officials say that number includes those who died as a direct result of the storm, drowning in flash floods or on roads.

When Hurricane Camille hit in August 1969, it was a nasty storm that brought heavy flooding and 200-mile per hour (320-kilometer per hour) winds to the Gulf Coast and later Virginia. It also was one of only two Category 5 hurricanes to hit the Continental U.S. since 1900. (Since then two others have made landfall: Andrew in 1992 and Michael in 2018.) After forming near the Cayman Islands in August 1969, Camille first blew through Cuba as a Category 3 but intensified in the Gulf of Mexico making a beeline for Mississippi where it made landfall between Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian Aug. 18. Exact wind speed at landfall is unknown, as weather instruments were destroyed, though estimates put suggest gusts were as high as 200 miles per hour (322 kilometers per hour). However, with 900 mb pressure at landfall, Camille still ranks as the second most intense hurricane to hit the continental U.S.

Winds as high as 100 miles per hour were clocked across much of Southern Mississippi, leading to wind damage far inland. A 24-foot (7-meter) storm surge also contributed to major devastation in Mississippi. Camille eventually weakened to a tropical storm as it moved up the East Coast and reached Virginia, but the storm continued to dump upward of 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain on the region, contributing to flash flooding and mudslides just 120 miles (193 kilometers) from the nation's capital. The storm resulted in 256 deaths and more than $1.4 billion in damage.

Camille played an important role in hurricane tracking in that it spawned the creation of the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which ranks storms from categories 1 to 5 based on wind speed. Category 1 hurricanes blow winds ranging from 74 to 95 miles (119 to 153 kilometers), while those in the Category 5 range feature wind speeds of more than 156 miles (251 kilometers) an hour. The system is designed to give residents in danger zones a better idea of what to expect from a brewing storm.

Hurricane Katrina is often referred to as a man-made, rather than natural, disaster by those who fault infrastructure problems for the decimation caused by this storm that ravaged New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast.

On Aug. 26, 2005, Hurricane Katrina looked like a hurricane that was fizzling out, but it began rapidly strengthening to Category 5 levels over warm water in the Gulf of Mexico. By Aug. 28, a mandatory evacuation order was issued for New Orleans. As the Category 3 hurricane reached the city, water topped over its systems of levees causing them to break and the streets to flood. Eventually, 80 percent of New Orleans was underwater.

Katrina left residents who couldn't - or chose not to - evacuate stranded in their homes with waters rising around them. Forty percent of hurricane-related deaths were from drowning. Slow federal government reaction to the plight of those affected led to claims of incompetence and even deliberate disregard for poor and Black people.

In all, Hurricane Katrina claimed 1,833 lives and at $161 billion is considered the costliest hurricane in U.S. history. The Federal Emergency Management Agency called it "the single most catastrophic natural disaster in U.S. history."

Hurricane Katrina also displaced 400,000 people to areas like Houston and Atlanta. Many never returned. An upgraded system of levees was completed in 2013, but officials are worried about the massive cost of maintaining them with a shrunken tax base.

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The Americas have been hit with some major hurricanes throughout the decades. But which were the worst ones in history?