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A hurricane is a type of large rotating storm, that is formed over warm tropical waters. Hurricanes have high wind speeds of at least 74 miles per hour. The center of the storm is called the eye, and is an area of low pressure.

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A hurricane is a big storm that is formed in the ocean, far away from land. It makes really strong wind blow and water go high up into the sky once it gets close to land. Hurricanes can be very dangerous, and sometimes can cause people to get hurt. The large amounts of water and wind from hurricanes can break buildings and peoples houses.

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A hurricane is a dangerous storm that can also be called a tropical cyclone. Hurricanes are formed in the ocean, and are can be very harmful the closer that it gets to land. Hurricanes have strong winds and large storms. Hurricanes can destroy homes and buildings and sometimes can hurt people very badly.

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(LE.ESS2D.a)  Weather is the combination of sunlight, wind, snow or rain, and temperature in a particular region at a particular time. People measure these conditions to describe and record the weather and to notice patterns over time

(UE. ESS2D.a) Scientist record patterns of the weather across different times and areas so that they can make predictions about what kind of weather might happen next.

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Interview with a survivor of Hurrican Katrina - New Orleans Hurricane 2005 

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Interview with a survivor of Hurrican Katrina - New Orleans Hurricane 2005 

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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.

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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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What's a Hurricane? | Weather Science | SciShow Kids

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Hurricane Katrina was the eleventh tropical storm, fifth hurricane, and the second Category 5 hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm formed over the Bahamas on August 23, where it moved east and hit Florida as a Category 1 hurricane two days later. Katrina then crossed over Florida and strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. The storm then hit Louisiana and Mississippi on the morning of August 29. The leftovers of Katrina then died out over the Great Lakes on August 31.

The damage Katrina brought was so bad that 80% of New Orleans was flooded when the levees to the city broke. Most of the people killed by Katrina were thought to have died from drowning. Because of Katrina's effect on the US, the hurricane was known to be one of the most deadly hurricanes in US history.

Storm history

Hurricane Katrina began as Tropical Depression Twelve over the southeastern Bahamas on August 23, 2005. The depression later strengthened into a tropical storm on the morning of August 24 where the storm was also named Katrina. Katrina continued to move into Florida, and became a Category 1 hurricane only two hours before it made landfall around Hallandale Beach on the morning of August 25. The storm weakened over land, but became a hurricane again while entering the Gulf of Mexico.

Katrina began to gain strength very quickly after entering the Gulf, partly because of the storm moving over to the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. On August 27, Hurricane Katrina reached Category 3 strength on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, becoming the third major hurricane of the season. An "eyewall replacement cycle" once made Katrina stop becoming stronger for a short moment, but made Katrina to become nearly twice as large in the end.

Katrina again began to quickly strengthen, reaching Category 5 strength on the morning of August 28 and reached its strongest point with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 902 mbar. Katrina's minimal pressure measurement made it the fourth most powerful Atlantic hurricane on record at the time, only to be beaten by Hurricanes Rita and Wilma later in the season. In addition, Katrina was also the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico at the time (a record also later broken by Rita).

Katrina made its second landfall on August 29 as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 125 mph (205 km/h) near St. Bernard, Louisiana. At landfall, hurricane-force winds reached outward 120 miles (190 km) from the center and the storm's central pressure was 920 mbar. After moving over southeastern Louisiana, it made its third landfall over New Orleans, Louisiana and the levees were not made to withstand that much water and ended up collapsing leading to massive flooding. Katrina kept its hurricane strength well into Mississippi, but began to weaken later, finally losing hurricane strength more than 150 miles (240 km) inland near Meridian, Mississippi. Katrina weakened to a tropical depression near Clarksville, Tennessee, but its remains were last seen around the eastern Great Lakes on August 31 when it died. The leftover extratropical cyclone moved quickly to the northeast and affected Ontario and Quebec.

American movie maker Spike Lee made a HBO documentary "When The Levees Broke" that shows the extensive damage in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The documentary suggests that the damage caused was due to the inability of the levees to weather the storm or a probable sabotage. The documentary also suggests that the federal government did a poor job of disaster management. Resources arrived after several days. Most of the people who died did so from drowning.

Retirement

The name Katrina was retired for the record breaking damage, the deaths, and the economic impact. This means that it will not be used as a name for any new storms in the future. A new name, Katia, replaced it for 2011.

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Hurricane Katrina was the eleventh tropical storm, fifth hurricane, and the second Category 5 hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm formed over the Bahamas on August 23, where it moved east and hit Florida as a Category 1 hurricane two days later.

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Hurricane, or Tropical Cyclone, Katrina struck the southeastern United States in late August 2005. The hurricane and its aftermath claimed more than 1,800 lives, and it ranked as the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

The storm began as a tropical depression over The Bahamas on August 23, 2005. Over the next two days it gathered strength, becoming a tropical storm that was named Katrina. It made landfall between Miami, Florida, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as a category 1 hurricane. Such hurricanes are capable of producing winds in the range of 74-95 miles per hour (119-154 kilometers per hour). Winds recorded at 70 miles per hour (115 kilometers per hour) whipped over Florida, and rainfall totals of 5 inches (13 centimeters) were reported in some areas. After less than eight hours over land, the storm moved off into the Gulf of Mexico, where it quickly intensified due to the warm waters.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc./Christine McCabe and Kenny Chmielewski

On August 27 Katrina strengthened to a category 3 hurricane (with winds capable of exceeding 115 miles per hour [185 kilometers per hour]) and covered nearly the entire Gulf of Mexico. By the following afternoon Katrina had become one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record, with winds in excess of 170 miles per hour (275 kilometers per hour). On the morning of August 29, the storm made landfall as a category 4 hurricane at Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, approximately 45 miles (70 kilometers) southeast of New Orleans, Louisiana. It continued moving to the northeast, crossing the Mississippi Sound and hitting land a second time later that morning near the mouth of the Pearl River. A storm surge more than 26 feet (8 meters) high slammed into the coastal cities of Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi, destroying homes and resorts along the beachfront.

New Orleans, where much of the metropolitan area is below sea level, had been spared a direct hit. However, the levee system designed to hold back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne failed after being inundated with 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain and Katrina's storm surge. Areas of the city began to flood. By the afternoon of August 29, some 20 percent of the city was underwater.

A mandatory evacuation of New Orleans was ordered the previous day, and an estimated 1.2 million people left ahead of the storm. However, tens of thousands of residents either could not or would not leave. Some stayed in their homes while others sought shelter at the New Orleans Convention Center or the Louisiana Superdome. In the meantime, the levee system continued to give way, and by August 30 the city was 80 percent underwater. Many local agencies, with their own headquarters and control centers under 20 feet (6 meters) of water, were unable to respond to the dire situation. Without an organized effort to restore order in the city, looting became widespread.

The Red Cross set up a shelter at the Houston Astrodome, some 350 miles (560 kilometers) away from New Orleans. Although the first evacuees began to arrive on August 31, tens of thousands of people remained in the city. By September 1 an estimated 30,000 people had fled to the damaged Superdome, and an additional 25,000 had gathered at the Convention Center. Shortages of food and potable water quickly became an issue, and daily temperatures reached 90° F (32° C). A lack of basic sanitation as well as bacteria-laden floodwaters created a public health emergency.

By September 2 an effective military presence was established in the city to restore order. National Guard troops also were used to distribute food and water. Hurricane victims were still being evacuated, and crews began to rebuild the breached levees. On September 6, local police estimated that there were fewer than 10,000 residents left in New Orleans. As the recovery began, dozens of countries contributed funds and supplies, and Canada and Mexico deployed troops to the Gulf Coast to assist with the cleanup and rebuilding. The last of the floodwaters were pumped out of the city on October 11, 2005, some 43 days after Katrina made landfall. Ultimately, the storm caused more than $100 billion in damage, and it reduced the population of New Orleans to a fraction of its former size.

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Hurricane, or Tropical Cyclone, Katrina struck the southeastern United States in late August 2005. The hurricane and its aftermath claimed more than 1,800 lives, and it ranked as the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. The storm began as a tropical depression over The Bahamas on August 23, 2005.