Hurricanes
Hurricane Wilma in action- November 20 2012
How hurricanes form and when their season is
Hurricanes form off the coast of Africa over water that is 80 degrees Fahrenheit or more. The atmosphere has to cool quickly and the wind must be blowing in the same direction and speed. This allows the wind to go outward which will make it rise. Hurricanes maintain their strength by using the warm waters as their energy source. When a hurricane makes landfall they weaken because they don't have energy source anymore. The hurricane season for the Atlantic is from June 1 to November 30. The Eastern Pacific's hurricane season is from May 15 to November 30. The difference between a hurricane and a typhoon is that a hurricane is in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and the Eastern Pacific Ocean. A typhoon is in the Western Pacific Ocean.
How hurricanes are named and categorized
The Saffir-Simpson scale is used to categorize hurricanes. The wind determines the category of a hurricane. The wind speeds of Category 1 hurricane are 74 mph to 95 mph. A Category 2 is 96 mph to 100 mph. Category 3 hurricane is 101 mph to 130 mph. A Category 4 hurricane is 131 mph to 155 mph. A Category 5 is anything above 155 mph. Hurricanes are named by an alternative six lists that have men and women names. From 1953 to 1979 they used just women names. If a hurricane is extremely bad , they retire the name and replace it with a new name.
Hurricane Wilma
The name of the hurricane that i will inform you about is Hurricane Wilma. Hurricane Wilma formed October 15 2005. It made landfall on October 21 2005. It made landfall in Cozumel, The northeastern Yucatan Peninsula, and Cape Romano. When Hurricane Wilma made landfall it was a category 4 hurricane. The highest speeds of hurricane Wilma were estimated to be 185 mph. Hurricane Wilma resulted in 22 deaths and costed 16.8 billion dollars. Four interesting facts about Hurricane Wilma are it caused major floods in Cuba, it was a cyclone, it caused 10 tornadoes in Florida, and it broke an old record of the lowest central pressure of 888 mb set by Hurricane Gilbert and made it 882 mb.
Hurricanes are very dangerous. I have told you how hurricanes are made, how they are named, and how they harm people. I have also told you about Hurricane Wilma. I hope you use this information and put it to good use.
Satellite
This image shows you how strong and big Hurricane Wilma is. Wilma was a cyclone until it started moving a west-northwestward motion.
Tracking Map
This is a picture where Hurricane Wilma hit Florida. Florida was the only spot in America that got hit.
Damage
This is the devastating destruction that Hurricane Wilma caused Florida. Hurricane Wilma came through with 10 tornadoes and hit Florida’s peninsula.