Hurricane Francis
Hurricane Francis 2004
By: Alex Carrillo
How are Hurricanes formed?
Hurricanes can only form over waters that are 80 degrees F or warmer. The air has to cool off very quickly the higher you go. Hurricanes get heat and energy from warm ocean waters. Evaporation from the seawater gives them more energy. When the hurricanes make landfall, they weaken because they are not over their energy source anymore.
Hurricanes in the past?
The hurricane season starts from the beginning of June and to the end of November. Hurricanes are different from typhoons because of where they form. Hurricanes form in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Typhoons are formed in the Western Pacific Ocean.
General facts
For a hurricane to actually be a hurricane the wind speeds have to be 74-95 m.p.h. The scale used to measure hurricanes is called the Saffire - Simpson hurricane Scale. The thing that categorized hurricanes is their wind speed.
Hurricane Speeds and Naming
Category 1 is 74-95 and Category 2 is 96-110 m.p.h. and Category 3 is 111-130 m.p.h. and Category 4 is 131-155 and the last and most dangerous Category is 5, higher than 155.
How Hurricanes got to Male names.
From 1950 to 1952 they named hurricanes by the Phonetic alphabet. But in 1953, the U.S. Weather Bureau switched to womens names. The naming rights are given to the World's Meteorologist Organization uses different sets of names based on where the hurricane is in the world. Only womens names were used until 1974 when male names were alternated with female names.
My Hurricane!
When my hurricane made landfall the category was at 2. Hurricane Francis made landfall at Stuart, Florida and made a final landfall at Florida's Big Bend Region. The highest wind speed hurricane Francis had was 145 m.p.h. at Category 4. Only 8 deaths resulted from hurricane Francis. Hurricane Francis damage cast 8.9 billion dollars.
Hurricane Francis Tracking map
Hurricane Francis was a Category 4 and caused a lot of damage but killed only 8 people. When hurricane Francis reached land fall it was a category 2. For it to be a Category 2 hurricane the wind speed has to be 96-110 m.p.h.
Hurricane Francis Damage
Hurricane Francis damage was not so bad when it made land fall because the hurricane was a Category 2. Hurricane Francis damage was still bad because you don't escape any damage when there is a hurricane.
Hurricane Francis Satellite image.
Hurricane Francis was a big hurricane with wind speed of 145 m.p.h. But the worst of the damage happened in the middle of the ocean. The hurricane was a Category 2 when it made landfall.
Thank you for reading about Hurricanes. Hurricanes are formed different ways. Hurricanes can be really strong (5) or weak (1). Hurricane Francis was a Category 4.