HURRICANES

Hurricanes are giant spiraling tropical storms that can pack wind speeds of over 160 miles an hour and unleash more than 2.4 trillion gallons of rain a day. They are the largest most powerful storms in the world. They’re so big they can be seen from outer space! A hurricane is a huge swirling mass of clouds that spins around a calm clear center called an eye. The powerful winds and surging storm of the hurricane can flatten buildings lift entire houses and flip cars like they’re pieces of paper.

Why do hurricanes happen?

This is the typical pattern:

1. A thunderstorm forms over the ocean near the equator. It draws in so much air and moisture that it grows larger and larger and as it grows it joins with other thunderstorms nearby.

2. When the air moving inside the storm reaches a speed of 39 miles per hour it becomes a tropical storm. An eye begins to form in the center of the clouds and the wind spins even faster.

3. When the wind speed inside the storm increases to 74 miles per hour and begins to spiral tightly around the eye it becomes a hurricane.

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