Hurricane Season

Hurricanes are called many different things depending on where in the world they form; they are called typhoons, cyclones and hurricanes but the scientific term for all these storms is tropical cyclone. Hurricane season in the United States runs from June 1- November 30, with the most active time typically being the middle of August to the end of September. What is a hurricane? Here’s a simple explanation of a hurricane - A hurricane is the most severe category of a tropical cyclone, which is a counter-clockwise spinning low-pressure system that includes thunderstorms.
Hurricanes form when these three conditions occur; the surface water temperature is 80+ degrees down to a depth of 150 feet, weather disturbances, such as thunderstorms are present and the winds are light and fairly steady in the upper atmosphere. After they form, hurricanes can travel at speeds of up to 60 mph but they more commonly move at about 15-20 mph.

Wind speed in these storms is very important; it determines how they are classified. A Tropical depression is below 38 mph, a Tropical storm is 39-74 mph, and when wind speeds exceed 74 mph it’s called a hurricane. There are five different categories, or strengths, of hurricanes, also determined by wind speed. A category one has wind speeds of 74-95 mph, a category two is 96-110 mph, three is 111-130 mph, a four is 131-155 mph, and a five is over 155 mph. These are big, powerful, fascinating weather phenomenon we still don’t completely understand.



I have lived in Florida for most of my life and I have lived through many hurricane seasons but one of the worst was the 2004 hurricane season when we were hit by 4 major storms in that one year. Hurricane Charley was the first to hit. Charley was a category 4 hurricane that hit Punta Gorda, which is just north of Fort Myers, on August 13 th it was the strongest tropical system to hit Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Then came Hurricane Francis, she came ashore just north of Jupiter on September 5 as a Category 2 storm. This was a huge, slow moving storm that did some significant to the Kennedy Space Center. Hurricane Ivan showed up on September 16th as a category 3 storm near northwestern Florida and did a lot of damage in Pensacola Beach. The last big storm to hit Florida that year was Jeanne she hit on September 25th as a category three storm in Punta Gorda, just 2 miles from where Frances had struck 3 weeks earlier. As you can imagine we, here in Florida, were so happy to see the 2004 hurricane season end.

There are a lot of people, from NOAA to William Gray, who try to predict how many hurricanes will form in a season but these predictions can be way off. The simple truth is that no one knows how many there will be but when they do form NOAA has two GOES weather satellites to help them keep an eye on them and track where they are likely to hit and warm the people; that’s what it’s all about, saving lives. If you are in an area when a hurricane is predicted, heed all the warnings, stock up on supplies, have a plan and leave, if you’re instructed to do so. We’ve had relatively quiet hurricane seasons since 2004 and here’s hoping they continue to be.