In this especially active, and now historic, hurricane season I thought I’d share with you some interesting information about hurricanes. They are the world’s most powerful storms, after all.
I hope you enjoy today’s Sunday Story!
Hurricanes: Natures most powerful and most unique of storms
Hurricanes are the most powerful storms on earth, with more power than anything else produced from earth’s atmosphere.
The average hurricane releases the power of a 10 megaton nuclear bomb every 20 minutes. The bombs dropped on Japan during WWII were 0.018 megatons; not even one tenth of a megaton.
That’s why meteorologists cringe whenever someone suggests we “nuke” hurricanes to stop them.
In spite of having all this power, hurricanes develop from the calmest conditions. Light winds and warm waters are the perfect stage for one of these storms to form on. Throw in the slightest disturbance in the atmosphere and storms erupt in the hot, humid environment.
The Coriolis Effect helps too. The spin of the earth increases the farther away from the Equator one gets. This spin helps the complex of storms to obtain rotation. If conditions stay right, a hurricane develops.
So, the most peaceful tropical conditions are the recipe for the most powerful storms on earth. Ironic, isn’t it?
At the heart of these powerful cyclones is the eye, the calmest region of the storm. It is here that the sun may even shine, though more often than not skies remain rather overcast. The most noticeable aspect of the eye is the calm winds.
Sometimes birds will come out and fly around when the calm of a hurricane’s eye passes over. As the second half of the storm approaches, some of these birds decide they’ll just stay in the eye. This can lead to a rather large displacement of birds! This happens quite often in the Caribbean islands. There have even been instances of birds traveling hundreds of miles, just to stay in the calm of the eye.
Hurricanes are indeed fascinating storms and their power and impact are truly awe inspiring!
