How Does A Hurricane Form
Where, When And How Does A Hurricane Form
Hurricanes, also known as tropical cyclones, are a type of storm that is characterized by a low pressure center around which multiple thunderstorms are present. Where, when and how does a hurricane form are all affected by other weather conditions. The main mechanism of formation involves the condensing of water that evaporated from the ocean.
Because hurricanes are formed due to certain weather conditions, there is a season for them. Worldwide, they can occur during any month of the year. However, the season is roughly May through November, with the most occurring towards the end of that period. The month of November marks the only time during the year when all hurricane zones worldwide are active.
There are six factors that are considered essential to the formation of most hurricanes. However, these storms occasionally occur without all six being present, or when they are present in a manner previously thought to inhibit tropical cyclone formation. Meteorologists are still working on figuring out exactly what the circumstances must be in order for a tropical cyclone to occur.
The six essential factors are high water temperatures (at least 80 degrees F to a depth of at least 160 feet), cooler air which gets rapidly colder as you go higher, high humidity, low wind shear, location at least 5 degrees of latitude removed from the equator, and pre-existing disturbed weather. Each of these factors is important to some environmental condition that helps create and maintain hurricanes.
High temperatures in the water with low temperatures in the air cause evaporated water to tend to condense into storm clouds. Having sufficient humidity in the air is necessary so that enough water vapor is present to condense into these clouds. Certain types of wind tends to break up the formation of the storm, although wind speeds once the storm has formed can be quite high.
The Coriolis effect is least forceful near the equator, and tropical cyclones rely on this effect to some extent for their formation. For this reason, in the belt consisting of about 690 miles surrounding the equator, few storms form or exist. However, it does happen occasionally, shown by one storm from 2001 and another from 2004 that formed within this range.
Wind is essential to the formation of tropical cyclones, both in determining where they will form and where they will not. Certain types of wind prevent hurricanes from forming, while other types are essential to their formation. The Coriolis effect is a physics principle that helps create circling winds, like those required for formation of hurricanes.
Most hurricanes are formed in the tropics, thus there alternative designation of 'tropical cyclones'. They may move away from these areas and affect other parts of the world, but the majority of storms form between 10 and 30 degrees of latitude. They only form over ocean, as they require ocean evaporation for sufficient humidity to build up, and a large water-to-air temperature differential for the storm to occur. The question, 'how does a hurricane form', has not entirely been answered, but at least some contributing factors are known.