Reading text: Hurricanes

PRE-READING QUESTIONS:

1. Do you know what a hurricane is?
2. Do you remember the names of any?

TEXT:
A tropical cyclone is a circular air movement over the warm ocean waters in the warm part of Earth near the equator. Most tropical cyclones create strong winds and heavy rains. While some tropical cyclones stay out in the sea, others pass over land. This can be dangerous because they can cause a lot of damage.

Tropical cyclones form when convection causes warm, moist ocean air to rise. They begin as a group of storm winds when the water gets as hot as 80 °F (27 °C) or hotter. The Coriolis effect causes the winds to rotate. These storms usually move westward in the tropics, and later move north or south into the temperate zone. The "eye of the storm" is the center. It has little rain or wind. The eye wall has much rain and the strongest winds. It is surrounded by rain bands and an area of strong winds.

Tropical cyclone, typhoon or hurricane
The term "tropical cyclone" is a general term. In various places they have other local names such as "hurricane" and "typhoon".A tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic is called a hurricane The same name is used for those that form in the eastern, central and northern Pacific. In the western Pacific a tropical cyclone is called a typhoon. In the Indian Ocean it is called a "cyclone".

Naming
Tropical cyclones are usually given names because it helps in forecasting, tracking, and reporting. They are named once they have steady winds of 62 km/h. Committees of the World Meteorological Organization pick names. Once named, a cyclone is usually not renamed..

For several hundred years hurricanes were named after saints. In 1887, Australian meteorologist Clement Wragge began giving women's names to tropical cyclones. He drew on history and mythology for names. When he used men's names, they were usually of politicians he hated. By World War II these names were based on the phonetic alphabet (Able, Baker, Charlie). In 1953 the United States stopped using phonetic names and began using female names for these storms. This ended in 1978 when both male and female names were used for Pacific storms. In 1979 the practice was extended to hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic.

Impact
Gulfport, Mississippi: damaged city struck by Hurricane Katrina, 2005.
In the past these storms sank many ships. Better weather forecasting in the 20th century let most ships avoid them. When tropical cyclones reach land, they may break things. Sometimes they kill people and destroy cities. In the last 200 years, about 1.5 million people have been killed by tropical cyclones.

Wind can cause up to 83% of the total damages of a storm. Broken wreckage from destroyed objects can become deadly flying pieces. Flooding can also occur when rainfalls and/or storm surges pour water onto land.
There is a possibility of indirect deaths after a tropical cyclone makes landfall. For example, New Orleans, Louisiana suffered from poor sanitary conditions after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.[9]

Classifications
Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale
Category Wind speeds

• Five         ≥70 m/s, ≥137 knots ≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h
• Four 58–70 m/s, 113–136 knots 130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h
• Three 50–58 m/s, 96–112 knots 111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h
• Two         43–49 m/s, 83–95 knots 96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h
• One          33–42 m/s, 64–82 knots 74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h

Related classifications

• Tropical storm         18–32 m/s, 34–63 knots 39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h
• Tropical depression ≤17 m/s, ≤33 knots ≤38 mph, ≤62 km/h

Tropical cyclones are classified into different categories depending on their strength and location. The National Hurricane Center which observes hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean and Eastern and Central Pacific Ocean classify them into the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.

Tropical cylones in other places such as the Western Pacific Ocean or the Southern Hemisphere are classified on similar scales. For example; if a tropical storm in the western Pacific reaches hurricane-strength winds, it is then officially recognized as a typhoon.

A tropical depression is an organized group of clouds and thunderstorms with a clear surface circulation and maximum sustained winds of less than 17 m/s (33 kt, 38 mph, or 62 km/h). It has no eye and does not usually have the spiral shape of more powerful storms. Only the Philippines are known to name tropical depressions.

A tropical storm is an organized system of strong thunderstorms with a very clear surface circulation and maximum sustained winds between 17 and 32 m/s (34–63 kt, 39–73 mph, or 62–117 km/h). At this point, the cyclonic shape starts to form, although an eye does not usually appear in tropical storms. Most tropical cyclone agencies beginning naming cyclonic storms at this point, except for the Philippines which have their own way of naming cyclones.

A hurricane or typhoon is a cyclonic weather system with sustained winds of at least 33 m/s (64 kt, 74 mph, or 118 km/h). A tropical cyclone of this strength usually develop an eye, an area of calm conditions at the center of circulation. The eye is often seen from space as a small, round, cloud-free spot. Surrounding the eye is the eyewall, an area in which the strongest thunderstorms and winds spin around the storm's center. The fastest sustained windspeed founded in tropical cyclones is thought to be 85 m/s (165 kt, 190 mph, 305 km/h).

Text from https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_cyclone

AFTER READING THE TEXT

1. What is the difference between strong winds and a hurricane?
2. Is a typhoon the same as a hurricane? 
3. What is more dangerous, a level one or a level five hurricane?
4. What causes the most damage in a cyclone, the heavy rain, the rise of the sea level, or the strong winds?