Chapter 7: Weather Hazards

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Explain how the atmosphere is warmed

Describe how energy is transferred around the planet

Describe the basic elements of weather

Analyze how atmospheric stability influences weather

Know the force caused by the earth's rotation

Assess how air masses and weather fronts create midlatitude cyclones

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

What role does weather have o

do you prepare for weather haz
day life.

How has smartphones, mobile

helped alert people of weather

Introduction
Atmospheric processes and energy exchanges are driven by Earth's energy balance and linked to
climate and weather. Hurricanes, thunderstorms, tornadoes, blizzards, ice storms, dust storms,
heat waves, as well as flash flooding resulting from intense precipitation, are all natural
processes that are hazardous to people. These severe hazards affect considerable portions of
Northern America and are responsible for causing significant death and destruction each year.
But in order to understand topics such as thunderstorms, tornadoes, lightning, and hurricanes, we
need to spend some time looking at the basics of weather.

Warming Up the Atmosphere

INCOMING SOLAR RADIATION

The Sun is the driving force of our weather and
climate. Its diameter is about 865,000 miles or 109
Earths lined up side by side and is so large that it makes
up 99.99 percent of the mass of our Solar System. Our
star - the Sun - is the most common type of star in the
universe and has existed for nearly 4.6 billion years.
The composition of the Sun is about 92 percent
hydrogen (the lightest element in the universe) and
almost 8 percent helium (the second lightest element).
Using these elements, the Sun generates energy through
a process called thermonuclear reaction. This energy is
created when the Sun fuses together hydrogen atoms to
make a heavier element called helium. This process not
only creates new elements, but also releases an
enormous amount of energy.

The energy emitted by the Sun is called electromagnetic energy, which travels at the speed of
light in a spectrum of various wavelengths. (Recall from the module on tsunamis that a
wavelength is the distance between two wave crests and frequency is the number
of wavelengths that pass a given point in a given amount of time.)
The sun's life expectancy is already half over and in another 4 billion years it will consume all
the hydrogen within it leaving behind helium and a few other newly created elements. When the
hydrogen runs out, in about 5 billion years, the sun will grow into a red giant, expanding its
diameter well past Mercury and possibly Venus and Earth. The sun will continue to fuse helium
into carbon until it begins to release its outer layers to form a planetary nebula. Left behind will
be the white hot core of our star, called a white dwarf, that will slowly fade out over billions of
years.
ALBEDO
Why would you want to wear a black shirt in the winter and a white shirt in the summer? Or
would you rather walk barefoot on black pavement or grass? This relates to the idea that different
objects absorb and reflect energy differently on the planet. Dark objects tend to absorb more
energy, whereas lighter objects reflect more energy. The percent of energy an object reflects is an
object's albedo. Because the planet has so many different albedos (cities, forests, deserts, oceans,

rocks, glaciers, etc.), the planet has uneven heating on the planet. The result is that of all the
energy the Earth receives from the Sun, only 51 percent is actually absorbed by the planet while
49 percent is reflected back into space.

Uneven heating of the planet also occurs because of the curvature of the Earth. The planet
receives most of its energy near the equator where the Sun's rays are directly (or nearly directly)
hitting the planet. As you move toward the poles, the Sun's energy becomes more diffused and
spread out over a greater area. Ultimately, the equator receives more energy from the Sun than it
can radiate back into space. There is a surplus of energy. At the poles, the planet radiates more
energy out into space than it receives from the Sun. There is a deficit of energy in these regions.
The ultimate purpose of weather is to transfer the surplus of energy and heat to the poles and
bring colder air toward the equator and find equilibrium.

Global Transfer of Heat

If the planet is trying to balance the extremes of the poles and equator, how is heat transferred
around the planet? There are four ways: conduction, convection, latent heat, and radiation.
CONDUCTION
Conduction is the transfer of heat from a warmer object to a cooler
object through molecule interaction. As the Sun heats the ground,
energy is transferred to the atmosphere by conduction. But the
atmosphere is a very poor conductor of heat. In calm weather, the
heated ground only warms the first few centimeters of air. In fact,
the atmosphere's temperature can be 50 percent colder at your head
than near your feet. Since the atmosphere is such a poor conductor
of heat, there must be other ways to transfer the energy.

CONVECTION
Convection is the transfer of heat by the mass movement of a fluid (such as water and air). It
occurs mostly in liquids and gases because they are free to move around. Heat is transferred

upward and outward away from its heat source and cooler air is brought in to replace the rising
air. On a local scale convection in the summer can produce afternoon thunderstorms, but on a
global scale convection transfers energy from the equator toward the poles and back.
RADIATION
The final process of transferring heat around the planet is called radiation. The energy coming
from the Sun comes in various wavelengths. A wavelength is the distance measured along a wave
of energy from one crest to another; the shorter the wavelength, the higher the energy. The
energy received from the Sun passes through the atmosphere without warming it. But all objects
that absorb radiation from the sun radiate some of that energy back out in a weaker form of
energy called long wave radiation such as heat. All living objects (including humans) radiate
longwave radiation. The Earth itself radiates the energy absorbed from the Sun in the form of
longwave radiation which is sometimes called Earth light. If you were an astronaut wearing
infrared goggles, you would actually see the earth glowing from the radiating infrared radiation.
LATENT HEAT

Latent heat, also called a phase change, is a powerful force in weather. When water transforms
from gas to liquid or solid (or vise versa), it is called a phase change. The heat required to
change phases is called latent heat. In order for water to change from a liquid to a gas,
energy/heat must be taken from some external source such as the surrounding atmosphere.
Therefore, evaporation is a cooling process because the water is taking heat from the surrounding
air in order to evaporate. With the image above, visualize that everytime evaporation or
condensation occurs, there is a direct transfer of heat and energy.
The process of evaporation and condensation transfers large amounts of heat around the planet.
The heat released in a typical thunderstorm is equal to an atomic bomb. The heat/energy within a
hurricane is equal to 100,000 atomic bombs and could power the United States for over a year!

Elements of Weather
CONTROLS OF TEMPERATURE

There are several controlling factors that determine global temperatures. The first and most
significant is latitude. Because of the Earths shape the angle of the Sun hitting the planet,
temperatures are greatest near the equator and decrease toward the poles. In fact, at the equator
more energy is absorbed from the Sun than is radiated back into space. At the poles, more energy
is radiated back into space than is absorbed by the Sun. The purpose of weather and ocean
currents is to balance out these two extremes.

The next control of temperature is

the distribution of land and
water on the planet. Places near the
ocean tend to have milder climates
year-round versus regions
surrounded by land. This is because
the earth can heat up and cool
down faster and greater than the
ocean. The reason is because
sunlight must heat a larger volume
of area in the ocean because light
can pass through water. Water
requires 5 times more energy to
heat up than earth, called specific
heat. Thus, regions temperatures
located near large bodies of water
temperatures change slowly
compared to land. Ocean currents
are also vital controls in
transferring heat around the planet.
In the Northern Hemisphere, ocean
currents rotate clockwise bring cold
water from the North Pole toward
the equator and warm water from
the equator toward the North Pole.
The opposite occurs in the
Southern Hemisphere.

The last control of temperature is elevation. On average, the air decreases in temperature with
altitude about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit per 1000 feet, called the normal lapse rate or temperature
lapse rate. Using the Wasatch Front in Utah as an example, Example in Utah: elevation in Salt
Lake City is about 6,500 feet above sea level and the Wasatch Mountains elevations are about
10,000 feet above sea level. Thats a 3,500 feet rise in elevation. If it cools at 3.6 degrees
Fahrenheit per 1,000 feet, then the top of the mountains are about 12.6 degrees Fahrenheit cooler.

MOISTURE AND HUMIDITY

In order for liquid water to evaporate, water molecules must absorb enough energy to break
bonds between each other. In order to do this, the liquid water must absorb energy and heat from
the surrounding environment called latent heat. If the water vapor absorbs enough energy, they
will begin to vibrate fast enough to break their molecular bonds and become individual water
molecules or gas. Evaporation is a cooling process because it takes heat from the surrounding
environment. The concept of latent heat is really necessary and will come back later on cloud
formation and severe weather.
The opposite must occur in order for water vapor to condense into liquid water. In order for fast
vibrating water molecules to condense into liquid, it must release latent heat to the surrounding
environment. Releasing energy allows the water molecules to slow down their vibration and
attach to other water molecules to become liquid. But one step is missing. In order for water
vapor to become liquid, it needs something to condense onto condensation nuclei.
Condensation nuclei consist of microscopic dust, smoke, salt particles that float in the air and
recently bacteria. In fact, it is believed that bacteria make up nearly half of all condensation
nuclei. To summarize, in order for water vapor to condense into small liquid or ice cloud
droplets, condensation nuclei must be present.
Humidity is defined as the amount of water vapor in the
atmosphere. There are several ways to classify humidity, but for
this course we will focus on relative humidity. Relative humidity is
the ratio of the atmospheres actual water vapor content compared
to the amount of water vapor required for atmospheric saturation at
that temperature and is usually expressed as a percentage. If the
relative humidity is 25 percent, the atmosphere is only holding a
quarter of what it could contain. If relative humidity is at 100
percent, the atmosphere is saturated.

There are two ways to change relative humidity: moisture content and/or temperature. If the air
temperature, stays the same, but the amount of water vapor is increased or decreased, relative
humidity will change. Next, it should first be noted that warm air can hold more moisture than
cooler air. If the water content stays the same, but temperature increases, relative humidity will
decrease. If the water content stays the same, but the temperature decreases, relative humidity
will increase.
Relative humidity is just as the name implies; it is a relative measurement. A better direct
measurement and analysis of humidity is dew point; the atmospheric temperature air must cool
down to in order for it to condense into liquid water or solid ice crystals. So if the dew point is 42
degrees Fahrenheit for a particular geographic location at a particular time, then the current
temperature must fall to 42 degrees in order for the air to become saturated. The higher the dew
point reading, the less air must cool to become saturated. This means the air is quite humid. The
lower the dew point reading, the more air must cool to become saturated; thus the air is quite dry.
Dew point analysis is vital for weather forecasting in the summer to determine the likelihood of
afternoon thunderstorms. If the humidity is high, providing a high dew point measurement, then
afternoon convection does not require the unstable moisture to rise as high in order for
condensation and thunderstorms genesis occur. Plus recall that condensation from water vapor to
liquid water or ice crystals releases latent heat, a key ingredient for the formation of
thunderstorms.
There are two ways to change relative humidity: moisture content and/or temperature. If the air
temperature, stays the same, but the amount of water vapor is increased or decreased, relative
humidity will change. Next, it should first be noted that warm air can hold more moisture than
cooler air. If the water content stays the same, but temperature increases, relative humidity will
decrease. If the water content stays the same, but the temperature decreases, relative humidity
will increase.
Relative humidity is just as the name implies; it is a relative measurement. A better direct
measurement and analysis of humidity is dew point; the atmospheric temperature air must cool
down to in order for it to condense into liquid water or solid ice crystals. So if the dew point is 42

degrees Fahrenheit for a particular geographic location at a particular time, then the current
temperature must fall to 42 degrees in order for the air to become saturated. The higher the dew
point reading, the less air must cool to become saturated. This means the air is quite humid. The
lower the dew point reading, the more air must cool to become saturated; thus the air is quite dry.
Dew point analysis is vital for weather forecasting in the summer to determine the likelihood of
afternoon thunderstorms. If the humidity is high, providing a high dew point measurement, then
afternoon convection does not require the unstable moisture to rise as high in order for
condensation and thunderstorms genesis occur. Plus recall that condensation from water vapor to
liquid water or ice crystals releases latent heat, a key ingredient for the formation of
thunderstorms.
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE AND WIND
There are various elements that control weather: air pressure, atmospheric stability, Coriolis
effect, air masses, and weather fronts. Air pressure is a force created by the weight of the
atmosphere. Because of gravity, air pressure is greatest at sea level and decreases with height.
There is also high pressure and low pressure.
High pressure, also called an anticyclone, occurs when descending air molecules "pile up" at
the surface and spread outward in a clockwise rotation in the Northern Hemisphere
(counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere). Descending air warms, which prevents water
vapor to condense into clouds to produce storms. Instead, regions under high pressure tend to
experience clear skies. Low pressure, also called a cyclone, occurs when converging air is
forced upward (in a counterclockwise manner in the Northern Hemisphere) where it cools and
condenses into clouds and possible storms. Ultimately, air flows from high pressure to low
pressure and this is called wind.
If you have high pressure and low pressure, that means there is an imbalance between in air
pressure in the atmosphere. The force to balance these two pressure imbalances is called
the pressure gradient force, which creates wind. So wind is the horizontal movement of air
from high pressure to low pressure to balance atmospheric pressure.

Atmospheric Stability
In order to have cloud formation, the air must be unstable. Stable air means air does not want to
rise up, cool, and condense thus weather conditions tend to be clear skies. Unstable air means
the air wants to rise up, cool, and condense into clouds and potential storms. So why does air rise
to begin with?
Convection occurs when air rises much like a hot air balloon. Because of albedo, some areas on
the ground can get heated up more than other areas. Where the land heats up more, the air above
also warms, becomes less dense, and rises. If the air rises high enough, it may cool and condense

to create clouds and possible thunderstorms.

Orographic uplift occurs when air must rise over a mountain range. As the air rises over the
mountain, the moisture within it may begin to cool and condense to form thunderstorms. Often
times with orographic uplift, one side of the mountain will be very moist from the storms, while
the other side is very dry. The dry side of the mountain is called the rainshadow effect. Later we
will discuss how this process can generate what is called dry thunderstorms and wildfires.

Convection

Convergence occurs when air is forced to rise because of low pressure above causing the rising
air to cool and condense into clouds. One of the best examples of this is over Florida. Because
Florida is a peninsula (surrounded by water on three sides), the land heats up more and the
surrounding water. This causes the air above the land to rise. To replace this rising air cool, moist
air from the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean converges inward over Florida. Now this moist
air is heated by the land and is forced upward to create powerful thunderstorms. In fact, Florida
has more thunderstorms and lightning than any other state in the nation. Another good example
of convergence is the eye of a hurricane.
Finally weather fronts, such as cold fronts can force air to rise. A cold front occurs when a cold,
dense air mass is replacing a warm, lighter air mass. The cold air mass plows through forcing the
warmer air mass upward where is might cool and condense into clouds. But more on this in a
minute.

Orographic up

Convergence

Coriolis Effect

All free moving objects appear to be deflected to the right in the Northern
Hemisphere (and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere) because of the
rotation of the Earth. This apparent deflection is called the Coriolis
effect. Think of it this way. If you wanted to through a football from Salt
Lake City, Utah to Las Vegas, Nevada, you could not throw it from point
A to point B. Why? Because as the football is moving toward Las Vegas,
the Earth underneath is rotating. By the time the football gets to where
Las Vegas was when threw the football, the city that never sleeps has
moved off. Thus, if you want to throw a football from Salt Lake City to
Las Vegas you would need to grow it ahead of the city in hopes that the
football and Las Vegas meet up at the same time.

Both diagrams of the Coriolis effect w

licensed as Creat

Besides a football, what else is considered a "free moving" object. Free moving objects
include airplanes, ocean currents, clouds, wind, hurricanes, or anything else that is not
attached to the earth's surface. So how does this influence the atmosphere? As winds flow
from high to low pressure, it deflects to the right (in the Northern Hemisphere) because of
the earth's rotation. This deflection is nonexistent at the equator and progressively gets
stronger towards the poles. Because of this, hurricanes can only form 5-20 degrees north
or south of the equator. Near the equator, the water is warm enough but the Coriolis effect
is too weak to make the hurricane rotate. Beyond 20 degrees latitude, the Coriolis effect is
strong enough, but the waters are too cold.

Air Masses and Weather Fronts

An air mass is a large body of air covering a relatively wide area
and exhibiting horizontally uniform properties of moisture and
temperature. The homogeneous of air masses comes from
its source region. To create an air mass, the source region's surface
must be fairly flat and uniform in composition (i.e. oceans, deserts,
glaciers, etc.), but not a combination. If the air mass stays long
enough within the source region, it will begin to develop the
characteristics of that source region. An air mass is classified by
their temperature and moisture and are identified by using a "letter

code" system.
The first letter is always lower case and determines the moisture content
within the air mass.

m (maritime) and is moist

c (continental) and is dry

The second letter is always a capital and determines latitude.

E (equatorial) and is very warm

T (tropical) and is warm

P (polar) and is cold

A (arctic) and is very cold

A weather front is a transition zone between two air masses of different densities, temperatures
and/or moisture. When two air masses come into contact with each other, they do not like to mix
well because of their different densities - much like water and oil. Along a weather front, the
warmer, less dense air rises over the cooler, denser air to form clouds. There are several types of
weather fronts, but we will only focus on two: cold fronts and warm fronts.

Cold fronts are zones separating two distinct air masses, of which
the cooler, denser mass is advancing and replacing the warmer. The
colder, more dense air pushes under the warm air forcing the warm,
lighter air upward. If the warm air rising is unstable enough, large
thunderstorms are likely to occur. Cumulous and cumulonimbus
clouds are common. Warm fronts marks the boundary between a
warm air mass that is replacing a cooler air mass. When a warm air
mass advances over a cold air mass, the warm air rises over, but at

a more gentler rate than a cold front. Since the warm air does not
rise as fast as a cold front, more stratus clouds form and
precipitation is not as heavy.

Mid-latitude Cyclones
The polar front theory, also known as the Norwegian model, states that cyclones have a fairly
predictable, six-stage life cycle. We will focus on the northern hemisphere for this section. It all
begins along the polar front at 60-65 degrees north where two very different air masses with
different densities meet. Clockwise rotation along the polar high air mass (cold, dense air) and
the subtropical high air mass (warm, less dense air) causes air to flow parallel to each other along
the polar front but in opposite directions. Where these two contrasting air masses meet is called
a stationary front and cyclogenisis (formation of a mid-latitude cyclone) has begun.
The wind shear, caused by the air flowing parallel but in the opposite direction from each other,
creates a wave rotating counterclockwise along the polar front where warm subtropical air begins
to migrate northward and cold polar air migrates southward. In the center of this rotating wave
develops a low pressure rotating counterclockwise. The advancing boundary of the cold polar air
is a cold front and the boundary of the advancing warm subtropical air is a warm front.

Stage 1

By stage three the midlatitude cyclone has a defined warm front and cold front. Uplifting of air
begins to occur at this stage as the warmer, lighter, and moister air mass is forced to rise over the
colder, heavier, and drier air mass. A massive amount of latent heat is being released as water
vapor condenses to form clouds. This release of heat strengthens the low pressure (pressure drops
more) and the atmosphere becomes more unstable.
What would it be like as the midlatitude cyclone approached? If you were in front of an
advancing warm front, the air would be cool and stratus-type clouds would begin to develop. As
the front approached you, the stratus clouds would lower until nimbostratus clouds were
overhead.
Typically with warm fronts, the precipitation is light but may last a few days. Once the front
passed you, it would actually feel warmer - thus a warm front. If you were in front of an

Stage 2

advancing cold front, it would be warm at first with warm, southern winds blowing. Cumulustype clouds would also begin to develop and lower as the cold front approached. Once the cold
front is overhead, expect powerful cumulonimbus thunderstorms with the possibility of lightning
and thunder, hail, strong winds, and intense precipitation in the form of rain or snow. Once the
cold front has passed by, expect colder temperatures and winds from the north or northwest.

Stage 3

Stage 4

As the days move on, the cold front might begin to "catch up" to the warm
front and an occluded front forms. During this stage, the cold front forces the
rest of the warm air from the warm front into the upper atmosphere. So now
before the front passes the air is cool and afterward the air is cold. This is
when the storm is most intense, the pressure drops further, and the winds are
most intense (indicated by the isobars). But this also marks the end of the
midlatitude cyclones life cycle. Once the warm air is forced upward, there is
less latent heat thus less energy released into the storm. Remember that
weather fronts marks the boundary between two high pressure air masses. So
once the midlatitude cyclone moves off, high pressure tends to follow. The
results are clear skies, little wind, and pressure rising. NOTE: Make sure to
know how each of the weather fronts is drawn on a weather map.

St

Types of Precipitation
Rain is liquid water falling from nimbostratus or cumulonimbus clouds. Many times in the midlatitudes, precipitation will fall from clouds in the form of snow which melts on its way down
toward the ground.
Snow is precipitation in the form of ice crystals. The size, shape and concentration of snowflakes
depends on the temperature they form in. When temperatures are very cold, snowflakes tend to
be small to produce "powder". When the temperatures are warmer the snowflakes are larger.
Sleet is precipitation that falls as ice pellets. It occurs when precipitation falls from the base of a
cloud in the form of snow. As the snow falls, it enters a region of warm air and melts into rain.

But as the rain continues to fall, it enters a layer of cold air and refreezes in the form of ice
pellets.

Rain

Freezing rain (also called glaze) is similar to sleet except for the last step. As the rain falls, it
enters a layer of cold air. But the rain is not in this cold region long enough to freeze. Instead is
stays as supercooled raindrops. But once the supercooled raindrops reach the ground, they freeze
instantly on any object it touches.
Hail is precipitation in the form of hard pellets of ice and only forms in cumulonimbus clouds
where the lower region of the cloud contains liquid water and is above freezing, while the upper
region is below freezing. When an ice pellet falls within the cumulonimbus cloud, it enters the
warm, liquid region and picks up moisture. Then the updrafts through the ice pellet back up
above the freezing point hardening the newly gathered water. The ice pellet will fall again to
collect liquid water and thrown back up to refreeze. This process will continue until the weight of

Snow

the hail stone becomes to heavy for the updrafts to hold it up. Once the hail becomes too heavy,
the hail will precipitate from the cloud.

Freezing rain

One of the most interesting things that I think was involved with this chapter was
the Coriolis Effect. The Coriolis Effect explains how the direction of the wind changes
based on which hemisphere the wind is located. This is a result of the spinning of
the earth under the weather system. One of the most fascinating things I read
discovered was that cyclones and hurricanes literally spin opposite directions in the
northern and southern hemisphere. In the northern hemisphere they rotate counterclockwise and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. This concept is a little difficult
to understand at times, but very fascinating.

These are two different weather systems in the north and south. The one on the left
in the northern hemisphere is moving counterclockwise the one on the right moving
clockwise due to the Coriolis Effect. Because of the Coriolis effect, the wind flow
around a large cyclone is counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and
clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. Cyclonic circulation is sometimes referred to
as contra solem. In the Northern Hemisphere, the fastest winds relative to the
surface of the Earth therefore occur on the eastern side of a northward-moving
cyclone and on the northern side of a westward-moving one; the opposite occurs in
the Southern Hemisphere. (The wind flow around an anticyclone, on the other hand,
is clockwise in the northern hemisphere, and counterclockwise in the southern
hemisphere.)

This picture below helped me visualize what was going on with the winds and the
Coriolis Effect.

The photo below is one those photos that have always stuck in head because I have
never actually seen freezing rain and it can be extremely devastating. The thought
that this much rain could freeze in an almost hard shell on cars is absolutely crazy.
The damage that freezing rain does to the power grid is devastating because none
of the power lines can withstand the extra weight of the ice buildup.

Another effect of freezing rain is that it can just blanket roadways and can be next
to invisible when driving along. There have been many instances of upwards of a
dozen car wrecks in one small area. In this video from Columbus Ohio this exact
thing happened causing many people to crash on the interstate.
http://bit.ly/1FchMSp

Chapter 8: Severe Weather

The goals and objectives of this chapter are to:

Understand how thunderstorm genesis

Describe the types of thunderstorms

Explain the various types of severe weather hazards

Summarize the formation and hazards of tornadoes

Thunderstorm Genesis
THUNDERSTORM BASICS
A thunderstorm is defined as a storm that has lightning and thunder.
Worldwide there are over 40,000 thunderstorms everyday with the
United States alone having 100,000 thunderstorms yearly. The
essential ingredients for a thunderstorm are warm, moist, unstable
air that is forced to rise up either by convection, convergence,
orographic uplift, or weather fronts. The rising parcel of air
condenses into various types of cumulus clouds. The image on the
right from the National Weather Service (NWS) shows how many
days a year the region has thunderstorms.
THUNDERSTORM GENESIS
All thunderstorms go through a three-stage lifecycle. The first stage is called the cumulus stage,
where an air parcel is forced to rise, cool, and condense, called the lower condensation level, to
develop into a cumulus cloud. The process of water vapor condensing into liquid water releases
large quantities of latent heat, which makes the air within the cloud warmer, and unstable causing
the cloud continues to grow upward like a hot air balloon. These rising air parcels, called
updrafts, prevent precipitation from falling from the cloud. But once the precipitation becomes
too heavy for the updrafts to hold up, the moisture begins to fall creating downdrafts within the
cloud. The downdrafts also begin to pull cold, dry air from outside the cloud toward the ground
in a process called entrainment.
Once the precipitation begins to fall from the cloud, the storm has reached the mature stage.
During this stage, updrafts and downdrafts exist side-by-side and the cumulonimbus is called
a cell. If the updrafts reach the top of the troposphere, the cumulus cloud will begin to spread
outward creating a defined anvil. At the same time, the downdrafts spread within the cloud and
at first make the cloud become wider, but eventually overtaking the updrafts. Cool downdrafts
form when precipitation and the cool air from entrainment are dragged down to the lower regions
of a thunderstorm. It is also during the mature stage when the storm is most intense producing
strong, gusting winds, heavy precipitation, lightning, and possibly small hail.
Once the downdrafts overtake the updrafts, which also prevents the release of latent heat energy,

the thunderstorm will begin to weaken into the third and final stage, called the dissipating stage.
During this stage, light precipitation and downdrafts become the dominate feature within the
cloud as it weakens. In all, only twenty percent of the moisture within the cloud fell as
precipitation whereas the other eighty percent evaporates back into the atmosphere.

Types of Thunderstorms

AIR MASS THUNDERSTORMS

There is a variety of thunderstorms; all with defined characteristics. Air mass
thunderstorms, sometimes called ordinary thunderstorms, go through the defined lifecycle
sequence mentioned earlier. As the word implies, air mass thunderstorms occur when a warm,
moist (mT) mass of air from a source region such as the Gulf of Mexico migrates over land like
the Great Plains. But rather than a large-scale storm system forcing the mT air mass upward,
localized uplift such as convection, sea-breezes, or orographic uplift forces the moist air within
the air mass upward.

Most thunderstorms can also create other thunderstorms when downdrafts within a thunderstorm
slam the ground and spread outward in an arc-shape. These rippling waves are called outflow
boundaries or gust fronts because the cold air from the downdrafts acts like a mini-cold front.
These mini-cold fronts can force warm air upward to generate new thunderstorms with cumulus
development. If you were standing on this beach, you would be in the warm air mass, and the
gust front would be coming toward you along with the cold air from the downdrafts of the
thunderstorm many miles away. On average, ordinary thunderstorms last about an hour. But
ultimately, because of these outflow boundaries, you can have many thunderstorms in different
stages of development as one creates the other. These complex systems of thunderstorms can last
several hours and are usually called multi-cell thunderstorms.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
The Storm Prediction Center classifies a thunderstorm as severe if it has winds that exceed 58
miles per hour or produces hail with a diameter of 1.9 centimeters. Of the 100,000 thunderstorms
that develop within the United States experiences every year, about ten percent (10,000 storms)
become severe thunderstorms. These can include air mass thunderstorms, squall lines, dryline
thunderstorms, and supercells.
Severe thunderstorms go through the same stages as air mass thunderstorms, but with one
significant difference; severe thunderstorms last much longer in the mature stage. Ordinary
thunderstorms do not last much longer than an hour because the downdrafts begin to cut off the
updrafts. But severe thunderstorms have vertical wind shear at different levels that keep the
storm in the mature stage longer. This occurs when fast upper level winds - such as the jet stream
- causes the updrafts to be pull away from the downdrafts. This prevents the downdrafts from
cutting off the updrafts. Severe thunderstorms are capable of producing
beautiful mammatus clouds, heavy downpours, flash flooding, large hail, lightning, and straightline winds.

Squall lines are thunderstorms that develop linearly over hundreds of miles along the leading
edge of outflow boundaries and are called gust fronts. Though these massive storm systems are

quite powerful, they do not tend to produce tornadoes. Rather, straight-line winds and
precipitation form because of the powerful, horizontal movement of the gust front.
A squall line can also form along a boundary called a dryline. Recall from the discussion on midlatitude cyclones that the warm air in front of the cold front is usually a mT air mass. Well
sometimes a dry, warm cT air mass can penetrate between the mT air mass and cP air mass. Now
dry air is actually heavier than moist air, so when it infiltrates a storm system it can cause the mT
air mass to rise much like a cold front without the cold. The hallmark of a dryline is that the
moisture within the air dramatically drops following the boundary. Drylines have the ability to
produce severe thunderstorms that are often times more powerful than the cold front behind it.
Below is an image of a dryline that formed on March 23, 2008 at 4:00 PM. The dryline is the
brown/tan line with half-circles just in front of the cold front. This indicates a cT air mass from
Mexico was migrating into a cold front that gave Salt Lake City 2 inches of snow. The other
brown circle indicates the region for possible severe thunderstorms. There was also concerns of
possible tornadoes along the dryline. You can read the report by the Storm Predication Center by
clicking here.

SUPERCELLS
The most powerful type of thunderstorm is a supercell, which oddly enough is a single-cell
thunderstorm on steroids. The United States alone has anywhere from 2,000 to 3,000 supercells a
year. Supercells consist of a single powerful thunderstorm that can last several hours and grow to
a heigth of 65,000 feet and last several hours in the mature stage with winds reaching over 100
mph and form the majority of all tornadoes.
Just like severe thunderstorms, supercells may have upper-level winds which can pull the
updrafts away from the downdrafts. Wind shear between the upper-level, mid-level, and surface
winds can also cause the air beneath a forming supercell to rotate. For example, if you have
upper-level and mid-level winds flowing from the northwest and low-level, warm southern
surface winds converging together, a corkscrew flow of air could develop. This rotating column
of air then gets picked up by the thunderstorm's updrafts causing the entire storm to rotate
vertically called a mesocyclone. Now sometimes the rotating portion of the supercell - the
mesocyclone - can extend below the base of the thunderstorm creating a cloud feature
meteorologists called a wall cloud.

Severe Weather Hazards

LIGHTNING AND THUNDER

Lighting is how the atmosphere balances out the buildup of opposite electrical charges within a
cumulonimbus. The buildup occurs when charged atmospheric particles become segregated
between a cloud and the ground, between clouds, or from a cloud and surrounding atmosphere.
The reason for charged particle separation is unclear to scientists, but some believe that ice
crystals called graupel and supercooled raindrops interact with each other through collision
creating positive and negative charges that get separated within the cloud by updrafts and
downdrafts. Others believe that ice pellet formation within the cloud charges the particles. As an
ice pellet forms, the outer shell freezes first and becomes positively charged and the liquid inner
core is negatively charged. As the interior begins to freeze and expand, it breaks apart the
positively charged outer layers. These positively charged fragments are taken into the upper
regions of the cloud giving the top of the cloud a positive charge. The heavier liquid water has a
negative charge and are at the base of the cloud.

The image above from the National Weather Service is a map of lightning strikes, called flash
rates, annually around the world. Where are lightning strikes greatest? Where are they the
fewest? Can you explain why?

Once charged particles are separated, an electrical attraction exists between the negative and
positive charges (think of it like two magnets attracted to each other). The air between the
oppositely charged particles tries to keep them separated. But when the air can not keep the two
opposite charges separated any longer, the negative charges move towards the positive charge in
a zigzag manner called a stepped leader. As the stepped leader approaches the ground, the
positive charges on the surface will rise toward the steeped leader. It may rise up through trees,
buildings, or humans. When the steeped leader and the rising positively charged particles
connect, the negatively charged particles flow from the cloud to the ground. At the same time, an
electrical discharge called a return stroke, flows from the ground toward the cloud along the
same path as the stepped leader. The return stroke is the part you see as lightning. When you see
the lightning flicker, it is because this process is repeating itself along the same path.
Eighty percent of all lightning strikes occur cloud-to-cloud, but this
process mentioned above can occur with cloud-to-ground, cloud-tocloud, and cloud-to-air. Lightning is only a few centimeters thick,
but travels at 60,000 mph with a temperature of 54,000 degrees F

(five times hotter than the surface of the sun). Lightning causes the
surrounding air to become superheated, causing the air to expand
violently, creating a shockwave called thunder. To estimate how
far you are from lightning, count the number of seconds between
the flash of lightning and when you hear the thunder reach you,
then divide by five. But if the lightning strike is more than 12 miles
away, thunder won't be heard.
In the summer time, convection and/or orographic uplift can create dry thunderstorms. Dry
thunderstorms typically mean storms that have lightning, but little to no precipitation falling.
Often times this occurs when thunderstorms develop in dry atmospheric conditions. Because the
air is so dry, rising eddies of moisture must reach great heights before being able to condense.
This creates thunderstorms with very high cloud bases. Any precipitation that does fall in these
dry atmospheric conditions is likely to evaporate before reaching the ground. Thus these
thunderstorms can create lighting, which can cause ignite wildfires and the evaporating
precipitation can produce strong, dry winds that can "push" the fires around.
HAIL
Hail is precipitation in the form of ice pellets that only forms in
cumulonimbus clouds where the lower region of the cloud contains
liquid water and the upper region containing ice freezing. When an
ice pellet falls within the cumulonimbus cloud, it enters the warm,
liquid region and picks up moisture. Then the updrafts through the
ice pellet back up above the freezing point hardening the newly
gathered water. The ice pellet will fall again to collect liquid water
and thrown back up to refreeze. This process will continue until the
weight of the hail stone becomes too heavy for the updrafts to hold
it up. Once the hail becomes too heavy, the hail will precipitate on
the downdraft side of the cumulonimbus.
FLASH FLOODS
The number one weather related cause of death in the United States are flash floods. The
National Weather Service states that "flash floods are short-term events, occurring within 6 hours
of the causative event (heavy rain, dam break, levee failure, rapid, snowmelt and ice jams) and
often within 2 hours of the start of high intensity rainfall. A flash flood is characterized by a rapid
stream rise with depths of water that can reach well above the banks of the creek. Flash flood
damage and most fatalities tend to occur in areas immediately adjacent to a stream or arroyo.
Additionally, heavy rain falling on steep terrain can weaken soil and cause mud slides, damaging
homes, roads and property."
Urbanized areas are susceptible to flash floods because soil and vegetation are removed and
replaced by concrete, roads, and buildings. When intense precipitation occurs, the water has
nowhere to go. Learn more about flash floods from the National Weather Service.

DOWNBURSTS AND MICROBURSTS

One weather related hazard are downbursts and microbursts. Sometimes the moisture within
downdrafts falling from the thunderstorm evaporates as it enters dryer air below the cloud. As the
moisture evaporates, the air cools because of latent heat, causing the air to become denser. This
in turn causes the air to fall faster. As this denser air hits the ground, it spreads out laterally
producing cold winds reaching 100 miles per hour. Microbursts can uproot trees, damage
property, and are very dangerous for airplanes taking off or landing.
Winds, crosswinds, and microbursts are all major concerns for aviation pilots, especially when
you are traveling 200 mph and are only 100-500 feet from the ground below. Interestingly
enough, because of the world of technology, many of these near-crashes have been captured on
video from all around the world. Below is a video on some of the best landings ever done by
pilots fighting crosswinds and microbursts.

Tornadoes

One of the most violent and destructive forces of weather aretornadoes. The NWS states that "a
tornado is a violently rotating (usually counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere) column of
air descending from a thunderstorm and in contact with the ground."
In fact, it is pretty much an extension of a supercell's mesocyclone. They range in size from 300
feet to over two miles wide, last minutes to hours, travel a few miles to over 250 miles, at speeds
of 30-65 mph. About 75 percent of all the tornadoes in the world occur in the United States; in
fact the United States has more tornadoes than the rest of the world combined.
What makes tornadoes so destructive are the wind speeds within them. Atmospheric pressure
within a tornado can be 10 percent lower than the air surrounding the tornado, causing air to flow
into the tornado from all directions. As the air flows into and up a tornado, the moisture begins to
cool and condense into a cloud allowing the tornado to be seen. Debris picked up by the tornado
will also cause it to darken. National Geographic has a great interactive website on tornadoes
called Forces of Nature. I highly recommend that you check out this website!
TORNADO FORMATION
The anatomy and development of tornadoes is not fully understood,
but they do form from cold fronts, severe thunderstorms, squall
lines, supercells, and hurricanes. Geography also plays a key role in
determining where tornadoes can and can not form. The majority of
thunderstorms in the United States form in the Midwest,
called Tornado Alley, where cP air masses from Canada collide
with mT air from the Gulf of Mexico, creating unstable
atmospheric conditions. This wind shear creates a rotating
corkscrew column of air.
As the ground heats up through the day, updrafts pick up the rotating air into a portion of the
thunderstorm to developing what is called a rotating mesocyclone. The updrafts stretch and
tighten the now vertical column of air causing it to rotate faster much like an ice skater tightens
to spin faster. As the rotating updrafts rise, a rotating wall cloud begins to form from the base of
a mesocyclone. Sometimes a funnel cloud may begin to descend from the mesocyclone and may
even be called a tornado if it reaches the ground.
Since 1990, the United States have averaged 1,200 tornadoes reported every year. But the exact
number per year can vary. Because the contrast between cold polar air and warm subtropical air
is greatest in the spring and fall, the majority of tornadoes in the United States develop during
those seasons with April through June being the greatest.
TORNADO DESTRUCTION
The original way tornadoes were classified was based on a scale system developed by Dr. Fujita,
which became called the Fujita Intensity Scale or simply the F-scale. The Storm Prediction
Center states that the goal of the Fujita Intensity Scale was to "categorize each tornado by its
intensity and its area and estimate a wind speed associated with the damage caused by the
tornado." The scale ranged from weak F0s to rare and obliterating F5s.
In February 2007, a new classification system began called the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The
scale still ranges from 0-5 and is still an estimate of the tornado's wind speeds, but is an

enhancement from the former system because of the focus on "consistent assessment of damage,
which includes enhance descriptions of damage with examples and photos include not only
structures, but also vegetation base damage assignment on more than one structure, if available
develop a PC-based expert system develop training materials and data collection by maintaining
current tornado database surveys should include additional data mean and maximum damage
path width basis for damage assignment latitude/longitude of where the path began and ended
number of hours spent on the damage survey names of survey team member(s)."
Any tornado that formed as of February 2007 will have the EF classification, but all previous
tornadoes will maintain the old F-scale. The majority of deaths caused by a tornado are not
caused by wind, but by the flying debris. Sometimes a tornado will pass through a neighborhood
and destroy some houses while leaving others with little damage. Scientists have discovered that
some large, intense tornadoes might contain several smaller tornadoes within them called suction
vorticies that make up what are called multiple vortex tornadoes.
TORNADO FORECASTING
A lot of time, money and research has gone into understanding tornadoes in order to provide
better warnings to the public. When the atmospheric conditions are right, the Storm Prediction
Center (SPC), which is part of the National Weather Service, analyzes severe weather and posts
their forecasts to alert the pubic. If the conditions are right for a tornado to form, the SPC will
send out a tornado watch alerting the public of the possibility of a tornado in a given area within
a specific time. When a tornado has been cited, the National Weather Service will send a tornado
warning out. A tornado warning warns of a "high probability of imminent danger" to a specific
location.
Doppler radar has become vital in not only determining the location and intensity of
precipitation but in locating where mesocyclones and tornadoes may be forming. Doppler radar
can do this by monitoring the flow of wind toward or away from the tower, called the Doppler
effect. Click here to view an image of an EF5 tornado approaches the Doppler. Notice a hook
echo form in the red and begin rotating counter-clockwise, like most low pressure systems do in
the Northern Hemisphere. Weather satellites have also become instrumental in weather
forecasting and monitoring.
Ever since the movie Twister came out in 1996, there has been a lot of publicity and
entertainment with the idea of storm chasing. Discovery Channel had a popular television series
called Storm Chasers that ended in 2012. But there is a lot of science involved with storm
chasers and many are scientists seeking scientific data for better forecasting and warning
systems. The largest group of scientists who monitor tornadoes is called Vortex2, which is
funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA). For a series of storm chasing videos,click here.
This chapter was probably one of the most interesting chapters that I have read so
far. I think this is because tornados are the one of the most televised events that
we see throughout our lives. They are also one of the most foreign weather hazards
to me because I have never experienced this personally. I just remember watching
Twister as a kid and being completely in awe of their immense power.

This is a clip from the movie Twister that shows some of the real power of Tornados.
I think this is the movie that popularized or at least drew a lot of peoples interest
into tornados and especially storm chasing.

One of the things that was always so interesting is to how localized the damage
from tornados can be. Your neighbors house can be whipped of the face of the
earth and your house might have a few broken windows. As visualized by this
picture from Washington Illinois you can really see how this can happen by the
aerial photo of the town.

I also didnt realize that most of all the tornados in the world happen right here in
the United States. I was very surprised that we have more tornados than the rest of
the world combined. I was trying to rack my brain and literally couldnt think of a

news article about a single tornado anywhere else in the world, but this could just
be because we generally focus on national news.
This was very interesting to me because I feel like usually a lot of horrible natural
disasters happen in more poor areas with devastating effects, but with tornados it is
the opposite. They happen far more frequently in the affluent U.S. Even though we
are the richest country in the world, we can literally do almost nothing to prepare
ourselves for this devastating weather phenomenon. We can build a storm shelter to
keep ourselves safe, but your house may still be completely gone when you get out.

Lightning is also as very interesting weather effect that often comes along with
tornados. I have always been fascinated by thunderstorms. Once again I think this is
because of the lack of thunderstorms that occurred in northern California where I
grew up. Here in Utah they happen much more frequently, but still not that often. I
remember seeing lightning at one point when it was snowing and that was probably
one of the coolest things I remember seeing. This picture below shows the lightning
strikes across the globe, and I thought that the most interesting part was that it
occurs the most in Africa along the equator. I have not figured out why this is the
case, but I wonder if it has something to do with the equator, or just the warmer
weather that can bring in thunder storms.

I remember when I was in high school we had a huge thunderstorm roll through
northern California. I was at home and I was counting the seconds between the
lightning and thunder and it literally kept getting closer. The countdown went down
to one second, and then the next one shook the house and the lights turned out. It
was probably the most surreal experience that I have ever had with a thunderstorm
or lightning. I also realized how incredibly beautiful lightning can be when I looked
at some photos of lighting online. How people actually catch some of these pictures
of lightning is absolutely amazing.

In refection to everything I have learned in this chapter, I am once again in awe of

how powerful weather can be. We have gone over earthquakes and tsunamis and
now tornados and it blows my mind every chapter as to how immense they are, and
how vulnerable we are. For most of these things we have some warning, but it
doesnt really matter in the end because we are at the mercy of the earth and
everything it brings with it regardless of our technological advances.
The following poem was something that connected the destructive power to the
power of love and how chaotic it can be. It was to me very interesting because
forces of nature are unpredictable and can be destructive, but once again there is
nothing we can do to stop either of them.
Deneka Raquel
Jun 10, 2014
Tornado
Heartbreak, isn't as easy as it looks.
You took my heart,
Put it on hooks,
And butchered
Whatever remained.
Now it will never work the same.

Yet still I see your name

And that heart ache becomes,
A mobile destructive vortex
Of violently rotating winds
A funnel-shaped cloud
Attached to a large storm system.
Yes, heartbreak is like a tornado,
That spirals within me,
Each time I think of you,
Tearing and ripping,
And pulling me through.
Nothing could prepare me for this weather.
Yet I can't imagine anything better,
I prefer to face this tornado everyday,
It will,
Remind me,
Of you,
Forever.

Hurricanes
INTRODUCTION
Tropical cyclones are considered some of the most powerful weather systems on the planet
because of their size, strength, and potential loss to life and property. Tropical cyclones go by
different names depending on geography; in North and Central America they are
called hurricanes, in the northwestern portion of the Pacific Ocean near China and Japan they
are called typhoons, and in the Indian Ocean and Australia they are named cyclones. They all
have winds exceeding 74 mph, can be hundreds of miles wide, and tower over 40,000 feet above
sea level. The following is a video and photographs from National Geographic on hurricanes.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
The goals and objectives of this chapter are to:

Describe the internal anatomy of a hurricane.

Explain how an Atlantic hurricane forms and why

Describe the various hazards created by hurricanes

Analyze how modern technology is used by scientists to track and study hurricanes.

Anatomy of a Hurricane

Hurricanes are strange creatures because they are deadly monsters, yet have a gentle, but cold
heart. The anatomy of a hurricane is fairly simple, though the processes involved are quite
complex. As a low pressure disturbance forms, the warm, moist air rushes towards the low
pressure in order to rise upward to form towering thunderstorms. Around the low pressure
disturbance is a wall of clouds called an eye wall. Within the eye wall, the wind speeds are
greatest, the clouds are the tallest, atmospheric pressure is at its lowest, and precipitation is most
intense.
At the center or heart of the hurricane is called the eye. Within the eye of a hurricane, winds are
light, precipitation is minimal, and occasionally the skies above are clear. It is the calm region of
the tropical storm, but that is what makes it so dangerous. Many people tend to go outside as the
eye moves overhead because they believe the storm is over. But what some don't realize is that
"round two" is coming from behind.
Moving away from the eye wall are organized, intense thunderstorms, calledspiral rain bands,
that rotate around and toward the storm's eye wall. These rain bands are the first

Hurricane Eye

Hurricane Eye Wall

Development of a Hurricane
There are several requirements needed for a hurricane to form. First, hurricanes must form over
warm, moist oceans with surface temperatures that are at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit for at least
150 feet deep. This allows for water evaporate, causing the air to become warm and humid. The
atmosphere must also be warm and humid so that latent heat energy could be released as the
moisture condenses within a hurricane. The third ingredient is a low pressure disturbance, called
an easterly wave or tropical wave, is needed for air to converge toward and ascend to produce
powerful thunderstorms.
Once these storms form, most need to be 5-20 degrees north or south of the equator to develop
into a hurricane. If the tropical storm forms between 0-5 degrees north or south, the Coriolis
effect is not strong enough to cause the storm to organize into a system and rotate. If the storm
forms too far north or south, the water is too cold to develop into a hurricane. Finally, in order for
a hurricane to form in the Atlantic Ocean, there must be little to no wind shear. If the jet stream is
too low and blowing eastward while the trade winds are blowing westward, the wind shear will
tear apart the forming cyclone before it can strengthen into a hurricane. In fact, most hurricanes
form under large regions of high pressure within the Atlantic Ocean. Recall that high pressure
tends to have clear skies and mild winds.
Now there are five basic stages a hurricane goes through. The first stage goes back to the low
pressure disturbance or easterly wave. Where easterly waves develop is currently being debated,
but it is believe that they form either off the west coast of Africa near the Canary Islands or in
eastern Africa near Ethiopia. At this stage warm, moist air begins to rise within the low pressure
disturbance releasing vast amounts of latent heat, because of condensation, causing the storm to
intensify. If the easterly wave forms under the right conditions, the Coriolis effect may allow the
thunderstorms to organize and rotate and it becomes a tropical depression. If the tropical storm
continues to organize and strengthen with sustained winds between 39-73 mph, the storm is
upgraded to a tropical storm and given a name by the National Hurricane Center. If intense
rotation continues, the storm grows with winds reaching 74 mph or greater, it becomes
a hurricane.

An atmospheric event that can limit hurricane development occurs in the Pacific Ocean called El
Nino. During an El Nino, the jet stream over the eastern United States migrates into lower
latitudes. This upper wind shear caused by the jet stream moving eastward and the trade winds
moving westward tends to tear apart hurricanes before they can form.
Another phenomenon that can deduce or eliminate hurricane development aredust storms coming
off the coast of the Sahara Desert and into the Atlantic Ocean. In the summer of 2006, following
the record activity of 2005 with Hurricane Katrina, the Sahara Desert in Africa had several
sandstorms coming off into the Atlantic Ocean. Now recall two things: hurricanes originate near
Africa and the Atlantic Ocean must be over 80 degrees Fahrenheit for them to form. Well it is
believed that the sandstorms blocked the sun over the eastern Atlantic, which ultimately cooled
the ocean just enough to hinder hurricane genesis.

Hazards of Hurricanes

CLASSIFYING HURRICANES
The Saffir-Simpson Scale was created to determine the strength and intensity of hurricanes. Just
like the Fujita scale, it ranges from 1-5 with category five being the strongest. The intensity of a
hurricane increases as the atmospheric pressure near the eye decreases and the pressure-gradient
force becomes steeper (atmospheric pressure decreases rapidly towards the eye), causing the
winds to intensify, resulting in the potential for more damage.
STORM SURGE
Storm surges, defined as a rise of ocean levels along a coastal area because of atmospheric low
pressure within a tropical cyclone, are the most dangerous hazard created by a tropical cyclone.
They are blamed for 90 percent of all deaths and property damage. The height of a storm surge is
dependent on the strength of winds, which is dependent on the low pressure near the eye. The
low pressure does not "pull up" ocean water to create a storm surge; instead the wind blowing
towards the low pressure causes the water underneath to pile up near the hurricane's eye.
As it approaches shore, the piling causes the sea level to rise and flood the area near the eye and
eye wall. Storm surges are most damaging when the atmospheric pressure decrease, if the
continental shelf rises slowly as it approaches shore, or if the storm surge arrives during high
tide. The storm surge is also highest on the right side of the eye as winds blow toward shore in a
counter-clockwise rotation. New Orleans was actually struck on the left side of the storm surge,
so they did not receive the highest portion of the surge.
WIND DAMAGE AND INLAND FLOODING

Another hazard created by hurricanes is property damage caused by winds. Though property
such as mobile homes is obvious, tall buildings are also susceptible to wind damage. People in
tall buildings should get below the tenth floor because of powerful winds, but should stay above
the main floor in case of flooding. Hurricanes also produce tornadoes. It is believed that
hurricanes Charley, Frances, Gaston, and Ivan that struck Florida in 2004 produced nearly 300
tornadoes!
Flooding, besides storm surges, are also a dangerous component of hurricanes. The 2004
hurricane season killed over 3,000. The majority of the deaths occurred in Haiti from flash floods
and mudslides caused by the heavy precipitation. Category 5 Hurricane Mitch in 1998 killed
over 18,000 people, most in Central America, dropping nearly three feet of rain causing massive
flooding and mudslides.

Hurricane Forecasting
The governmental agency that analyzes and monitors hurricanes
is NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Most hurricanes move
westward as they approach North and Central America, then veer
northeast. The reason is fairly simple. At around 30 degrees north,
there is a subtropical high called the Bermuda High. As tropical
storm systems move across the Atlantic Ocean, they are pushed
westward from the underside of the subtropical high's clockwise
rotation (a.k.a. the trade winds). As tropical storms move
northward, the subtropical high's clockwise rotation (a.k.a. the
westerly winds) push the storms northwestward into colder water.
SATELLITE IMAGERY
Nothing has helped advanced the understanding and analysis of hurricanes as much
as meteorological satellites. The reason is obvious but important to note. Oceans are so vast that
it is impossible to know where all the hurricanes (and potential hurricanes) are. Weather
satellites allow scientists to see the development and structure of these tropical systems before
they develop into hurricanes, along with their current conditions and their looming doom. Many
of these include NOAA's GOESprogram and NASA's MODIS satellite system. Until recently,
satellites didn't have the technological ability to collect data and "see" within these systems; that
was until NASA launched the Tropical Rainfall Monitoring Mission (TRMM), which allows
scientists to "see" what is going on within hurricanes. Here's another short video from NASA.

AIRCRAFT RECONNAISSANCE AND DROPSONDES

As a hurricane nears shore, scientists, called hurricane hunters, will fly specially equipped
aircraft into the storm. The instruments within these aircraft give atmospheric scientist a better
understanding of the inside of a hurricane. They also drop special instruments
called dropsondes into the hurricane. Using a parachute, the dropsonde descends through the
hurricane and collects atmospheric data such as temperature, pressure, winds, and humidity
every half-second. On board Global Positioning Systems (GPS) instrument on the dropsonde
gives scientists the location of the instruments as it falls through the hurricane.

RADAR AND SEA BUOYS

As the hurricane nears land, Doppler radar can scan the skies to collect directionally and
intensity data about the approaching storm system including wind speeds and direction, rainfall
intensity, and storm movement. This allows the NWS to give warnings of possible flooding,
tornadoes, and/or possible wind damage. The problem with Doppler radar is that they are only
good at collecting data 200 miles from the shore or closer. They can not be used to analyze
atmospheric data in the deep open ocean where most hurricanes form. There are also several
ocean buoys that float at fixed locations in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Ocean buoys
transmit constant data of ocean conditions year round.
HURRICANE WATCHES AND WARNINGS
Using data collected from satellites, aircraft, dropsondes, Doppler radar, and ocean buoys, the
National Hurricane Center can issue hurricane watches and warnings. A hurricane watch is
issued when a hurricane poses a threat to a particular area within 35 hours. A hurricane
warning is issued hurricane force winds (74 mph) are expected for a specific region within 24

hours. There are two important factors that need to be determined before a hurricane watch or
warning is issued. The watch or warning must used to first save lives followed by property.
Second, the watches and warnings should not be overused. The threat must be immanent, or it
becomes the "cry wolf" syndrome. Technology and information have greatly reduced the
evacuation zone from a 1,000 mile radius to around 150 mile radius. There is no need to evacuate
people who are safe.
NAMING HURRICANES
Before 1953, all hurricanes were named after the location they hit. An example is the Galveston
Hurricane that struck Galveston, Texas in 1900. From 1953 to 1977, all hurricanes were named
after females. Obviously this was very sexist. So in 1978, hurricanes were given male and female
names alphabetically. Today, hurricane names are not just male or female; they are multicultural.
The storm name before Katrina was Jose. After Katrina, the next storm was named Lee. If a
storm causes enough damage, their names are "retired". There will never be an Atlantic hurricane
named Hugo, Andrew, Mitch, Katrina, etc.

Future of Hurricanes

Scientists have discovered that there are hurricane cycles that fluctuate between 30 years of
increased hurricane activity followed by 30 years of less hurricane activity. Since the early
1990s, hurricanes have been in an active 30 year cycle. In that time, the United States has
experienced monsters such as Hugo, Andrew, Isabel, Floyd, Katrina, Rita, and Ike. So we should
expect to experience more hurricanes for another 10-15 years. Now add to the fact that over 50
million Americans live in hurricane prone regions, the experience of Hurricane Katrina may not
be an isolated event. Click here for an animation from NASA about the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane
Season. Theres been a lot of discussions between anthropogenic climate change and hurricanes
lately. How can global warming cause hurricanes? Scientists believe anthropogenic climate
change, also known commonly as global warming, is causing the planet to warm up. A warmer
planet will mean a warmer ocean; this in term means more evaporation and more moisture in the
atmosphere that can condense within a developing tropical cyclone, releasing the latent heat
energy, and energize hurricanes. So ultimately, scientists do not believe that global warming will
create more hurricanes, but that they may become more intense and creating more Category 4
and 5 storms.

Hurricane Katrina
The hurricane season of 2005 was no ordinary season; the Atlantic Ocean experienced more
hurricanes then ever recorded. There were so many hurricanes during the 2005 season that the
National Hurricane Center ran through the entire alphabet of storm names for 2005 and had to
start naming hurricanes using the Greek alphabet (i.e. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, and
Zeta.)
Hurricane Katrina was not the only hurricane that made the history books that year. Hurricane
Rita followed Katrina in September becoming the third category 5 hurricane that season and
became the fourth most intense Atlantic hurricane in history. It just missed hitting Houston,
Texas and instead hit the Texas-Louisiana border, but still caused $11.3 billion in damage and
directly killed 7 people. In October 2005, Hurricane Wilma formed and became the most
powerful hurricane in the Atlantic ever recorded. It struck land several times including the
Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, Cuba, and Florida. It is blamed for killing at least 63 people and
costing $28.8 billion in damage making it the third costliest storm in United State history.
Hurricane Katrina struck Florida and Louisiana in August of 2005. That was nearly a decade ago,
so why is this catastrophic disaster still important to analyze today?
Hurricane Katrina began as a tropical disturbance off the coast of
Africa in August 2005. The disturbance began to develop and
strengthened to a tropical depression, then a tropical storm, then
into a Category 1 hurricane on August 23, 2005 off the coast of
Florida. Hurricane Katrina quickly moved across Florida, killing a
few people and entered into the Gulf of Mexico. For a few days,
Hurricane Katrina stayed in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico
where is strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane with 175 mph
winds.By the time it hit New Orleans and Mississippi on August
29, 2005 it had weakened into a Category 3 hurricane. The
following videos from National Geographic look at how Hurricane
Katrina formed, and it's day-by-day progression to New Orleans.

It is believed that 50,000 - 100,000 people stayed in New Orleans to "ride out the storm." Over
10,000 stayed in the Super Dome, home of the New Orleans NFL team, and another 10,000
stayed in the Convention Center. In the end, the storm killed at least 1,580 people and cost $230
billion in damage. At least one million people became homeless, and another five million were
without power with a heat index of 105 degrees Fahrenheit.The storm took everything from
everyone. Ten's of thousands were left without food, water, or shelter. At first, small scale looting
began to occur because people needed supplies and the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) had not arrived. In fact, it took 5-7 days before FEMA arrived in some areas. A
72-hour kit was not long enough! But the looting became worse. People began to break into
stores to steal clothing, shoes, iPods, and computers. Some even broke into stores to steal guns in
order to break into other stores. The looting got so bad and dangerous that the mayor asked the
National Guard to stop looking for survivors and stop the looters.

HISTORY OF THE LEVEES

if the storm was only a category 3 when it hit New Orleans, why did so many die? In order to
understand why so many died, you need to understand why the levees were built. New Orleans
was settled because it gave the settlers total control of the Mississippi River system. They
controlled who could enter or leave the river system, which gave them political power and
influence over much of the mid-western United States. The soil created by the Mississippi River
flooding allowed for productive agriculture, but as the city grew land became scarce and people
started building closer to the river. This required building the levee system to prevent the
Mississippi River from flooding onto the growing civilization. But the levees created another
problem; the city was no longer being built up by the sediment deposited from the seasonal
floods and the area of New Orleans began to subside. So where did all the sediment go? The
image above is a satellite image of the Mississippi Delta as it enters the Gulf of Mexico. Deltas
are a natural phenomenon as rivers enter large bodies of water, but the Mississippi Delta is much
larger than it should be. Today, New Orleans ranges from 4 - 12 feet below sea level.

WHY THE LEVEES BROKE

Meteorological records dating back to the 1700s show that a major hurricane has hit the area
every 50 years. The last major hurricane was Hurricane Camille in 1965. By the time Hurricane
Katrina hit, many of the levees in New Orleans were either too old or built poorly. For a long
time, scientists and engineers had warned that the levees would only withstand a category 3
hurricane and accompanying storm surge. In fact, the year before Hurricane Katrina, New
Orleans had completed a mock scenario of what would happen if a category 5 hurricane hit the
area directly.
There are several reasons why the levees broke. Some of them broke because the re-bar holding
the walls up were too small or weak for the surge of water coming through, and the levees
collapsed. Others fell because the 15-25 foot storm surge over topped the levees. As the water
rushed over the levees, the water eroded the loose sediment at the base causing the levees to fall
over. The satellite image on the right from NASA shows where the levees broke and engulfed the
city.
The third way was that the pressure within the levees was so high that the water actually pushed

the walls away. See the image on the right from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. One common
occurrence with all the levee failures were the levees would break on one side and hold on the
other. This would cause property on one side to by flooded - up to 20 feet high of water - while
leaving the other side completely dry.
When the levees broke, 80 percent of New Orleans was under water with some areas as high as
20 feet. It became an environmental catastrophe because the city became a stagnant lake of
debris, chemical spills, sewage, and dead bodies. Many were concerned for the health of the
rescue workers because of the toxicity of the water. The image below from NASA shows the
scale of the flooding caused by the storm surge coming up the Mississippi River and Katrina's
eye "picking up" a portion of Lake Pontchartrain and dumping it on the backside of New
Orleans.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
Not only were there concerns about the water quality immediately after the disaster, but there
was also concerns about the long term health of the regions ecological systems. The concerns
centered on what affect the toxic water had on marine organisms such as the flora (plants) and
fauna (animals), along with the health of the wetlands.
Of great concern following the disaster were the wetlands. For a long time in United States
history, our country looked at wetlands as "wastelands". Yet the biodiversity within wetlands are
vast and full with life. The Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) states that wetlands are like
"nurseries of life" supporting an enormous variety of aquatic and terrestrial plants and animals.
There are also other benefits to wetlands: they filter and clean our rivers, lakes, and estuaries and
also weaken the strength of storm surges. Because society is now realizing the importance of
wetlands to biological diversity, water quality, and storm surge protection, there is a movement to
protect the remaining wetlands in the nation. Currently, the United States is losing 60,000 acres
of wetlands a year. After Hurricane Katrina, NOAA and the Louisiana Department of Natural
Resources developed the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, & Restoration Act to develop,
and restore vast areas of Louisiana's coastal wetlands for future storm surge protection.

WHO WAS MOST AFFECTED?

So the question is still, "why did so many stay behind"? Part of the problem was the "cry wolf"
syndrome. For decades, New Orleans has been told that if a hurricane struck the area the city
would drown. Many documentaries on hurricanes discuss that New Orleans would be the worse
case scenario. But for the last fifty years, whenever a hurricane came near and people were told
to evacuate, the storm would always veer off missing the city. So after a while, people decided
that the odds of getting struck by a hurricane were small. But that is only part of the story.
Following the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, many social scientists examined the demographics
and social implications caused by the hurricane. What they discovered was that the majority of
those affected were either low income, minority, the young and elder, and/or the sick. The
demographics is simple, nearly 27 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty. Poverty is a state in
which a familys income is too low to be able to buy the quantities of food, shelter, and clothing
that are deemed necessary. In the United States, more people live in poverty than in any other
industrialized nation in the world. Bringing it home to Utah, the Utah Food Bank is one of the
highest used food banks in the country.
There are numerous reasons why poverty occurs: some say the economic system favors the rich;
others say low income individuals lack the ability to get job training in an ever changing world
economy; many say that the jobs low income workers currently have are moving overseas
because of globalization. Can you think of any others? All of these are true to some level along
with many others. But that is for a social science class to discuss. The affects are that many of
those living in poverty live in densely populated areas where middle and upper class Americans
do not want to live.
The Ninth Ward of New Orleans was one of the areas most affected
by the disaster. The poverty rate in the Ninth Ward was 36.4
percent. One quarter of the people made less than $10,000 and less
than half the population made $20,000. The community was near a
levee and about four feet below sea level before the storm; after the
storm the levees broke and the area was flooded with 20 feet of
water. Many here could not leave because they lacked
transportation. Others could not leave because they had nowhere to
go. You must ask yourself the question, "If I only made $10,000 a
year, where would I go if I had to evacuate?" You can't afford a car,
a hotel, and maybe you don't have family to go to. So where do you
go? To see more images of the Ninth Ward following Hurricane
Katrina, click here.
Hurricanes are one of the most scary and destructive of all the natural disasters that
can occur. They have so much power and can effect such a vast area. They can
winds upward of 300 mph, and they are very fast moving storm systems that can be
on your doorstep within a day. They bring in storm surges that can flood entire
cities. They have captivated the entire the entire United States in the media for
decades. The most recent being hurricane Katrina which devastated the entire gulf

coast. Hurricane Katrina was also one of the most controversial hurricanes because
of the complete lack of national emergency help.
There have been faster relief efforts to the other side of the world by the U.S. than
was seen for hurricane Katrina. A lot of people think it is because of the socioeconomic area that it affected. It was mostly poorer areas that were effected and
therefor the relief effort was slowed because the richest neighborhoods were largely
unaffected. Im not sure if this is true or not, but it definitely doesnt reflect well on
the growing gap between rich and poor and their lack of empathy for the lower
class.

I have a lot of sympathy for all of these people that have been effected by the
hurricane, but we also have to think about the planning of where this city was
located. The only reason that New Orleans exists is because of levies that hold back
the ocean. A lot of the city is in an area that is below sea level. This is a huge
problem already, and on top of that to be located in an area where hurricanes are
prominent is absolutely ridiculous. Below is a photo of a parish in New Orleans that
saw some of the worst flooding both from the storm surges and the hurricane
afterward.

This photo below was a really powerful image for me because you often dont see
death in the media. We all want to see the aftermath on TV but no one wants to see
the actual death that it comes with. People almost dont want to because they
would then have to do something about it and have empathy. I think that if there
was more of this in mainstream media than people would demand the government
do more to help these people. Once again the media is owned solely by very rich

and very large corporations that are run by very wealthy people that dont want to
do any more than they have to. If the people demanded more form the government
than the government would have to generate more money to do so, and in my
opinion that would entail taxing corporations. I feel like all of these issues between
socioeconomics are all connected and the rich are distancing themselves further
and further away, both monetarily and also emotionally.

Most of the people affected in the hurricane were people that were very poor and
had nothing to help them and no way or recovering from a disaster like this. These
poor people had nowhere to go, they lost everything. When they looked to the
government for help, the government just basically turned their backs. A lot of
these people were not only poor, but were also of other races.

Here is a poem that reflects back on hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. I like
ending with a poem, because it really puts word to a horrible situation that can
make a horrible disaster possibly beautiful, or at the same time just describe it in a
way the people can understand in a different light.
Once upon a gloomy day in New Orleans,
Evacuate! Evacuate! was the urgent cry,
But many residents did not heed the warning,
And merely responded with a sigh.
Hurricane Katrina approaches The Crescent City
With powerful, whirling winds creating huge waves,
Towering cloud masses producing heavy rain,
The fury of the hurricane resorting to destructive ways.
Years ago, levees were built to protect the city
To hold back the rising water of Lake Pontchartrain.
Then people marveled and felt secure
If a hurricane brought a deluge of rain.
Wait - Slowly at last comes the dawn
Waking up the inundated earth,
Filling hearts with helplessness and despair,
And forgetting about the hurricane's birth.
A brilliant sun hovers over the horror- struck city
With survivors clinging desperately to rooftops in fear.
Energetic workers and rescue helicopters appear,
The stench and putrid water difficult to bear.
As people and time cross the bayou,
And hurricane victims' search for a new road,

The festivities of the Mardi Gras wait on the wing.

Surely - New Orleans will rise again as foretold.
Joseph T. Renaldi