Tropical Storms

natural hazard

a natural event that threatens people or has the potential to cause damage, destruction and death.

Windspeed in category 5 tropical storm is?

>252km/h

Windspeed in category 4 tropical storm is?

209-251km/h

Windspeed in category 3 tropical storm is?

178-208km/h

Windspeed in category 2 tropical storm is?

154-177km/h

Windspeed in category 1 tropical storm is?

119-153km/h

eye

the calmest part of the hurricane which can be as wide as 50 miles

eye wall

precipitation and wind is greatest here and can be 5-30 miles wide

rain band

series of dense clouds that spiral around the eye - producing bursts of heavy rainfall

How does a tropical storm form?

1. Oceans at least 27C warm the air above it and this air starts to rise.

2. Since air is evaporating, less air is near surface and causes an area of low air pressure.

3. Surrounding air rapidly moves into the low pressure area to fill space, causing wind speeds to increase.

4. As air rises and cools, water in air forms clouds.

5. Whole system of clouds and wind spins due to trade winds and Earth’s rotation (Coriolis effect).

6. As storm moves over ocean, it picks up more warm moist air and grows - speeds of its winds increases as more air sucked in

tropical storm

a very powerful low-pressure weather system

What are the 3Ps to reduce the effects of tropical storms?

Planning, prediction, protection