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?

>252mk/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 and wind

How does a tropical storm form?

• tropical storms begin when thunderstorms move over tropical ocean water

• oceans at least 27C warm the air above it

• warm, moist air starts to rise

• because air is evaporating, less air near surface and causes an area of low air pressure

• surrounding air rapidly moves into low pressure area to fill space, causing wind speeds to increase

• as air rises and cools, water in air forms clouds

• whole system of clouds and wind spins due to trade winds and Earth’s rotation (Coriolis effect)

• as storm moves over ocean, 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