Hurricanes Lab
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Hurricanes Lab
Parts of this lab were compiled Harper College, Dept. Geography
Hurricanes are severe storms that originate in tropical latitudes and can have different names, depending on where they occur. They are known as hurricanes in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, or the Northeast Pacific Ocean. But tropical storms are known as typhoons, tropical cyclones or baguios in other parts of the world. All are different names for the same kind of tropical storm. Hurricanes have seasons where they become more likely to occur, for example in the Atlantic and the Northeast Pacific, the months of August and September are the peak hurricane months. But typhoons occur throughout the year in the Northwest Pacific and in the North Indian Ocean, tropical cyclones are present in May and November. The direction a hurricane takes is of great concern- these paths are usually defined by global wind sys-
tems. A hurricane in the Northern Hemisphere usually travels east to west, supported trade winds. But westerly winds can influence cyclones as they drift away from the tropics. All hurricanes eventually move toward higher latitudes where conditions aren’t as favorable for sustaining the cyclone as a tropi-
cally sourced cyclone. The ultimate energy source for hurricanes is the warmth of tropical oceans. The warm waters evaporate and then the latent heat of a phase change in water vapor is the fuel that powers hurricane heat engines. If the storm is cut off from the ocean and its warm water resource, it will begin to break down and eventually fall apart into a different set of storms upon landfall. It can even break up
and become a midlatitude cyclone with the westerly winds or jet stream later on. A hurricane’s intensity is a measure of a hurricane’s sustained wind speed and the corresponding expected damage. The Saffir-Simpson Scale looks to identify the intensity of tropical storms. Significant Past Tropical Cyclones
Note the following questions use this link: https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/archive
Go to this website and answer the questions below.
1. Which year resulted in the most total deaths from Atlantic Ocean tropical cyclones in recorded history? How many hurricanes were measured that year?
2. Which year from 2000-2018 has had the most hurricanes? How much damage was recorded (in millions USD) during that year?
3. From 2000-2018, how many hurricanes had the storm name retired?
Use the following link (
http://arcg.is/0j5Cnm
) to answer the following questions:
4. According to the map, the deadliest hurricane to strike the United States was when and where? (Hint:
click on the numbers at the top to scroll between hurricanes.)
5. Which hurricane caused extensive damage to the mid-Atlantic states in 2012? Where did that damage actually occur? 6. What was the maximum reported sustained wind speed reported for Hurricane Katrina? Where did that max wind speed occur? (
Hint:
note and click on the dot symbols along the hurricane track)
7. Which US states intersected Hurricane Katrina’s track? List the states.
Current Hurricanes Use the following link to answer the following questions:
https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane
8. Note all Basin Activity for the global oceans- (if no storms are present at the date of investigation- state no storms were present.) How many hurricanes, tropical storms and depressions are developing? Where are these storms located (which ocean basin)?
9. Use the following link to answer the following questions: https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/record-breaking-atlantic-hurricane-season-draws-to-end
2020 was a major year for Atlantic Basin Hurricanes- a record this year occurred- with 30 named storms. This year was one of the most active on record for total hurricanes.
a) What does the article suggest as the reason for this very active hurricane season?
b) How many hurricanes and major hurricanes occurred? c) How many years has this consecutively been with above normal season conditions?
10. Use the following link to answer the following questions:
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/index.php?season=2020
Go to National Hurricane Center link for the index on all 2020 Tropical Cyclones. Note one of the Hurricanes (pick any you'd like but not the first one you see please.), click on the PDF next to the name
of the Hurricane. In this document scroll down until you see the map of the path of the storm (Hint: the map is usually in the Figures section of the document, or somewhere in the mid-to-late sections of the document- some are over 50 pages in). Describe the path of this hurricane- note where it starts approximately and where it makes landfall. Note if it made landfall as a hurricane or tropical storm/depression, or did it not make landfall at all? Note minimum pressure indicated on the track- what was this pressure of the cyclone?
Path:
Landfall:
Pressure
Hurricane Categorization
Hurricanes are measured by wind speed using the Saffir-Simpson Scale. This scale is based on measurements of sustained wind speed; it categorizes hurricanes from 1 (low intensity) to 5 (major intensity). Note the following link to help you answer the questions below: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php
11. If a storm has a wind speed of 122 mph, what is the wind speed in km/h and knots? (Note: 1 km/h =
0.621 mph. 1 km/hr. = 0.540 knots)
12. Where would this storm rate on the Saffir-Simpson Scale?
13. What kind of damage is expected from this type of storm? (Hint: note the weblink above)
Case Study: Hurricane Maria
In this section you will study the meteorological characteristics and impacts of Hurricane Maria, a major hurricane that devastated Puerto Rico after making landfall on Wednesday September 20
th
2017. The characteristics of the hurricane will be analyzed using an interactive online GIS (Geographic Information Systems) map. (
Note:
you will need a web browser on a computer, laptop, or tablet device
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to fully visualize this map)
Go to https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2017/MARIA_graphics.php?product=3day_cone_no_line
-Instructions; first click "Stop", use the < button to go to the first advisory, then use the < and > to for-
ward or reverse the hurricane's movement for each advisory given. You will be asked to select the Wind Speed Probabilities at 74mph tab at the top for one of the questions later on, apply the buttons of forward and backwards the same way.
Questions:
Starting at the first Advisory #1. See image above- your map should look like this. Note Advisory 1 is listed on the bottom left corner, it says “Potential Tropical Cyclone Fifteen”, below that is the date and Advisory 1. Study the map legend and familiarize yourself the with the symbols used to convey meteorological information on this map. The following letters in the legend stand for:
D: Depression
S: Storm
H: Hurricane
M: Major Hurricane
14. When was Advisory #1 issued? Provide the date & time.
15. Which islands were under a Tropical Storm Watch when this 1
st
advisory was issued? (Hint: Refer to the map below to help you ID islands).
16. What is the forecasted wind speed over each territory that you listed above? What is the associated Saffir-Simpson category number, if applicable? List each location separately as best you can and provide this information. 17. Move forward to “Advisory 16”. When was Advisory#16 issued? Provide the date & time. Which islands had Hurricane warnings at the time of this advisory?
18. What was the reported wind speed and it’s associated Saffir-Simpson scale category, if applicable?
19. Move forward to “Advisory 17”. When was Advisory#17 issued? Provide the date & time. What was the reported wind speed and it’s associated Saffir-Simpson scale category, if applicable?
20. Move forward to “Advisory 18 and 19” What was the difference (mph) between the wind speed in #18 and #19? Explain this difference. (Hint? Use your knowledge of the hurricane lifecycle and anatomy to explain why a hurricane strengthens or weakens. You need to remember the source of energy for tropical storms).
21. Click on the Wind Speed Probabilities at 64kt (74mph) tab. Using the legend what was the probability of hurricane force wind speeds over Puerto Rico during Advisory 1 (Sep 16)? At which advisory did Hurricane Maria form, and what was the probability of the hurricane force winds for Puerto Rico at the time of that advisory?
22. Over how many days were advisories issued for this storm in total?
23. Use the following link https://coast.noaa.gov/hurricanes/
to answer the questions below. At the website search for “Puerto Rico, USA”. A map will appear showing the many tracks of hurricanes that have passed by or over Puerto Rico from the NOAA archives. Note on the left side is list of storms, starting with most recent, if you hover the mouse over each of these named storms you can see their tracks near or over the island. Note the history of tropical hurricanes and storms near Puerto Rico, and that just before Hurricane Maria was Hurricane Irma.
Click on th Hurricane Maria
> note it expands the map and shows the whole track and intensity of the entire storm system from beginning to end. Click on the details tab next to the overview- hover over the
different dates the storm was measured and note the rapid transformation of this storm. How long did it take this storm to go from a Category of Tropical Depression to Category 5 Hurricane?
How much pressured dropped in the storm (in millibars) from the initial depression phase until its lowest measured pressure?
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24. What date and time did the hurricane cease to be a hurricane and revert back into a tropical storm?
Where did this occur? Why is this location critical for this transformation? (Hint: note the preamble of notes about hurricanes)
25. Click the back button (<-) on the top left to go back to the list of storms near or over Puerto Rico. Review this list back to the year 2000. How many named storms have been near or over Puerto Rico? How many were actual Hurricanes (and not tropical storms)? How many major hurricanes (categoy 3 or higher) were near or above Puerto Rico
since 2000? (Note you may have to hover over each and note their intensity measures.)
To the see the effects of hurricanes on the landscape, lets look at another major hurricane from 2018, Hurricane Florence. Along the North and South Carolina coasts this storm dumped a significant amount
of rainfall, plus added a storm surge. The effects of all this water are present on these images. Go to this link https://gis-fema.hub.arcgis.com/apps/florence-imagery/explore
and note the images on the GIS mapper (Zoom in with the + and Zoom out with the – buttons on the top left of the map). The mapper has a blue median swipper, it allows you to toggle back and forth by moving it side to side on the map, showing images from the days after the storm via satelite and the imagery normally without all the damage and flooding. Moving the swipper to the right shows the flooding damage and swipping it back to the left notes the imagery without hurricane damage present.
26. Review some locations throughout the Carolinas and coastal area. Use the swipe bar to see before and after images of the hurricane. Carefully investigate, be patient when looking at GIS layers. Describe some of the things you see in this images.
27. In the Search bar type “Trenton, NC, USA (Jones)” and Zoom in and out to the town where you can
see the river flowing through or near it to the east (but also all around the town in every direction). Use the swipper to go back and forth over the image and note all the flooding areas or areas where water settled. Examine the aerial photos. How much of this town is flooded (approximately- this is a subjective answer but after looking at the imagery it should be easier to estimate)? Where is the water collecting and flooding?