hurricane

Introduction

CE5

View into the eye of a hurricane showing the structure of the surrounding cloud wall

hurricane, tropical cyclone in which winds attain speeds greater than 74 mi (119 km) per hr. Wind speeds gust over 200 mi (320 km) per hr in some hurricanes. The term is often restricted to those storms occurring over the N Atlantic Ocean; the identical phenomenon occurring over the W Pacific Ocean is called a typhoon; around Australia and over the Indian Ocean, a tropical cyclone. Hurricanes have a life span of 1 to 30 days. They weaken and are transformed into extratropical cyclones after prolonged contact with the colder ocean waters of the middle latitudes, and they rapidly decay after moving over land areas.

Sections in this article:

Introduction
Damage Caused by Hurricanes
Movement and Occurrence of Hurricanes
Formation of Hurricanes

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Weather and Climate: Terms and Concepts