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Hurricanes need warm water (above 80 degrees F) to grow and thrive. | |
Wind shear, winds moving in different directions at different levels of the atmosphere, tears hurricanes apart and quickly kills or weakens them. |
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A hurricane in therapy | |
One of the other reasons why hurricanes hate wind shear | |
Just as a high temperature indicates a sick human, unhealthy hurricanes have high air pressure |
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The great New England hurricane of 1938 raced northward to strike the northeast U.S. at an incredible speed, surprising forecasters. |
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The Fujiwhara Effect occurs when two hurricanes get so close together they begin revolving around each other. |
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When the Fujiwhara Effect gets out of hand | |
The freak tropical storm which formed in the Southern Atlantic in 1991 |
C.D.O.=Central Dense Overcast, the thickest area of thunderstorms, around the center. |
A hurricane identity crisis | Tropical cyclones are often renamed when they switch ocean basins |
A hurricane nursery | Warm water below, high pressure above. |
Tropical Depressions are sometimes called "baby hurricanes" |
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Hurricane nightmares | "Florida was here a second ago..." |
Why Project Stormfury failed | Project Stormfury was an attempt to weaken hurricanes using cloud seeding. |
Why the other hurricanes hate to have Felix over for a visit | In 1995, Hurricane Felix sat offshore of the Carolinas, stalled for days. |
The highly erratic Hurricane Gordon | In 1994, Hurricane Gordon wandered drunkenly all over the Caribbean and Atlantic, looping in circles and backtracking aimlessly. |
"Ow! I have something in my eye!" | Special Air Force planes called "Hurricane Hunters" routinely fly into hurricanes to make observations. |
In rare cases, hurricane-like storms form in the Mediterranean Sea |
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On Labor Day, 1935, the Keys were blasted by the strongest hurricane ever to hit the United States, with winds of over 200 mph! |
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In reality, the very strongest types of hurricanes do sometimes develop two concentric eyewalls. |
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1992's Hurricane Andrew was the costliest disaster is United States history. |
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In the olden days of cinema, a black-and-white movie was made about hurricanes. |
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"Erin, you've just become a hurricane! |
A new take on a SuperBowl cliché. |
With the advent of satellite and radar, it is now possible to get out of the way of most hurricanes...when the warnings come early enough and are heeded. |
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Emily annoyed residents of North and South Carolina in 1993, but paled next to big brother Andrew of the year before. |
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While boarding up windows before a hurricane, many coastal residents keep their sense of humor and spraypaint messages to the hurricane on their plywood shutters. :-) |
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Hurricane homework | I like bad puns. So sue me. |
Hurricane home movies | Hey, it's better than Aunt Velma's slides from the Upper Ferdville Cheese Festival. |
Watch for flying shingles! | Despite the danger of flying debris, most hurricane fatalities are caused by drowning in either the storm surge or the flooding rains. |
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