Hurricanes

Typhoon Tip

Hurricanes are basically just a really really big storm. Their winds can reach up to 200 mph, and they can be up to 600 miles across. They move across the ocean at 10 – 20 mph, release 2.4 trillion gallons of water a day, and form in warm waters with a surface temperature of at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Hurricane season in the Atlantic starts on June 1^st and ends November 30^th. The eastern pacific hurricane season starts on May 15^th and also ends on November 30^th. Hurricanes spin around a low pressure area known as the eye. The lowest pressure ever recorded in a hurricane was on Oct. 12, 1979, in the eye of Typhoon Tip about 520 miles northwest of Guam when the air pressure dropped to 870 millibars. Typhoon Tip, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Warling, was the most intense storm ever recorded. Its winds reached 190 mph, and it was also the largest tropical cyclone on record, with a wind diameter of 1,380 miles. Hurricane names go in alphabetical order from the first hurricane of the season (Alexander, Alice, etc.) to the last. The names also trade off between girl and boy names, and if one storm is especially destructive, they retire that name and never use it again. Hurricanes are very interesting, and are worth researching. 

National Geographic, Wikipedia