Panama City condominium damaged by Hurricane Opal
Click on image for full size
FEMA
Storm Strength
A
cyclone
is an area of low pressure with
winds blowing counter-clockwise
around it in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise around it in the
Southern Hemisphere. A
tropical cyclone is a cyclone
which forms in the tropics--but that's not everything. Tropical cyclones
form from one air mass while extratropical storms form when separate warm
and cold air masses meet.
Tropical cyclones are given different names depending on how strong they
are. The strength is gauged by the wind speed. Here are the different
types of storms:
Tropical Disturbance: Winds weak and unorganized
Tropical Depression: Winds less than 39 mph
Tropical Storm: Winds 39 to 74 mph
Hurricane: Winds greater than 74 mph
Also, meteorologists use the wind speed as one factor to
forecast how
strong a hurricane is. A hurricane's strength is one factor emergency
managers consider when they decide which areas to evacuate. They also
use the storm's strength to guess the type of
damage to expect.
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