The number of hurricanes (tropical cyclones) that happen varies a bit from year to year. But the average number can tell you how many are likely. Take a look at the data below in Table 1. This shows the time of hurricane season and the average number of hurricanes in each region. What do you think? Do regions get the same number of hurricanes?
Table 1
| Hurricane Region | HurricaneSeason | Number of hurricanes per year (average) |
| East Pacific Ocean | May - November | 9 |
| West Pacific Ocean | April - January | 17 |
| North Atlantic | June - November | 6 |
| North Indian Ocean | April - December | 2 |
|
Southwestern Pacific |
October - May | 5 |
| South Indian Ocean | October - May | 10 |
Average hurricanes data from NOAA based on data from 1968-1989 and rounded to closest whole number.
Does the same number of hurricanes happen in each region? (Look at your bar graph to help you answer this question.)
Make a bar graph! A bar graph is a great way to show relative differences in number. Each bar is the number of hurricanes for each region. Draw each bar using the same colors that you used for your map of where hurricanes happen.
Hurricane season is the time of year when hurricanes will most likely happen. But hurricane season is not at the same time in all places. Use the same colors from the key on your map of hurricane locations to indicate the hurricane season for each region on the timeline below.
Questions:
1. Hurricanes are common during summer. Summer is June - September in the Northern Hemisphere. Knowing this, can you tell which regions are in the Northern Hemisphere from the timeline above?
2. Summer is December - February in the Southern Hemisphere. Can you tell which regions are in the Southern Hemisphere from the timeline above?