What are Hurricanes?

Do not Panic, Hurricanes are trackable and predicted paths are now very accurate

A hurricane is a massive storm with super heavy winds.  By definition, they contain winds in excess of 74 miles per hour up to 186 miles per hour and can be up to 600 miles across with the strong winds spiraling inward and upward.
Not just bringing forth heavy winds, large and excessive areas of rainfall are present too.  Hurricanes also have the potential to produce and spawn dangerous tornadoes. By combining both elements of wind and rain abnormal rises in sea level and flooding are common occurrences.
Hurricanes normally form from late summer to early autumn/fall time when conditions are right and the ocean water temperature has warmed up enough. Hurricanes gather heat and energy through contact with warm ocean waters and evaporation from the seawater increases their power potential.  The ocean water has to be above 79 degrees F.

How are Hurricanes formed?

Hurricanes begin as tropical storms over the warm moist waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans which are near to the equator. Hurricanes will only ever form over warm ocean waters (above 79F).  The atmosphere (air) must cool off quickly the higher you go, the wind must be blowing in the same direction and at the same speed to enable the air to be forced upwards from the ocean surface. The moisture continues to rise until enormous amounts of heated air are twisted high into the atmosphere.  The winds commence circling in an anti-counter clockwise direction north of the equator and in a clockwise direction south of the equator (here hurricanes are known as typhoons).

As long as the hurricane stays over warm waters it will continue to pull in moisture from the ocean surface and grow in size and force.   When a hurricane hits land or crosses over cooler waters it will lose it’s source of power and the winds will gradually slow until they are no longer of hurricane strength – in other words less than 74 miles per hour.

What is the difference between a hurricane, a typhoon and a cyclone?

.......Nothing really – except geography!

Hurricanes typically form between 5 to 15 degrees latitude north and south of the equator.
In the Eastern Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, hurricanes are formed in the warm waters off the coasts of Central America and Gulf of Mexico. Eastern and Central Pacific storms are called hurricanes.
In the Western Pacific Ocean they are called typhoons.
In the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and Australia they are called cyclones.

When does Hurricane Season Start and Finish?

Most hurricanes occur during fall/autumn months however the official dates for hurricane season in the Atlantic is from June 1^st to November 30^th.
The Eastern Pacific hurricane season is slightly different from May 15^th to November 30^th.

Hurricane Names

Before 1953 hurricanes were identified by using their latitude and longitude positioning, not only was this a mouthful to say all the time but subject to error too when relaying this information to coast guards, ships at sea and weather stations.
A much simpler method came into place after 1953 by giving Atlantic Tropical Storms a proper name.  The names are originated from the National Hurricane Centre.  An international committee of the World Meteorological Organisation maintains and updates the names.
The original lists only featured women’s name however in 1979 men’s names were introduced (equality at last!) and they alternate with the women’s names.  Six lists are used in rotation, so for example the 2006 list will be used again in 2012.
The only time that there is a change in the listings is if a storm so horrific and life costing has occurred and that the future repeating of that name would be inappropriate for sensitivity, that name is thus removed.   Several names have been removed since the lists were created.  On the 2004 list which will be used again in 2010 Gaston has replaced Georges (which hit the Dominican Republic) and Mathew has replaced Mitch.  On the 2006 list Kirk has replaced Keith.
If in the event that more than 21 named tropical storms occur in the Atlantic then additional storms will take their names from the Greek alphabet, Alpha, Beta, Gamma etc.,.
Here is the list for Worldwide tropical cyclone names:-

Hurricane Stages are as follows

•  Tropical Wave
  A low pressure trough moving generally westward with the trade winds
• Tropical Disturbance
  An organized area of thunderstorms that usually forms in the tropics. Typically, they maintain their identity for 24 hours and are accompanied by heavy rains and gusty winds
• Tropical Cyclone
  A generic term for any organized low pressure that develops over tropical and sometimes sub-tropical waters. Tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes are all example of tropical cyclones
• Tropical Depression
  An organized area of low pressure in which sustained winds are 38 mph or less
• Tropical Storm
  A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained wind speeds that range from 39 to 73 mph
• Hurricane
  A tropical cyclone with sustained winds of at least 74 mph.