A hurricane is stronger or weaker than a storm. The most powerful hurricanes, tornadoes and typhoons. The strongest hurricanes in Russia

A cyclone that originates over the ocean is called either a tropical storm, or a typhoon, or a hurricane. But how are they different?

tropical storm called a cyclone wind speed in which does not exceed 117 km / h (or 30 m / s). As soon as the wind in a tropical storm exceeds this figure, it is called a Hurricane or Typhoon. What is the difference between them? No!

Hurricane or in English hurricane- named after the Mayan wind god Huracan. A hurricane is commonly referred to as a tropical cyclone in South and North America.

Typhoon- this is the name of the cyclone in the Far East and Southeast Asia.

Tropical cyclones can cause not only extreme downpours, but also large waves on the sea surface, storm surges and tornadoes. Tropical cyclones can form and maintain their strength only over the surface of large bodies of water, while over land they quickly lose strength. That is why coastal areas and islands suffer the most from the destruction they cause, while areas inland are relatively safe. However, heavy rains caused by tropical cyclones can cause significant flooding a little further from the coast, at a distance of up to 40 km. Although the effect of tropical cyclones on humans is often very negative, significant amounts of water can end droughts. Tropical cyclones carry a large number of energy from tropical latitudes towards temperate latitudes, which makes them an important component of global atmospheric circulation processes. Thanks to them, the difference in temperature in different parts of the Earth's surface is reduced, which allows the existence of a more temperate climate on the entire surface of the planet.

Dominican Republic prepares for a hurricane - it will take more than a year to recover Live webcams in Florida (Miami, Tampa, Key West…) — Hurricane Irma Cuban capital Havana submerged after Hurricane Irma Hurricane Irma makes it to Georgia - there are dead

Unbridled natural phenomena. It is impossible to prescribe the rules of conduct for a tornado or hurricane, to direct a typhoon or a tornado along the right path. There are even scientific developments of this weapon, against which humanity is powerless.

But, until now, these phenomena have not been fully studied, which is why they are dangerous. And, and for all living things.

website - Let's dream together, about the indomitable and unbridled tropical destroyers.

For the first time, Christopher Columbus mentioned this in his notes in 1495.

A tropical cyclone is formed due to pressure differences over water surfaces. Humid and hot air rushes up, condenses, and this is how it receives incredible energy, moving in a spiral. And pours out on the ground in the form of precipitation.

They occur mainly in tropical latitudes, hence the name.

It is believed that W. Shakespeare "legitimized" the spelling of the word hurricane.

The largest hurricane can be compared in size with the state

1. These unbridled phenomena are capable of producing so much energy in one day that this is quite enough to light the streets of a large metropolis for several years.
2. One small "buoy" dumps 9 trillion liters of precipitation per day (shower and rain).
3. A hurricane drops dozens of tons onto the beaches. Many waterfowl who died under the influence of the enormous pressure of the elements had their eyes gouged out.
4. The direction of its rotation depends on the hemisphere in which it originated. In the South, they rotate in the direction of the clock and, accordingly, in the North, in the opposite direction.
5. Stronger cyclones and typhoons occur in the North, with a "against" movement.

Downpours, tornadoes, huge waves and storm surges retain their power only over the surface of the seas, oceans and large bodies of water. When entering land, they instantly lose their strength and subside.

If we draw associations: a tornado is as wide as a hot dog, and a hurricane as a football field in a stadium

1. If we consider only the last 200 years, then the human victims from such cataclysms around the world were almost 2 million people.
2. Hurricanes and typhoons "go out" to the beaches when its center crosses the coast line.
3. The largest hurricane can be compared in size to the state. Up to 1000 km in diameter. The average size is up to 350 km.
4. At the equator, such phenomena never form. This is due to the fact that they need the Coriolis force for rotation (inertia force), and in this place it is the weakest on the planet.
5. Oddly enough, but these are an important and integral part of the weather system of our planet. Typhoons, tornadoes and hurricanes transport huge masses of hot humid air from the tropics to the poles. Balancing humidity and temperature in the Earth's atmosphere. In their absence, part of the animal world would simply die out from heat and drought.

“Hurricanes are like people. Every storm has the features of a living being…” Desmond Bagley

The eye is the center of the cyclone

Why are hurricanes given female names?

Until 1953, they were assigned names completely haphazardly. By numbers or by the first letters of the alphabet. After that year, the World Meteorological Organization decided to give them easy-to-pronounce female names.

US military weather forecasters did it jokingly, in honor of the indomitable temper of their mothers-in-law and wives. This tradition has entered the system. Currently sometimes used male names. Cyclones Bob, David and Frederick have already been retired.

1. There are 6 separate lists of hurricane names. Special rule: each list is used for only 1 year, and is repeated every 7th. The most destructive and destructive names are removed from the list to prevent their repetition.
2. The largest in terms of destruction was the Katrina. Caused over $100 million in damage.

Conditions for the occurrence of cyclones

Just like that, in the middle of the lake, such natural phenomena cannot arise. They need certain conditions to thrive:

• The depth of the reservoir is not less than 60 m
• The temperature of the water in it is from 27 ° C
• The higher the temperature, the more destructive and stronger the hurricane

Video

Like human curiosity and the desire to take pictures on camera, does not stop from the deadly danger of a tsunami.

What is the difference between a tornado and a hurricane

The duration of hurricanes can reach several days. And in a tornado, the elements rage from a couple of tens of minutes to several hours.

If we draw associations: a tornado is as wide as a hot dog, and a hurricane as a football field in a stadium.

1. Tornadoes are predominantly generated by hurricanes. Hurricane Andrew (1992) produced 62 tornadoes, and Hurricane Beulah (1967) generated a whopping 141. A tornado can start even a week after a hurricane.
2. There is an unusual consequence - the Fujiwara phenomenon. When two or more cyclonic eddies revolve around each other and a common core. This creates a more powerful and strong tropical vortex.

Up to 10 tropical storms form annually. Of these, only 6 turn into a hurricane.

1. A tornado has a speed that far exceeds that of a hurricane. Like a sprinter: the distance is shorter and the speed is greater. A hurricane has a speed of over 30m/s.
2. The eye is the center of the cyclone. The air sinks down there and the weather is very calm and clear. The eye has correct form circumference and diameter up to 370 km (maximum).
3. Around the "eye" is a ring of thunderclouds. They are called walls. It causes the most devastating consequences.

The same natural phenomenon such as a storm or a tropical cyclone in different parts oceans have their own names:

1. Up to 10 tropical storms form annually. Of these, only 6 turn into a hurricane.
2. Five of them hit the coast of the United States.
3. An attempt was made to influence the strength and direction of the elements. Organized a project called Stormfury (1962-1983). Aircraft were sent to the center of the cyclone, which threw out silver iodides. It was assumed that they would cause the supercooled water in the storm to freeze, and the structure of the cyclone would suffer destruction.

Natural cataclysms of small magnitude were stopped in this way. But later it turned out that for the most part there is not such a large amount of supercooled water in the clouds and, by and large, this is a waste of money.

According to the damage and destruction caused by the most powerful destructive hurricane on the planet, Patricia is named

Currently, this service is busy monitoring and forecasting the intensity of emerging cyclones.

The strongest hurricane in the world

In terms of damage and destruction, Patricia was named the most powerful destructive hurricane on the planet. He attacked Mexico in October 2015. Periodically, the wind created gusts up to 400 km/h.

What is more destructive earthquake or hurricane

If we compare earthquakes and cyclones in terms of devastation and consequences, then the world annually experiences:

• 500,000 fluctuations of the earth's crust with victims up to 100,000 people
• 85 typhoons, hurricanes and tornadoes with much lesser consequences

The increasing number of such scientists blame global warming, the human factor and the natural natural repeating cycle.

What awaits us only time will tell.

This is also interesting:

30 interesting facts about Singapore, able to surprise everyone! Part 2

Hurricane in the broad sense of the word, it is a strong wind with a speed of over 30 m/s. A hurricane (in the tropics of the Pacific Ocean - a typhoon) always blows counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth, and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

This concept covers both the breeze, and the storm, and the hurricane itself. This wind with a speed of over 120 km / h (12 points) "lives", that is, it moves on the planet, usually 9-12 days. Forecasters give it a name to make it easier to work with it. A few years ago, these were only female names, but after long protests from women's organizations, this discrimination was abolished.

Hurricanes are one of the most powerful forces of the elements. In terms of their harmful effects, they are not inferior to such terrible natural disasters as earthquakes. This is due to the fact that they carry enormous energy. Its amount released by a hurricane of average power in one hour is equal to the energy of a nuclear explosion of 36 Mgt.

Hurricane wind destroys strong and demolishes light structures, devastates sown fields, breaks wires and knocks down power lines and communication poles, damages highways and bridges, breaks and uproots trees, damages and sinks ships, causes accidents on public energy networks in production . There were cases when hurricane winds destroyed dams and dams, which led to large floods, threw trains off the rails, tore bridges from supports, knocked down factory pipes, and threw ships onto land.

Hurricanes and storm winds in winter conditions often lead to snow storms, when huge masses of snow move at high speed from one place to another. Their duration can be from several hours to several days. Especially dangerous are snowstorms that take place simultaneously with snowfall, at low temperatures or with sharp changes in it. Under these conditions, a snowstorm turns into a genuine natural disaster, causing significant damage to the regions. Houses, farm and livestock buildings are covered with snow. Sometimes snowdrifts reach the height of a four-story building. Over a large area of long time snow drifts stop the movement of all modes of transport. Communication is broken, the supply of electricity, heat and water is interrupted. There are also frequent human casualties.

In our country, hurricanes most often occur in the Primorsky and Khabarovsk Territories, on Sakhalin, Kamchatka, Chukotka, Kuril Islands. One of the strongest hurricanes in Kamchatka was on the night of March 13, 1988. Windows and doors were shattered in thousands of apartments, the wind bent traffic lights and poles, tore off roofs from hundreds of houses, felled trees. The power supply of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky failed, and the city was left without heat and water. The wind speed reached 140 km/h.

On the territory of Russia, hurricanes, storms and tornadoes can occur at any time of the year, but most often in August and September. This cyclicity helps forecasts. Forecasters classify hurricanes, storms and tornadoes as extreme events with a moderate propagation speed, so most often it will be possible to announce a storm warning. It can be transmitted through the channels of civil defense: after the sound of the siren "Attention everyone!" listen to local radio and television.

The most important characteristic of a hurricane is its wind speed. From the table below. 1 (on the Beaufort scale) shows the dependence of the wind speed and the names of the regimes, which indicates the strength of the hurricane (storm, storm).

Hurricanes vary greatly in size. Usually, the width of the zone of catastrophic destruction is taken as its width. Often, the area of ​​storm force winds with relatively little damage is added to this zone. Then the width of the hurricane is measured in hundreds of kilometers, sometimes reaching 1000.

For typhoons (tropical hurricanes of the Pacific Ocean), the destruction band is usually 15-45 km.

The average duration of a hurricane is 9-12 days.

Often the downpours that accompany a hurricane are much more dangerous than the hurricane itself (they cause flooding and destruction of buildings and structures).

Table 1. Name of the wind regime depending on the wind speed

Storm is a wind that is slower than a hurricane. However, it is quite large and reaches 15-20 m/s. Losses and destruction from storms are significantly less than from hurricanes. Sometimes a strong storm is called a storm.

The duration of storms is from several hours to several days, the width is from tens to several hundreds of kilometers. Both are often accompanied by fairly significant precipitation.

In summer, heavy rains accompanying hurricanes often, in turn, are the cause of such natural phenomena as mudflows and landslides.

So, in July 1989, a powerful typhoon "Judy" at a speed of 46 m / s and with heavy showers swept from south to north of the Far East region. 109 settlements were flooded, in which about 2 thousand houses were damaged, 267 bridges were destroyed and demolished, 1340 km of roads, 700 km of power lines were disabled, 120 thousand hectares of agricultural land were flooded. 8,000 people were evacuated from dangerous areas. There were also human casualties.

Classification of hurricanes and storms

Hurricanes are usually divided into tropical and extra-tropical. tropical called hurricanes that originate in tropical latitudes, and extratropical- in extratronic. In addition, tropical hurricanes are often subdivided into hurricanes that originate over Atlantic ocean and over Quiet. The latter are called typhoons.

There is no generally accepted, established classification of storms. Most often they are divided into two groups: vortex and flow.

Vortex are complex vortex formations caused by cyclonic activity and spreading over large areas.

Vortex storms are subdivided into dust, snow and squall storms. In winter they turn into snow. In Russia, such storms are often called blizzard, snowstorm, snowstorm.

Squall storms arise, as a rule, suddenly, and are extremely short in time (several minutes). For example, within 10 minutes the wind speed can increase from 3 to 31 m/s.

Streaming These are local phenomena of small distribution. They are peculiar, sharply isolated and inferior in their significance to eddy storms.

Stream storms are subdivided into katabatic and jet storms. With stock, the air flow moves down the slope from top to bottom. Jets are characterized by the fact that the air flow moves horizontally or even up the slope. They pass most often between the chains of mountains connecting the valleys.

Tornado

Tornado (tornado) is an ascending vortex consisting of extremely rapidly rotating air mixed with particles of moisture, sand, dust and other suspensions. It is a rapidly rotating air funnel hanging from a cloud and falling to the ground in the form of a trunk. This is the smallest in size and the largest in terms of rotation speed form of vortex air movement.

Tornado hard to miss: it is a dark column of swirling air with a diameter of several tens to several hundred meters. As he approaches, a deafening roar is heard. A tornado is born under a thundercloud and seems to hang from it when with a curved axis of rotation (the air rotates in a column counterclockwise at a speed of up to 100 meters per second). Inside the giant air funnel, the pressure is always lowered, so everything that the vortex is able to tear off the ground is sucked in there and rises in a spiral.

A tornado moves above the ground at an average speed of 50-60 km/h. Observers note that his appearance immediately causes panic.

Tornadoes form in many areas of the globe. Very often accompanied by thunderstorms, hail and downpours of extraordinary strength and size.

Occurs both above the water surface and over land. Most often - during hot weather and high humidity, when air instability in the lower layers of the atmosphere appeared especially sharply. As a rule, a tornado is born from a cumulonimbus cloud, descending to the ground in the form of a dark funnel. Sometimes they occur even in clear weather. What parameters are characterized by tornadoes?

Firstly, the size of a tornado cloud in diameter is 5-10 km, less often up to 15. The height is 4-5 km, sometimes up to 15. The distance between the base of the cloud and the ground is usually small, on the order of several hundred meters. Secondly, at the base of the mother cloud of the tornado there is a collar cloud. Its width is 3-4 km, the thickness is about 300 m, the upper surface is at a height, for the most part, 1500 m. Under the collar cloud lies a wall cloud, from the lower surface of which the tornado itself hangs. Thirdly, the width of the wall cloud is 1.5–2 km, the thickness is 300–450 m, and the lower surface is at a height of 500–600 m.

The tornado itself is like a pump that sucks and lifts various relatively small objects into the cloud. Getting into the vortex ring, they are supported in it and transferred to tens of kilometers.

Funnel - main component tornado. It is a spiral vortex. The inner cavity is tens to hundreds of meters across.

In the walls of a tornado, the movement of air is directed in a spiral and often reaches speeds of up to 200 m/s. Dust, debris, various objects, people, animals rise up not but in the internal cavity, usually empty, but in the walls.

The wall thickness of dense tornadoes is much less than the width of the cavity and is measured by a few meters. In vague ones, on the contrary, the thickness of the walls is much greater than the width of the cavity and reaches several tens and even hundreds of meters.

The speed of rotation of air in the funnel can reach 600-1000 km / h, sometimes more.

The time of formation of a vortex is usually calculated in minutes, less often in tens of minutes. The total time of existence is also calculated in minutes, but sometimes in hours. There were cases when a group of tornadoes formed from one cloud (if the cloud reached 30-50 km).

The total length of the tornado's path is estimated from hundreds of meters to tens and hundreds of kilometers, and the average travel speed is approximately 50-60 km/h. The average width is 350-400 m. Hills, forests, seas, lakes, rivers are not an obstacle. When crossing water basins, a tornado can completely drain a small lake or swamp.

One of the features of the movement of a tornado is its jumping. After walking some distance on the ground, it can rise into the air and not touch the ground, and then descend again. In contact with the surface, causes great destruction.

Such actions are determined by two factors - a ramming blow of rapidly rotating air and a large pressure difference between the periphery and inside funnels - because of the huge centrifugal force. The last factor determines the effect of suction of everything that gets in the way. Animals, people, cars, small and light houses, trees uprooted, roofs torn off can be lifted into the air and carried hundreds of meters and even kilometers. A tornado destroys residential and industrial buildings, breaks power supply and communication lines, disables equipment, and often leads to human casualties.

In Russia, they most often occur in the central regions, the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia, on the coast and in the waters of the Black, Azov, Caspian and Baltic Seas.

A tornado that originated on July 8, 1984 in the north-west of Moscow and passed almost to Vologda (up to 300 km) had a monstrous, incredible power, by a lucky chance bypassing large cities and villages. The width of the destruction strip reached 300-500 m. This was accompanied by the fallout of a large hail.

Terrifying were the consequences of another tornado of this family, called the "Ivanovo Monster". It arose 15 km south of Ivanovo and zigzagged for about 100 km through the forests, fields, suburbs of Ivanovo, then went to the Volga, destroyed the Lunevo camp site and died down in the forests near Kostroma. In the Ivanovo region alone, 680 residential buildings, 200 industrial and Agriculture, 20 schools, kindergartens. 416 families were left homeless, 500 garden and country houses were destroyed. More than 20 people died.

Statistics tells about tornadoes near Arzamas, Murom, Kursk, Vyatka and Yaroslavl. In the north, they were observed near the Solovetsky Islands, in the south - on the Black, Azov and Caspian Seas. In the Black and Azov Seas, an average of 25-30 tornadoes pass in 10 years. Tornadoes that form on the seas very often go to the coast, where they not only do not lose, but also increase their strength.

It is extremely difficult to predict the place and time of the appearance of a tornado. Therefore, for the most part, they arise suddenly for people, it is all the more impossible to predict the consequences.

Most often, tornadoes are subdivided according to their structure: dense (sharply limited) and vague (indistinctly limited). Moreover, the transverse size of the funnel of a blurry tornado, as a rule, is much larger than that of a sharply limited one.

In addition, tornadoes are divided into four groups: dust whirlwinds, small short-term action, small long-term action, and hurricane whirlwinds.

Small tornadoes of short duration have a path length of no more than a kilometer, but have significant destructive power. They are relatively rare. The length of the path of small long-acting tornadoes is estimated at several kilometers. Hurricane whirlwinds are larger tornadoes and travel several tens of kilometers during their movement.

If you don’t take cover from a strong tornado in time, it can lift and throw a person from a height of the 10th floor, bring down flying objects, debris, crush him in the ruins of a building.

The best means of escape when approaching a tornado- take shelter. To obtain up-to-date information from the civil defense service, it is best to use a battery-powered radio receiver: most likely, at the beginning of a tornado, the power supply will stop, and it is necessary to be aware of the messages of the Civil Defense and Emergency Situations headquarters every minute. Very often, secondary disasters (fires, floods, accidents) are much larger and more dangerous than destruction, so constantly received information can protect. If there is time, you need to close the doors, ventilation, dormer windows. The main difference from protection during a hurricane: during a tornado, you can hide from disaster only in basements and underground structures, and not inside the building itself.

A strong wind blows the roof off the houses, destroys small buildings, dangerous objects fly in the air - all this creates enormous destruction, which in turn bears a huge number of victims.

How do typhoons and tornadoes form?

A tornado is formed in a warm sea and moist wind in one of two relatively narrow belts located north and south of the equator. North America suffers from hurricanes that form in the Atlantic Ocean. Having gained tremendous strength in a few days, the tornado goes to the western part to the Caribbean Sea, then turns north. But the hurricane, which formed in the west of Mexico, is less dangerous. They go across the Pacific Ocean and almost never touch land. And a typhoon that originated in the western Pacific is very destructive. It goes towards Japan, the Philippines and Asia. Also, do not forget about the Indian Ocean, which creates tropical cyclones.

Why do hurricanes form

Scientists cannot yet explain why some hurricanes are strong and bring so much trouble, while others do not acquire such great power. But the main factor of their appearance is excessive humidity and heat. Usually storms and storms begin at the end of summer. At this time, the water is heated to 25-28 degrees and the humidity is very high.

It all starts with the formation of small areas low pressure above the surface of the southern seas, where warm, moist air begins to rise rapidly. There is a condensation of several tons of water vapor with the release of a huge amount of heat, which gives an additional impetus to the ascending air currents. And soon the whirlwind of moist winds around "eyes of the storm" .

A tornado originates over the land of the earth. They can form anywhere and anytime. But usually they rage in Central America - from Kansas and Oklahoma to Texas. Why is the US the most hit by hurricanes? It is here that moisture condensate and heat.

The most destructive hurricanes and typhoons in the history of mankind

"Irene" On August 27, 2011, the American state of North Carolina was hit by this tornado. Category - 3. Then I walked through other countries: Cuba, Haiti, and affected almost the entire East Coast of the United States.

October 30 typhoon "Parma" raged on the island of Lusoi (Philippines). Category - 4. 465 people died.

Late September 2009, strong typhoon "Ketsana" walked through the territory of China, the Philippines, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia. Typhoon speed - up to 167 km / h. In Vietnam, 16 people died, 170,000 houses were destroyed. Philippines - 464 people died, 2.5 million people were affected by this typhoon. Laos - 16 people, Cambodia - 17 people.

Late August early September 2008 strong hurricanes in Cuba "Ike" and "Gustav" destroyed a huge number of houses up to 100,000. 4 people died. It was the most powerful hurricane in 60 years in Cuba.

Night of May 3, 2008 tropical cyclone "Narenz inflicted a devastating force on Myanmar. The cyclone formed a huge flood that flooded a large area of ​​the area. 138,000 people died.

August 23-30, 2005 "Katrina" the most destructive hurricane in American history. Completely destroyed the city of New Orleans in Louisiana. 1836 people died.

October 1998 Central America hurricane "Mitch" destroyed cities and towns. 11,000 people died.

September 19-20, 1974, a terrible natural disaster that occurred on the territory of the Republic of Honduras. Hurricane with wind force up to 200 km/h "Fifi", superfast and destructive, with powerful downpours. Destroyed and flooded almost everything. 10,000 people died.

On the night of November 13, 1970, a typhoon in East Pakistan formed a huge wave up to 8 meters, which hit the coast of Pakistan. This is one of the largest and most destructive disasters in history. How many victims were not established, approximately from 500,000 to 1 million people. Cities and villages were destroyed.

Hurricane scale

In 1970, Herbert Saffira and Robert Simpson developed a scale for categorizing hurricanes. Category 1 to 5, minimal to catastrophic.

In 1806, English Admiral Francis Beaufort proposed a scale for measuring wind. From 0 calm to 12 hurricane.

Hurricanes in Russia

In June 1983, there was a strong tornado in Anapa that passed through the city. The tornado did not destroy the entire city; it zigzagged as it were. It tore slate from the roof of houses, uprooted trees (the tree was about a meter in diameter, a height of three or four storey building). Heavy rain poured down, flooding the city and nearby settlements. There was a strong storm at sea, from which the embankment suffered. In the Varvarovskaya gap (this is between the village of Varvarovka and the village of Sukko), a car was blown into the sea, in which there were 2 people. People died. I can’t say for sure whether I sewed a car with people or not.

In 1984 in middle lane Russia was a hurricane of the strongest force. At this time, the wind force reached up to 27 m/s.

On the night of June 20-21, 1998, a hurricane raged in Moscow. 8 people died. The wind force was up to 31 m/s.

On October 8, 2003, a hurricane raged in the central part of Russia; a bus with people overturned in the Tula region, 4 people died.

On July 16, 2004, in the Irkutsk region and the Ust-Buryat Autonomous Okrug, 6 people died from a strong wind.

January 6, 2005 in St. Petersburg was a strong wind with heavy rain. The water in the reservoirs rose by two meters.

On March 3-4, 2006, a wind formed in the South of Russia and the North Caucasus, the speed of which reached up to 35 m/s or up to 120 km/h.

On August 11, 2006, a strong wind came with heavy rain up to 17 m/s in the Chita region due to the Baikal cyclone, killing 15 people.

On June 2, 2007, in Bashkiria, Tatarstan, Mordovia, the Volga-Ural Republics and the Chelyabinsk Region, a strong hurricane wind of up to 30 m/s hit, 3 people died.

How to behave in a tornado

• If a storm caught you outside, you need to hide in the nearest building as soon as possible. If this is not possible, then stay away from dangerous objects. Injuries can also be obtained from broken glass windows and pieces roofing iron, road signs and other dangerous items.
• When in a building, stay away from windows. Safe places during a hurricane are places interior rooms buildings, first floors brick houses, cellars and cellars.
• It is very dangerous to encounter hurricanes in open areas. It's hard to find shelter here. In such a situation, you need to look for places where you can hide. For example: canvases, pits, everything is suitable here where you can hide from a hurricane. You need to lie down in the recesses, try to cuddle closer to the ground.
• A hurricane is not only a strong wind, but also a heavy torrential downpour accompanied by thunder and lightning. Here, too, you need to be careful to avoid the danger of meeting with lightning. In open areas, you can not hide under single trees. There is a belief that lightning rarely strikes birch and maple.

Universal hurricanes

Hurricanes and tropical cyclones are described in great detail here. Of course, I could not describe everything about hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons, tornadoes, storms and tropical cyclones. This is a whole encyclopedia consisting of more than one 1000 pages. I wanted to understand the cause of these destructive elements myself. We have strong winds in the region, but my classmate Zalina told me that they have no winds in Ingushetia. And only in Krasnodar she first met with such a natural element. And I was always wondering: “Is there really places where there are no strong winds, but only a light breeze?”

What do you think about this? Have you met with a hurricane? Write, I will be glad to your comments!

I think this is not the final article on natural disasters. I also wanted to write about forest fires and tsunamis. Be sure to subscribe to the blog update so as not to miss the release of a new article!

Our planet is beautiful, and people consider themselves full owners on it. They changed her face in a way that nothing else had before the beginning of human life. But there are forces that simply cannot be controlled, even with the most high tech. These include hurricanes, storms, tornadoes, which constantly destroy everything that is dear to people. And it's impossible to stop it. One can only hide and wait for the end of nature's wrath. So how do these phenomena occur and what consequences threaten the victims? Answers to these questions have long been given by scientists.

Hurricane

A hurricane is a complex weather event. His main characteristic is a very strong wind with a speed of more than 30 meters per second (120 km/h). Its second name is a typhoon, which is a huge whirlwind. The pressure in the very center of it is lowered. Forecasters also specify that a hurricane is a tropical cyclone if it formed in South or North America. The life cycle of this monster lasts from 9 to 12 days. At this time, he moves around the planet, causing damage to everything he stumbles upon. For convenience, each of them is assigned a name, most often a female one. A hurricane is, among other things, a huge bunch of energy, which in its power is not inferior to an earthquake. One hour of vortex life releases about 36 Mgt of energy, as in a nuclear explosion.

Causes of hurricanes

Scientists call the ocean the constant deposit of this phenomenon, namely those areas that are located in the tropics. The likelihood of a hurricane increasing as you get closer to the equator. There are many reasons for its appearance. It can be, for example, the force with which our planet rotates, or differences in temperature between the layers of the atmosphere, or the difference in atmospheric pressure. But these processes may not be the beginning of the birth of a hurricane. Another of the main conditions for the formation of a typhoon is a certain temperature of the underlying surface, namely water. It should not be below 27 degrees Celsius. This shows that in order for a hurricane to form at sea, a combination of favorable factors is needed.

Storm

A storm (storm) is also characterized by strong wind, but its speed is lower than during a hurricane. The speed of wind gusts in the storm is 24 meters per second (85 km/h). It can pass both over water areas of the planet and over land. In terms of area, it can be quite large. The duration of the storm can be either a couple of hours or several days. At this time, there is a very heavy rainfall. This leads to additional destructive phenomena such as landslides and mudflows. This phenomenon on the Beaufort scale is located one level lower than a hurricane. The storm in its most extreme manifestation can reach 11 points. The strongest storm was recorded in 2011. It passed over the Philippine Islands and brought thousands of deaths and destruction worth millions of dollars.

Classification of storms and hurricanes

Hurricanes are divided into two types:

Tropical - those that originated in the tropics;

Extratropical - those that originated in other parts of the planet.

Extratropics are divided into:

• those that originated in the Atlantic Ocean region;
• those that originated over the Pacific Ocean (typhoons).

There is no classification of storms that would be considered generally accepted. But most forecasters divide them into:

Vortex - complex formations that arise due to cyclones and cover a large area;

Stream - small storms, local in nature.

A vortex storm can be snow, dust, or squall. In winter, such storms are also called snowstorms or blizzards. Squalls can arise very quickly and end just as quickly.

A stream storm can be a jet storm or a stream storm. If it is jet, then the air moves horizontally or rises along the slope, and if it is drain, then it moves down the slope.

Tornado

Hurricanes and tornadoes very often accompany each other. A tornado is a whirlwind in which the air moves from bottom to top. This happens at an extremely high speed. The air there is mixed with various particles such as sand and dust. This is a funnel that hangs from a cloud and rests on the ground, somewhat similar to a trunk. Its diameter can vary from tens to hundreds of meters. The second name for this phenomenon is "tornado". As it approaches, a terrible rumble is heard. As it moves, the tornado sucks in everything it can tear off and lifts it up in a spiral. If this funnel appears, then this is a hurricane of terrible proportions. A tornado can reach speeds of about 60 km/h. It is very difficult to predict this phenomenon, which worsens the situation and leads to large losses. Hurricanes and tornadoes have claimed many lives throughout the history of their existence.

Beaufort scale

Hurricanes, storms, tornadoes are natural phenomena that can occur anywhere on the Earth. In order to understand their scale and be able to compare them, a system of measurement is needed. To do this, use the Beaufort scale. It is based on a visual assessment of what is happening and measures the strength of the wind in points. It was developed in 1806 for his own needs by a native of England, Admiral F. Beaufort. In 1874 it became generally accepted and has been used by all weather forecasters ever since. Further, it was refined and supplemented. Points in it are distributed from 0 to 12. If 0 points, then this is a complete calm, if 12 - a hurricane, bringing with it severe destruction. In 1955, in the USA and England, another 5 was added to the already existing points, that is, from 13 to 17. They are used by these countries.

How bad is a hurricane?

One of the most dangerous meteorological phenomena can be called a hurricane. The wind in it moves with great speed, causing great harm people and their property. In addition, these air currents carry mud, sand and water with them, resulting in mudflows. Huge downpours cause floods, and if it happens in winter, snow avalanches often come down. A strong wind destroys structures, pulls out trees, overturns cars, demolishes people. Very often, fires and explosions occur due to damage to electrical networks or gas pipelines. Thus, the consequences of a hurricane are terrible, which makes them very dangerous.

Hurricanes in Russia

Hurricanes can threaten any part of Russia, but most often they occur in the Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories, Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Chukotka or the Kuril Islands. This misfortune can happen at any time, and August and September are considered the most dangerous. Forecasters try to foresee such repetition and warn the population about the danger. Tornadoes can also appear in the territory Russian Federation. The waters and coasts of the seas, Siberia, the Urals, the Volga region and the central regions of the state are most susceptible to this phenomenon.

Public actions in the event of a hurricane

Everyone should understand that a hurricane is a deadly phenomenon. If a warning is issued about it, you need to act quickly. First of all, strengthen everything that can be torn off the ground, remove flammable items and stock up on food and clean water a couple of days ahead. You also need to move away from the windows, it is better to go to where they do not exist at all. Turn off electricity, water and gas equipment. Candles, lanterns and lamps are used for lighting. To receive weather information, you need to turn on the radio. If you follow these recommendations, nothing will threaten your life.

Thus, hurricanes are distributed all over the globe, which makes them a problem for all people. It should be remembered that they are extremely dangerous, so you must strictly follow all instructions in order to save your life.