Why Do Hurricanes Happen?

One of the most devastating natural disasters that can occur along the coastline of the ocean or Caribbean Sea is a hurricane, occuring primarily in the late summer and early fall. They require warm ocean water to set up the right conditions for the cyclone to begin its formation.

Many effects play into the formation of hurricanes. Scientists have also recently begun to draw a correlation between El Nino and hurricane frequency and severity.

El Nino brings warmer climates to regions than is normal for them. This has an effect on the oceans and on their temperatures. Since one of the contributing factors to hurricane formation is warm ocean waters in the equatorial regions,  El Nino certainly will have some type of effect on their occurrence and severity. The world’s nemesis, global warming also has the same net effect as El Nino. It results in the warming of the ocean waters. There are other causes that global warming contributes to as well, such as wind velocities and water content in the atmosphere. Each of these plays a part in the formation of hurricanes.

Formation

Five conditions must be met for a hurricane to form.

• The first is that the water must be above 80 degrees. This warm water can help create strong updrafts into the atmosphere that carry a good amount of water vapor with them. As the hot, moist air rises, it releases the heat into the clouds. The clouds then begin to form with light winds in the upper regions.
• The combination of strong winds moving up from the ocean surface, lots of moist air being taken into the clouds from the ocean and light winds in the upper regions of the clouds are three of the major components required to start a hurricane. 
• The final ingredient is a large amount of convergence zones present in the area. These are places where air currents come together in one place. If there are many convergence zones, this can cause a low-pressure system to develop.

The above conditions are all likely to cause the formation of a number of thunderstorms. The storms can be maintained if a low-pressure system moves into the area. When this happens, the clouds from the storms will begin to circle. The cyclone appearance of a hurricane will continue to grow.

Warm Water

The best place for hurricanes to find water ocean water is near the equator. As the water warms in the spring and summer, the probability of a hurricane forming during hurricane season is dependent on how fast the water warms from the sun’s rays and from the speed of the water currents flowing in the region.

The currents will bring water into the region from other places around the ocean and those waters can be cool or warm. If the waters are cooler than those present, then the likelihood is less for developing the right conditions for a hurricane. If the currents are warmer than those present in the area then the hurricane risk is increased.

Causes of Rotation

The rotation of the hurricane comes from the low-pressure zones striking the storm clouds in the center of the hurricane. The hurricane will continue to feed on the heat of the water and the lack of strong winds in the upper atmosphere.

As the hurricane moves across the ocean towards land, it will be stopped in its tracks if the ocean waters turn cool, or if it encounters strong winds in the upper atmosphere. The strong winds will snuff the storms out like in a chimney. The forces within the hurricane will lessen if it can’t feed off the warm ocean water. Therefore, it is only under a specific set of conditions that a hurricane will form.