Hurricanes

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storms develop each year, only a few
reach hurricane status, which by international agreement requires wind
speeds in excess of 119 kilometers per hour and a rotary circulation.
Hurricanes average 600 kilometers in diameter, and often extend 12,000
meters above the ocean surface. From the outer edge of the hurricane to
the center the barometric pressure has on occasion dropped 60 millibars,
from 1010 to 950 millibars. The lowest pressure ever recorded in the
United States was 892.31 millibars.

The steep pressure generates the rapid, inward spiraling winds of a
hurricane. As the inward rush nears the core of the storm, it is whirled
upward. Upon ascending, the air condenses, generating the cumulonimbus
clouds that constitute the doughnut-shaped inner structure of the hurricane.
Surrounding this core are the bands of cumulonimbus clouds that trail away
in a spiral fashion. Near the top of the hurricane the airflow is outward,
carrying the rising air away from the storm ...

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