Tropical Cyclones aka Hurricanes Typhoons 29 06 2012 19 09 00 A hurricane a typhoon a spherical cyclonic storm and a severe tropical cyclone all the same thing Typhoons and hurricanes are the same type of storm They simply have different names depending on their location Typhoons are in the western Pacific Ocean and hurricanes are in the Atlantic Ocean Only 11 of the world s hurricane s are in North American the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico yet these storms receive the majority of news coverage when it comes to hurricanes Tropical Cyclone Tracks over last 100 years Every year there are approx 50 tropical cyclones around the world that reach hurricane strength sustained winds over 74mph Each year there s around 80 overall doesn t necessarily reach hurricane strength 66 of tropical cyclones are in the northern hemisphere Hurricane strength is directly tied to the sea surface temperature of the water It s impossible for a hurricane to ever pass the equator or form between 5 degrees north and 5 degrees south of the equator due to the coriolis effect Not enough force to form a storm at these latitudes The strength of the Coriolis Force is a function of latitude the higher the latitude the stronger the effect Therefore the entire tropical cyclone will be pulled to the right away from the equator North side of the Hurrican has a stronger Coriolis Effect than the south side due to the Earth s rotational axis Hurricanes also don t start about 30 degrees north or south of the equator because the waters are too cold for them to initiate Tropical cyclones can trek into these waters but they usually die off quickly The shape of a hurricane track usually looks like the letter C Typical hurricane track Hurricane initially moves from the east to the west and then curves to the north Steered westward by the Trade Winds Turned northward by both the circulation of the winds around the subtropical high pressure system and the Coriolis Force Atlantic Hurricane Season North Atlantic Hurricane Season Begins June 1 and ends December 1 This is the time period each year when the SSTs are warm enough to support tropical cyclone development September 10 is the climatological peak in the hurricane season In the United States Cape Hatteras in North Carolina and the Florida Peninsula have the highest probability of being struck in any given year QuickTime and a decompressor are needed to see this picture Hurricanes Making Landfall Category 5 Hurricanes are extremely rare we have only had 3 in the US going back to the 1900s Most recent Andrew in 1992 Mandatory Evacuation really means that should you choose to stay you wave your right to be rescued by authorities and you are essentially on your own Average clean up annual cost in the US after hurricane season is 10 billion The differences between the United States and other countries in terms of cleaning up after hurricanes is simple our coasts are highly developed home to many industries home to many expensive homes and most of them have insurance Deadliest US natural disaster was the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 Most hurricane fatalities are a result of inland flooding approx 80 Average annual number of hurricane fatalities in the US is 48 deaths on a 30 year average and 116 on a 10 year average Even when major hurricanes those of category 3 strength or stronger make landfall like Andrew Hugo and Gilbert the number of fatalities remains small Top Three most costly US Hurricanes 1 Katrina 2005 200 billion 2 Andrew 1992 45 billion 3 Ike 2008 35 billion There have been 24 billion dollar hurricanes in the last 29 years up through 2009 In the 20th century the United States was hit on average 1 5 times per year by a hurricane 29 06 2012 19 09 00 29 06 2012 19 09 00