What is a Hurricane? 

A hurricane is like no other storm on earth.  You can view how large a hurricane is from satellite pictures taken from thousands of miles above the earth.  A hurricane is a tropical cyclone (any circulating weather system over the ocean).  There are three different categories of tropical cyclones.  They are as follows: 

1. Tropical Depression--A tropical depression is a group of thunderstorms that combine over an area of warm water and start to rotate in a swirling pattern. These storms keep swirling with winds of 38 mph or less.

2. Tropical Storm--When the winds of a tropical depression increase above 38 mph, the storm then becomes a tropical storm.   This transformation can take as little as 12 hours to a couple of days.  During this stage, the storm endures lots of hard rain and increased swirling patterns.  The wind speed of a tropical storm is anywhere from 39 to 73 mph.  During this stage is when the storm receives it's name.

3. Hurricane--When the winds around a cyclone reach speeds of greater than 74 mph for 10 minutes or more, the cyclone is called a "Hurricane" (in the Atlantic) or a "Typhoon" (in the Pacific).  A hurricane is the strongest storm on earth.  It can get up to three or four hundred miles in diameter and reach over 150 mph.  .
 
 

Typical, the hurricane season is from June through November.  This is a period of time in which water temperatures are usually fairly warm (greater than 27^o C), making it a prime time for huricanes.