Over the past two days, the entire northeast area of the U.S.A. has been battered by a strong storm named Hurricane Sandy. Since then, I've been actively watching all videos and following live reports from friends and various news sources. I didn't sleep till about 03:00 this morning because the videos were just so interesting! Case in point:
I think I re-watched this video about 15 times before my aching stomach wouldn't let me anymore.
Anyway, in Singaporean news, Hurricane Sandy is given some airtime (punneh!), but I noticed there were a few things that might not seem obvious to Singaporeans, or even some Americans.
For example, have you ever wondered what exactly is a hurricane? Because if you look up the definition online, it sounds pretty similar to a typhoon.
Well, ten years ago, I used to have this encyclopaedia on my computer and "hurricanes" happened to be my favourite section to read. Why? Because it had the coolest pictures ever!!! So in the following paragraphs I will be highlighting some facts about hurricanes that I can still recall.
What is the difference between a hurricane and a typhoon?
In simple terms, hurricanes are very strong tropical storms which occur in the Atlantic Ocean, around the Americas. Typhoons are the same type of storm, except that they occur in the Pacific Ocean.
That is why in Taiwan, you only hear of typhoons, but it is a hurricane that slams into the American coasts.
Just to confuse us a bit more, such storms would be called a "tropical cyclone" in Singapore.
Go English.
Why do hurricanes always have female names?
I'm not sure why the more famous hurricanes usually happen to have female names, but there are actually male hurricane names as well, like Hurricane Leslie, Hurricane Earl and Hurricane Isaac.
The names are from a list provided by the World Meteorological Organisation. While this list used to only contain female names, concerns of it being sexist were raised and therefore male names were added to it later on.
There are a total of six lists of names, one used per year. The names go in alphabetical order on each list. Every six years, they will go back to the first list and start using the names in order again. That means that in 2018, this year's hurricane name list will be reused again. Note that names that start with Q, U, X, Y or Z are not used.
Here is the name list of hurricanes in 2012:
Category 4: Winds of 131-155 mph (210-249 kmh) with a possible storm surge of 13 to 18 feet (3.9-5.4 m) above normal.
Category 5: Winds greater than 155 mph (249 kmh) with a possible storm surge of more than 18 feet (5.4 m) above normal.
For example, have you ever wondered what exactly is a hurricane? Because if you look up the definition online, it sounds pretty similar to a typhoon.
Well, ten years ago, I used to have this encyclopaedia on my computer and "hurricanes" happened to be my favourite section to read. Why? Because it had the coolest pictures ever!!! So in the following paragraphs I will be highlighting some facts about hurricanes that I can still recall.
What is the difference between a hurricane and a typhoon?
In simple terms, hurricanes are very strong tropical storms which occur in the Atlantic Ocean, around the Americas. Typhoons are the same type of storm, except that they occur in the Pacific Ocean.
That is why in Taiwan, you only hear of typhoons, but it is a hurricane that slams into the American coasts.
Just to confuse us a bit more, such storms would be called a "tropical cyclone" in Singapore.
Go English.
Why do hurricanes always have female names?
I'm not sure why the more famous hurricanes usually happen to have female names, but there are actually male hurricane names as well, like Hurricane Leslie, Hurricane Earl and Hurricane Isaac.
The names are from a list provided by the World Meteorological Organisation. While this list used to only contain female names, concerns of it being sexist were raised and therefore male names were added to it later on.
There are a total of six lists of names, one used per year. The names go in alphabetical order on each list. Every six years, they will go back to the first list and start using the names in order again. That means that in 2018, this year's hurricane name list will be reused again. Note that names that start with Q, U, X, Y or Z are not used.
Here is the name list of hurricanes in 2012:
As you can see, if another hurricane occurs after Hurricane Sandy is over, it will be called Hurricane Tony.
Now, does this mean that there will be another Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Sandy in the future? The answer is no, because the names of devastating hurricanes such as these are "retired" or in other words, permanently removed from the lists.
What do the different categories of hurricanes mean?
If you're following news about hurricanes, you're likely to hear phrases such as these:
"... Category 2, downgraded to a Category 1..."
"... is now a Category 5 hurricane..."
And if you didn't pay attention in Geography class, don't worry. I'm making this very simple.
Hurricane categories are based on two measurements:
1) Wind speed
2) Storm surge
See storm surge diagram below:
Storm surge is an abnormal rise of water that is generated by the strong winds.
And these are the different measurements for each category.
Category 1: Winds of 74-95 mph (119-152 kmh) with a possible storm surge of 4-5 feet (1.2-1.5 m) above normal.
Category 2: Winds of 96-110 mph (154-177 kmh) with a possible storm surge of 6-8 feet (1.8-2.4 m) above normal.
Category 3: Winds of 111-130 mph (178-209 kmh) with a possible storm surge of 9-12 feet (2.7-3.6 m) above normal.
Category 2: Winds of 96-110 mph (154-177 kmh) with a possible storm surge of 6-8 feet (1.8-2.4 m) above normal.
Category 3: Winds of 111-130 mph (178-209 kmh) with a possible storm surge of 9-12 feet (2.7-3.6 m) above normal.
Category 4: Winds of 131-155 mph (210-249 kmh) with a possible storm surge of 13 to 18 feet (3.9-5.4 m) above normal.
Category 5: Winds greater than 155 mph (249 kmh) with a possible storm surge of more than 18 feet (5.4 m) above normal.
And there you have it!
