Assignment 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

Assignment 3 - Essay Example There is a season where the cyclones form, mostly at the end of the summer when the temperature of the water rises, and the temperature difference is at its greatest. Before a storm reaches the level of a hurricane, it first becomes a tropical depression, then a tropical storm (Ackerman and Knox, 2013). Even when it is classified as a hurricane, there are still several categories depending on their strengths as will be pointed later in this literature. Formation and Movement A hurricane forms when there is a major temperature difference between air temperature and that of the water body. This happens during a range of particular times each year creating what is known as a hurricane season. During this time, many develop, some strong some negligible (Huang, 2012). A hurricane forms when the warm ocean water evaporates making the air humid and forming low lying clouds. This creates a low pressure forcing wind to rush inwards towards the area that the warm water is evaporating. This win d forces air upward and flow with the air up then outwards. In a strong hurricane, this forms the eye of the storm which may be as large as an area of 18 km radius. The humid air forms the cloud of the storm which will later fall as heavy rainfall. Lastly, the light winds steer the storm because of its low-pressure centre propelling it and acting as its source of energy. A hurricane gathers momentum when travelling across warm waters but drastically loses its energy when travelling across land or cold waters (Edwards, 2013). This is because the warm waters are the primary source of energy fuelling the hurricane, which is not available on land. A hurricane thus forms above a large warm water body and is propelled by winds and may travel across land where they cause massive destruction. Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Katrina and Sandy are the two costliest hurricanes in the history of the US. They occurred 7 years apart, Hurricane Katrina formed in 2005 while Sandy fo rmed in 2012. Hurricane Katrina remains the deadliest and the most destructive hurricane that ever formed off the coast of Atlantic Ocean with property damage estimated to be $81 billion. Hurricane Sandy is the second most destructive to date, and the property damage is estimated to be at $68 billion. The following is a contrast and comparison of the two deadliest hurricanes to hit the US. Path Both of these storms originated from the Pacific, around the Caribbean countries; however, their exact places of origin differ. Hurricane Katrina formed over the Bahamas on August 25th 2005. It crossed Southern Florida area causing massive destruction. It then moved across the Gulf of Mexico before making its second landfall in South East Louisiana before moving to Mississippi where it lost its energy and died out (Barnes, 2007). Hurricane Sandy may have been less destructive as compared to Katrina, but it covered a wider area. In fact, Hurricane Sandy affected 7 countries and 24 states in th e US alone. Hurricane Sandy developed deep in the Caribbean Sea on October 22nd 2012 as tropical depression. It quickly upgraded to a tropical storm in less than 6 hours. In 48 hours, it had been graded ass a hurricane and made its first landfall near Jamaica’s capital, Kingston as a category one hurricane. On October 25th, it had hit Cuba, then Bahamas on October 26th reaching the US on October 29th where it made its landfall at Brigantine, New Jersey. It later spread