Tropical cyclones

tropical cyclones result in significant fatalities. Even though tropical cyclones may be exciting to watch, they can be very dangerous. Luckyly they only occur under very specific conditions in certain places in the world, these conditions are:

• warm waters: this is necessary because tropical cyclones are powered by the release of heat from the condensation of water vapor in the atmosphere.
• Wind speed is the change in wind speed or direction with height in the atmosphere. So?
• Low preasure: winds blowing towards the low pressure center of the storm creates circulation.

The warm, moist air over the ocean rises from near the surface causing an area of lower air pressure below.

(cumulonimbus cloud)

evaporating from the surface.As the storm system rotates faster and faster, an eye forms in the center. It is very calm and clear in the eye, with very low air pressure.

They are identified with different names, prepared in alphabetical order and alternated form between male and female names. For example this list of storm names from 1999 to 2004.

1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Arlene	Alberto	Allison	Arthur	Ana	Alex
Bret	Beryl	Barry	Bertha	Bill	Bonnie
Cindy	Chris	Chantal	Cristobal	Claudette	Charley
Dennis	Debby	Dean	Dolly	Danny	Danielle
Emily	Ernesto	Erin	Edouard	Erika	Earl
Floyd	Florence	Felix	Fay	Fabian	Frances
Gert	Gordon	Gabrielle	Gustav	Grace	Gaston
Harvey	Helene	Humberto	Hanna	Henri	Hermine
Irene	Isaac	Iris	Isidore	Isabel	Ivan
Jose	Joyce	Jerry	Josephine	Juan	Jeanne
Katrina	Keith	Karen	Kyle	Kate	Karl
Lenny	Leslie	Lorenzo	Lili	Larry	Lisa
Maria	Michael	Michelle	Marco	Mindy	Matthew
Nate	Nadine	Noel	Nana	Nicholas	Nicole
Ophelia	Oscar	Olga	Omar	Odette	Otto
Philippe	Patty	Pablo	Paloma	Peter	Paula
Rita	Rafael	Rebekah	Rene	Rose	Richard
Stan	Sandy	Sebastien	Sally	Sam	Shary
Tammy	Tony	Tanya	Teddy	Teresa	Tomas
Vince	Valerie	Van	Vicky	Victor	Virginie
Wilma	William	Wendy	Wilfred	Wanda	Walter

they are also diferenced by the intensity and the damage they cause, it is shown with a scale that goes from 1 to 5.

CATEGORY 1

Smal house damage. Damage to some crops and trees.

Strongest winds 90 - 125 km/h.

CATEGORY 2

Minor house damage. Significant damage to sings and trees. Heavy damage to some crops. Risk of power failure.

Strongest winds are DESTRUCTIVE 125 - 164 km/h.

CATEGORY 3

Some roof and structural damage. Power failures likely.

Strongest winds are VERY DESTRUCTIVE 165 - 224 km/h.

CATEGORY 4

Significant roofing loss and structural damage. Widespread power failures.

Strongest winds are VERY DESTRUCTIVE 225 - 279 km/h.

CATEGORY 5

Extremely dangerous with widespread destruction.

Strongest winds are VERY DESTRUCTIVE 280 km/h.

In order to reduce the damage some actions can be taken:

• implementation of wind resistance design in buildings
• Drills
• boarding up windows and doors
• store food and water somewhere
• Radio in case of evacuation alarm