A hurricane is a storm that can spread up to 600 miles and have very strong winds
That move in a spiral motion inward and upward at speeds of 75 to 200 mph. Each
hurricane usually lasts for over a week, moving 10-20 miles per hour over the ocean.
Hurricanes gather heat and energy through contact with warm ocean waters. Evaporation
from the seawater increases their power. Hurricanes rotate in a counter-clockwise
direction around an "eye" in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise direction in the
Southern Hemisphere. The center of the storm or "eye" is the calmest part. It has only
light winds and fair weather. When they come onto land, the heavy rain, strong winds and
large waves can damage buildings, trees and cars.A hurricane can be classified as a tropical
storm depending on the speed of winds, or even as a typhoon depending on where in the world it
forms. A hurricane came from the Spanish word "huracan" which was named by Hunraken, the
ancient Mayan storm god or Hurakan, the god of thunder the word "hurricane" was first used to
describe any tropical cyclone in the West Indies.Today, a hurricane is defined as a tropical
cyclone with high winds that reached speeds of 74 mph or higher. These storms reach the status
of "hurricane" only after strengthening over days or even weeks.This process begins in the warm,
moist air over the waters of the region known as the tropics, which includes the Gulf of Mexico,
the Caribbean Sea, the eastern North Pacific Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, east of the
International Dateline and north of the equator. Tropical depressions, tropical storms, hurricanes,
and typhoons are all tropical cyclones, and all may develop in this region. Before it can become a
hurricane, a...