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What you should know by the end of this lesson:
What you should know by the end of this lesson:
What is a tropical Storm?
What are the requirements for a tropical storm to form?
What is the structure of a tropical storm?
Tropical storms can be disastrous for areas, but before we find out their impact or how to limit the damage we need to understand what they are.
Digital Workbook or paper Jotter Task
Instead of taking notes, use the questions below to help structure your notes. Remember full sentences make sense when you do not have the question any more!
Write down clearly the 3 conditions for a tropical storm to form!
Draw a quick sketch of the structure of a Tropical Storm
Questions
Questions
Questions - you may have to pause the video to get the answer at the right place
What are two other names for a hurricane?
What time of year are there most hurricanes?
Which part of the world experiences the most Hurricanes?
What direction do Tropical storms travel?
What is the name of the low pressure centre of a hurricane?
What is the eye-wall of a hurricane?
How fast do winds need to be to class the storm as a hurricane?
What are the wind speeds for a category 5 hurricane?
A STORM SURGE can be more damaging than winds. What is a STORM SURGE?
What % of hurricane deaths are caused by storm surges?
How do hurricanes help regulate World Climate?
There is a duplicate of these questions at the bottom (and the answers)
What is a Tropical Storm?
What is a Tropical Storm?
Tropical storms are severe weather events in which windspeeds reach over 60 km/h but can often reach over 200 km/h. They start on the eastern side of oceans and move westwards, before dying out over land. When tropical storms reach 120 km/h, they are called hurricanes. There are local names for hurricanes in different parts of the world, look below and see which ones you recognise.
Hurricane - Northern Hemisphere in the USA
Cyclone - Indian Ocean
Typhoon - Far East
Tropical Storm - the proper name for them all!
Where do we find Tropical Storms?
Where do we find Tropical Storms?
Tropical storms always form in the tropics ( the area around the equator). This is because they need the temperature of the sea to be 27 degrees Celsius or higher to form.
They also always travel from East to West, this is because they are affected by the rotation (spin of the Earth)
In the northern Hemisphere, Tropical Storms rotate anti-clockwise and in the Southern Hemisphere, they rotate clockwise.
Where do Tropical Storms happen most often?
How do Tropical Storms form?
How do Tropical Storms form?
Tropical storms are only found in certain areas of the world.
These are the areas that have the necessary conditions for them to form. A tropical storm needs the following conditions to form:
Warm seas, which have a surface temperature of 27 °C or more, and warm water to a depth of at least 60 metres.
Low air pressure, with the air beginning to rise.
Damp moist air with a relative humidity of 60% or more.
Structure of a Tropical Storm?
Structure of a Tropical Storm?
Questions
Questions
Questions - you may have to pause the video to get the answer at the right place
What are two other names for a hurricane?
What time of year are there most hurricanes?
Which part of the world experiences the most Hurricanes?
What direction do Tropical storms travel?
What is the name of the low pressure centre of a hurricane?
What is the eye-wall of a hurricane?
How fast do winds need to be to class the storm as a hurricane?
What are the wind speeds for a category 5 hurricane?
A STORM SURGE can be more damaging than winds. What is a STORM SURGE?
What % of hurricane deaths are caused by storm surges?
How do hurricanes help regulate World Climate?
Check your answers
Check your answers
What are two other names for a hurricane? Cyclone and typhoon.
What time of year are there most hurricanes? Late Summer months when the sea is warmest
Which part of the world experiences the most Hurricanes? North Pacific 45%
What direction do Tropical storms travel? East to West
What is the name of the low pressure centre of a hurricane? The EYE.
What is the eye-wall of a hurricane? A towering ring of clouds around the centre of a hurricane
How fast do winds need to be to class the storm as a hurricane? 74 miles per hour (119 km per hour)
What are the wind speeds for a category 5 hurricane? More than 155 miles per hour
A STORM SURGE can be more damaging than winds. What is a STORM SURGE? Wind pushes water into the coast 20 feet above sea level and can extend a hundred miles along the coast.
What % of hurricane deaths are caused by storm surges? 90%
How do hurricanes help regulate World Climate? They help move heat from the Equator to the Poles.
Lesson Complete
Lesson Complete
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