...a hurricane is a giant, swirling storm. They start near the African coast. Disturbances, spiraling winds, start to form, and they start thunderstorms. Then those storms will join  together and travel over to wherever that hurricane is going to go, which really depends on the steering winds and the jet streams. The steering winds steer the storm, but they can also sometimes affect the storm's strength. They can weaken or strengthen the storm. Jet streams are thin stretches of wind in the atmosphere that usually go from the west to the east. They can affect the direction the storm goes in.

If the storm travels over to somewhere near the equator or somewhere with warm waters, it is more likely to become a hurricane. This is because warm waters fuel the hurricane. The waters need to be at least 79° F for a hurricane to form. The warm moist air evaporates into the atmosphere, and an area of low pressure forms below. Surrounding air comes into that low pressure area, and at some point the air becomes heated and goes into the atmosphere. Then the cycle is repeated. The cycle continues, and then clouds and storms form, creating one giant, spiraling storm. 

Hurricane season is when hurricanes spawning in the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean usually form. Usually. There was once a tropical cyclone in March of 1908. That was unusual. Hurricane season is different in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. In the Northern Hemisphere, hurricane season is from August to October. In the Southern Hemisphere, hurricane season is from April to December, but it mainly runs May through November because of the warm water. 

The center of the hurricane is called the eye. In a well developed hurricane, there are no winds or clouds in the eye. It is actually very calm, and you can see blue skies and flocks of birds. The birds obviously don't have any sources of news, so they can't know when a hurricane's coming. So instead of escaping, they stay inside the hurricane's calmest part so they don't get tossed around and injured. They stay inside the eye until the hurricane is over, or until it is at least calm enough for them to leave the eye. The eye may look calm, but don't be deceived. There is still an entire half of the hurricane to go. Don't go outside (especially if you don't want bird poop on your head)! Right outside the eye is a part of the hurricane called the eye wall, and it's the most dangerous part. It has rising air, like the rest of the hurricane. The eye of the hurricane has sinking air, because of the direction the hurricane spins, which is counterclockwise. A low pressure system, which is what the hurricane's eye is, spins counterclockwise. The hurricane's eye actually has no winds or clouds because of the sinking air. Rising air creates clouds, but sinking air doesn't have the conditions that clouds form in.

Hurricanes, tropical storms, and tropical depressions are put into categories by meteorologists and scientists because of their wind speeds. The used scale is called the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. A tropical depression winds are blowing from 0 mph (miles per hour) to 38 mph. The winds of a tropical storm are blowing from 39 mph to 73 mph. A Category 1 hurricane has wind speeds of 74 to 95 mph. Category 2 hurricanes have winds speeds of 96 miles per hour to 110 miles per hour. Category 3 hurricanes have winds speeds of 111 to 129 mph, while Category 4 hurricanes have wind speeds of 130 mph to wind speeds of 156 mph. And a Category 5 hurricane has wind speeds of 157 mph to wind speeds off infinite mph.