Category Archives: Tropical

An obvious hurricane threat is its powerful wind, which can blow in a single spot for many hours.

Wind damage is such a hallmark of hurricanes that hurricane intensities are classified by meteorologists using the Saffir–Simpson scale, which rates hurricanes on a scale of 1 to 5 based on the damage their winds would cause upon landfall. Continue reading →

Super Typhoon Meranti, the strongest storm of the year, delivered a devastating blow to Taiwan on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The word “typhoon,” used commonly in the west Pacific, is a synonym for “hurricane.” The storm, which intensified from a category 1 to a category 5 hurricane in 24 hours, had estimated sustained winds of 190 mph for nearly a day after reaching that incredible strength. Continue reading →

On Friday Hurricane Hermine made landfall in Florida, making it the first to make landfall in the state in more than a decade.

Hermine, which weakened to a tropical storm shortly after landfall as is commonly the case with weak hurricanes, was poised to redevelop and pose a threat to the Mid-Atlantic states and possibly southern New England into the middle of the week. Continue reading →