Hurricane Charts

A guide to hurricanes

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June to October. A hurricane is an exceptionally powerful cyclone (storm) that generally forms in the tropics. The full definition of a hurricane is fairly lengthy, but is essentially a tightly circulating storm with sustained winds of at least 74 mph (64 knots).

Although they're a menace for the east coast of America and the Caribbean, bringing death and destruction (in 1992 Hurricane Andrew caused more than $25 billion in damage in Florida), hurricanes can lead to perfect conditions for European surfers.

This is because they generate swells that are big enough to propagate from one side of the Atlantic to the other. By the time hurricane swells reach Europe they are generally small, but have an exceptionally long wave period of 15 to 20 seconds between successive waves.

The long-term averages between 1950 to 1990 were 9.3 tropical storms, 5.8 hurricanes and 2.2 major hurricanes per year. The number of powerful hurricanes (category 4 and 5) worldwide nearly doubled between 1970 and 2005, even though the total number of hurricanes has dropped since the 1990s (Source: Georgia Institute of Technology and the National Center for Atmospheric Research).

World sea surface temperature & major storms, Weather Underground

		This chart shows the name and location of tropical storms and hurricanes (marked with a symbol). It also clearly shows the sea surface temperatures, which are important in the development of tropical storms - it is the warm waters of the tropics that feed tropical storms with energy.

The latest tropical Atlantic satellite image, from WSI Corporation

This Atlantic satellite image shows clouds by their temperature over the Atlantic Ocean. Red and blue areas indicate cold (high) cloud tops.

The latest Caribbean satellite image, from WSI Corporation

This Caribbean satellite image shows clouds by their temperature over the Atlantic Ocean. Red and blue areas indicate cold (high) cloud tops.

Real time North Atlantic infrared satellite image, from CIMSS

Forecast tracks of Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes

This forecast chart shows the current positions and the forecast tracks of Atlantic tropical storms, based on decades of previous storm data. It also gives the strength of the tropical storms, using colour to represent wind speed.

How to read these charts

The storm begins at the right-hand end of the coloured line.
The description "24/2100" means 24th of the month at 9pm.
The tropical storm is forecast to move west for the next four days.
From the legend, the storm track begins yellow, which means 50 knot winds.
By midday (1200) on the 28th the storm is forecast to have around 65 knot winds. That's a hurricane.

Hurricane trivia

• The word hurricane originated from colonial Spanish and Caribbean Indian words for "evil spirits" and "big winds".

• The distinctive cloud-free "eye of the storm" forms because rapidly sinking air at the center dries and warms the area.

• What's the difference between a typhoon and a hurricane? Location, and nothing else. Typhoons are west of the International Date Line and hurricanes are east of it.

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