WHAT IS A HURRICANE A hurricane is a type of storm These storms are named for Huracan a god of evil according to the people who once lived on islands in the Caribbean The storms can be powerful and dangerous Hurricanes form over warm ocean waters Their winds spiral around a central area They bring heavy rains and strong winds Hurricanes are powerful storms They can cause a lot of damage as Hurricane Maria did in Puerto Rico in September 2017 4
VOCABULARY To spiral means to circle around a center when they hit land The rains can cause floods The winds can destroy buildings and rip trees out of the ground Hurricanes have different names around the world Any storm that forms in warm ocean waters and has winds that blow in a spiral is called a tropical cyclone Tropical cyclones that form near North America and the Caribbean are called hurricanes A tropical tropical cyclone that forms near the Philippines Japan or China is called a typhoon One that forms near Australia or in the Indian Ocean is often often called a cyclone A satellite image taken in space shows the winds and rain spiraling around a central area 5
HURRICANE SEASON Most tropical storms form in the summer or early fall The Atlantic hurricane season begins in June and ends in This map shows where tropical cyclones cyclones are likely to form The graph shows how many form in each place 6
THINK ABOUT IT Why is it useful to know when hurricanes are most likely to happen How could that information help you make plans November Hurricanes are most likely to occur in September In the Pacific Ocean typhoon season is from May to October October The storms referred to as cyclones form in the Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean lies mainly south of the equator in the Southern Hemisphere The seasons in the Southern Hemisphere Hemisphere are the opposite of the seasons in the Northern Hemisphere Hemisphere Most cyclones form between December and April Hurricane season is the time of year when most hurricanes hurricanes form This does not mean that hurricanes cannot occur out of season Some hurricanes form before June Others occur after November 7 Cyclone Ockhi brought wind rain and large waves to southern India on December 1 2017
