Typhoon

We just learned about Category 5 Hurricanes.

If a large tropical cyclone is in the northwest part of the Pacific Ocean, it is called a Typhoon instead of a hurricane.


(from: wikipedia - typhoon haiyan)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lightning

Category 4 Hurricane

We just learned about a Category 3 Hurricane.

The next level is a Category 4 Hurricane - Catastrophic damage will occur.

These hurricanes have wind speeds between 130 and 156 mph.

This kind of hurricane can totally knock over a house, rip up and snap most trees, flood very far inland, and cause power and water losses for weeks.


(from: wikipedia - hurricane gustav)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Snowflake

Category 3 Hurricane

We just learned about a Category 2 Hurricane.

The next level of damage on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is the Category 3 Hurricane - Devastating damage will occur.

These hurricanes have wind speeds between 111 and 129 mph.

This type of hurricane can destroy mobile homes, damage smaller houses, cause flooding, uproot or snap trees, and cause power outages.


(from: wikipedia - hurricane isodore)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Sleet

Category 2 Hurricane

We just learned about Category 1 Hurricane.

The next level of damage on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is the Category 2 Hurricane - Extremely dangerous winds will cause extensive damage.

These hurricanes have winds between 96 and 110 mph.

These will cause damage to roofing, uproot or snap trees, destroy mobile homes and cause power outages.


(from: wikipedia - hurricane juan)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Hail

Category 1 Hurricane

We just learned about the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale used to measure hurricanes.

The first level on that scale is a Category 1 Hurricane - Very dangerous winds that will produce some damage.

These hurricanes have winds between 74 and 95 mph.

They usually are not strong enough to damage large houses or buildings, but could blow over mobile homes, uproot trees or blow off roof shingles.


(from: wikipedia - hurricane barbara (2013))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rain

Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale

We just learned about Tropical Storms.

Another type of tropical cyclone is a hurricane.

For a tropical cyclone to be called a hurricane, it has to have winds over 74 miles per hour for over a minute.

Hurricanes are put into categories of 1 to 5 based on how strong they are.
There is a scale called the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which scientists use to tell which category number the hurricane is, based on how strong the wind is.


(from: wikipedia - saffir-simpson hurricane wind scale)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Anemometer

Tropical Storm

We just learned about the type of Tropical Cyclone called a Troical Depression.

The next strongest type of Tropical Cyclone is called a Tropical Storm.

This is when there is a strong circular thunderstorm with winds over 39 miles per hour and under 73 miles per hour.
A tropical storm can blow off shingles, and the heavy rain can cause flooding.


(from: wikipedia - tropical storm allison)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Roll Clouds

Tropical Depression

We just learned that large storms in the tropics are called Tropical Cyclones and that they have many different names.

Many of these names are based on how strong the cyclone is.

The first level of tropical cyclone is called a Tropical Depression.
This means the storm clearly looks circular, but the winds are less than 39 miles per hour.


(from: wikipedia - tropical cyclone)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Shelf Clouds

Tropical Cyclone

We've learned a lot about tornadoes!

Now let's learn a little about tropical cyclones.

There are a few types of things known as tropical cyclones, like hurricanes, typhoons, tropical storms, cyclonic storms, tropical depressions.

They are called tropical because they are usually over the area around the equator, known as the tropics.

They are called cyclones because they spin around just like a tornado does.


(from: wikipedia - tropical cyclone)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cloud Étages

F5 Tornado

We just learned that the F4 Tornado on the Fujita Scale is houses totally blown down, small buildings blown away and cars thrown through the air.

The highest level of damage is the F5 tornado - Incredible damage.

This is when houses are lifted up and carried away, large cars are flying through the air, and large steel and concrete buildings are badly damaged.


(from: wikipedia - fujita scale)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Stratocumulus Clouds

F4 Tornado

We just learned that the F3 Tornado on the Fujita Scale is roofs and walls torn off, trains overturned, forests uprooted and cars thrown.

The next level of damage is the F4 tornado - Devastating damage.
This is when houses are totally blown down. Small buildings like garages are blown away. Cars are thrown through the air.


(from: wikipedia - fujita scale)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Altocumulus Cloud

F3 Tornado

We just learned that the F2 Tornado on the Fujita Scale is roofs torn off, mobile homes destroyed and trees uprooted.

The next level of damage is the F3 tornado - Severe damage.
This is when roofs and walls have been torn off of houses, trains are overturned, most of the trees in a forest are uprooted, and heavy cars are lifted up and thrown.


(from: wikipedia - fujita scale)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cirrocumulus Cloud

F2 Tornado

We just learned that the F1 Tornado on the Fujita Scale is roofs peeled off, and cars are pushed off of roads.

The next level of damage is the F2 tornado - Significant damage.
This is when roofs have been torn off of houses, mobile homes have been destroyed, train boxcars have been turned over, or large trees have been snapped or uprooted.


(from: wikipedia - parameters)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Altostratus Cloud

F1 Tornado

We just learned that the F0 Tornado on the Fujita Scale is light damage to trees and buildings.

The next level of damage is an F1 Tornado - Moderate damage.
This is when roofs can be peeled off of houses, mobile homes are overturned, cars are pushed off of roads, and some garages can be destroyed.


(from: wikipedia - fujita scale)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cirrostratus Cloud

F0 Tornado

We just learned that the fujita scale is used to measure how much damage a tornado does, and it goes from F0 to F5.

An F0 tornado does Light damage.
Some damage is done to chimneys, branches are broken off trees, and shallow rooted trees may be pushed over.

(from: wikipedia - fujita scale)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Nimbostratus Cloud

Fujita Scale

We just learned about what a Wall Cloud is.

Tornadoes are measured in science using something called the Fujita Scale which goes from F0 to F5, and stands for how much damage a tornado does.

(from: wikipedia - fujita scale)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Stratus Clouds

Wall Cloud

We just learned that a Tornado Family is multiple tornadoes in one storm.

Another type of weather is a Wall Cloud.

We learned a while back that a shelf cloud is a big cloud that is at the edge of a thunderstorm moving out.

A wall cloud looks a lot like a shelf cloud, but it is on the inside of the thunderstorm, not on the outside edge.


(from: wikipedia - wall cloud)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cumulonimbus Clouds

Tornado Family

We just learned about the type of whirlwind called a steam devil.

Remember a while back we learned about a multiple vortex tornado which is one tornado but looks like two close side by side.

Sometimes a supercell storm will have two separate tornadoes in the same storm.
If this happens it is called a tornado family.

(from: wikipedia - tornado family)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cumulus Clouds

Steam Devil

We just learned about the firestorm.

Another type of work is a steam devil.

These can appear when there is a spinning whirlwind of air over water, and there is fog that gets pulled up into the whirlwind.


(from: wikipedia - steam devil)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Cirrus Clouds

Firestorm

We just learned that a fire whirl is a spinning column of burning air.

A firestorm is when a large area like a forest or a city is on fire, and the fire is so large that it starts making it's own wind that blows the fire around.

Sometimes the wind is so strong that it creates fire whirls, so the fire is spreading everywhere and there are fire like tornadoes spinning around.


(from: wikipedia - firestorm)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Dew Point