Where Did Hurricane Katrina Get All Its Energy?
Sunday August 20, 2006
2005 was a record breaking year for hurricanes. On average, a category 5 hurricane is expected only once every 3 years. During the 2005 season, however, the United States suffered through three category 5 hurricanes in just one year! Those hurricanes were Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. So why now? Where do these massive cyclones start? And how do these hurricanes grow so strong?
Surprisingly, the answer lies in Africa. Scientists are looking at the once fertile grounds of Africa as the birthplace of Atlantic hurricanes. The series of articles below will help you to understand hurricane formation...and may keep you safe in the future.
- Hurricanes in the Sahara Desert
- Top 10 Hurricane Video Downloads
- 7 Hurricane Katrina Stories That Will Make You Cry
- Paleohurricane Research - An Ancient Look at Hurricane History and Geology
- The Birth and Death of a Hurricane
- Forecasting Hurricanes - What are Scientists Doing?
- Will a Hurricane be Named After You?
- What You Can Do If Your Child is Lost After a Natural Disaster
- Top 5 Reasons You Are in Danger in the US
Comments
Wow! Amazing! Thanks for the great information!
Wow.I never was inside a hurricane but i live now in Europe and here it comes now time that we have some small hurricanes too
wow i had no clue about that!!! thanks soo much!
Eh, you have your facts wrong. Not one of those three storms hit the US as a category 5, which is what your statement implies. There have been only two to do that, even though they have upgraded Andrew to a five, which would make it three. And one that they got wrong – Charley hit as a five but it remains a four.
I suppose you could read that statement to imply they HIT at a category 5, but that is not true. To clarify, each of the three made landfall as Category 3 storms in the US (Wilma hit Mexico as a 4). You can check out more information on each storm at the National Hurricane Center history pages. The statement was meant to demonstrate the rarity of 3 Category 5 storms in one season regardless of landfall.