HURRICANES
LESSON 2
DEFINITIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS
Read the definitions below (they are also on page 3 of your packet) then complete the following tasks:
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Task 1: You Name It!
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Task 2: Formation of a Hurricane Flow Chart
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Task 3: Read & Respond
Hurricanes are called tropical cyclones by meteorologists, and actually they are only called hurricanes in certain parts of the world. In the northwest Pacific, they are called typhoons, and in the Indian Ocean they are called cyclones. We will use these terms interchangeably, and it’s intriguing to see where these different names originated.
Hurricane: This word is interesting because it comes directly to English from the Spanish (instead of Latin). The Spanish explorers got the word from the Taino Native American language, in which it means "storm." Some people say that it also referred to a storm god, but that’s not completely verified. Because the letters "f" and "h" used to be interchangeable in Spanish, centuries ago "hurricane" was spelled with an "f." In fact, in Portuguese, it is still furacão.
The satellite image above is of Hurricane Hugo, a very large storm that hit land in 1989. In this image, it has already moved inland near Charleston, S.C.
Cyclone: This word proves that you, too, can make up a word. A man named Henry Piddington, who worked for the British East India Company, created this word as a name for monstrous oceanic storms after witnessing one in December of 1789 in India. He adapted the word from the Greek kyklon, meaning "moving in a circle, whirling around." This is also related to kyklos, which means "circle." It has also been applied to tornadoes for 150 years. Sir Henry went on to study these storms and wrote a book about them for sailors. The picture above, drawn by Sir Henry, is important because it was one of the earliest pictures to show cyclones were circular and how they rotated.
Typhoon: Pick an origin, any origin! There are several possibilities for the origin of the word "typhoon." In Greek mythology, Typhon was the son of Gaia and Tartarus. He was enormous, and he had 100 dragon heads on each hand. In the picture above, you can see Zeus with his thunderbolt ready to attack Typhon. Do you see how Typhon’s bottom half is a snake? It hissed! Scary! In Arabic, Persian and Hindi, there is a word tufan that means "big cyclonic storm." This word could have come to the Arabic from the Greek. In the Koran, Al-tufan refers to a storm or flood. In Chinese, tai fung is a big wind. In India, the word toofan is a big storm.
Willy-Willy: This is what they’re called in Australia! It’s an Aboriginal word that can also mean a dust storm.
Task 1: You Name It!
Imagine that NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) has asked you for a new name for tropical cyclones that hit land in the North Atlantic (rare, but happens). They want a name that has some significance (the word has an appropriate meaning or a name with a history/background that is applicable). What would you name it, and why?
List your name and justification on packet Page 4.
Task 2: Hurricane Formation Flow Chart
Watch this animation from PBS about how hurricanes form and follow the instructions below:
Make a flow chart to show the critical stages of the formation of a hurricane using the information from the animation and what you have read. Select five key steps that you feel are the most important in the formation of a hurricane. Next to each key step, you should add two pieces of information. The information can be facts about hurricanes you learned from the animation, or more information about the step you chose.
Complete the flow chart on Page 5.
Task 3: Read & Respond
This image from NASA shows the band of warm water (in yellow) extending across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa (on the right) to the Caribbean Sea (on the left). It is in this band of warm water that hurricanes are born, first as wind, then tropical depressions, then tropical storms, and then finally, hurricanes.
Read this article from The New York Times and then answer the questions 1 & 2 on Page 6.
View the Data from the National Hurricane Center to answer question 3 on page 6.
Answer all the questions on Page 6.