Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
[Rumbles of Thunder] [Loud Thunder]
Here's the Latest from EarthNow…
This display shows the tracks taken by all named storms during the 2012 Atlantic hurricane
season. The season officially begins on June 1st and
ends on November 30th. 2012 has seen above-normal activity with 19
named storms so far. 10 of these have developed into hurricanes.
Atlantic Tropical Depressions originate in Western Africa and travel westward, steered
by trade winds. The track a depression takes determines how it develops. Warm tropical
water provides energy for a depression to grow into a Tropical Storm, and sometimes
Hurricane. Moving out of the tropics over cooler water will cause a depression to lose
energy and dissipate.
In late August, Hurricane Isaac intensified to Hurricane force over the warm Gulf of Mexico.
As it moved over Louisiana, Isaac reached maximum winds of 80mph and made the Mississippi
River flow backward for 24 hours, a rare event that last happened in 2005. Isaac caused $2B
in damages, 41 deaths, and postponed the 2012 Republican National Convention.
In late October, Hurricane Sandy became the largest Atlantic hurricane with the lowest
pressure ever recorded north of North Carolina. Its high winds spanned over 1,000 miles. Sandy
rapidly intensified over the warm Caribbean Sea and tracked northward along the East Coast
of the United States, affecting 24 states and causing destructive storm surge from New
Jersey to southern New England. Sandy was blamed for more than $20B in damages and at
least 50 deaths before it weakened after making landfall near Atlantic City, NJ.