Before we learn how hurricanes are formed, lets watch a cool program that shows the path some of the most famous hurricanes have
taken.

1. Go to this Web site:
http://www.ncstormtrack.com/tracker/

2. In the third paragraph, click on the words: "download the tracking map here".
A new Web browser window will appear.

3. Now, click on the down arrow. A drop-down menu of famous hurricanes will appear. Select one.

4. The controls are just like your VCR at home! If you'd like, adjust your tracking speed (anywhere from "fast" to "slow.")
Alright! You're ready to begin.

5. Now, click on the forward (play) arrow and watch the hurricane's development across the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico. Notice that the program starts tracking the storm when its only a weak "tropical depression" and keeps track of wind speed, time and date as it becomes a real hurricane. Way cool!

6. Now let's learn more about hurricanes. Below are a series of questions to guide your hurricane explorations. To find the answers to each of these questions, click on the links below.

 

Is your name on this year's hurricane list?
http://www.miamisci.org/hurricane/hurricanenames.html
http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/hurricane/names.html

What are the main parts of a hurricane?
http://www.miamisci.org/hurricane/howhurrwork.html
http://www.storm98.com/about/anatomy.html

What causes hurricanes to form?
http://www.miamisci.org/hurricane/howhurrwork.html
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/whur7.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/whurwhat/whurwhat.htm
http://www.charlotte.com/special/hurr/hurr1.htm

What is latent energy and what does it have to do with hurricanes?
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wlatent.htm

How are hurricanes measured and what is the name of the ranking scale?
http://www.charlotte.com/special/hurr/hurr2f.htm
http://www.weather.com/breaking_weather/encyclopedia/charts/tropical/ss_scale.html

How much more powerful is a category 4 storm compared to a category 1 hurricane?
http://kids.mtpe.hq.nasa.gov/archive/hurricane/

What causes the most deaths from hurricanes?
http://kids.mtpe.hq.nasa.gov/archive/hurricane/
http://athena.wednet.edu/curric/weather/storms/stosur.html

Why do hurricanes last longer over water than over land?
http://www.miamisci.org/hurricane/howhurrwork.html

What do the colors in a radar image of a hurricane show?
http://www.miamisci.org/hurricane/howhurrwork.html

Why do most hurricanes form between June and November?
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/whur5.htm

What region in the world has the greatest number of hurricanes?
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/whurbasn.htm

What are the four stages of development a hurricane goes through?
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/whurwhat/whurwhat.htm