How fast hurricane travel

But there is another statistic that doesn't usually stand out, but you'll typically see on a graphic. A storm's forward speed can play a major role in the damage it is able to inflict. It's those hurricanes and tropical storms that move much faster or slower that can amplify its destructive potential.

There have been a number of each of these recently. If a hurricane is far out to sea and moving slower, there's more time for areas potentially threatened by the storm to prepare. But when a storm slows down near or over land, its impacts are not only prolonged, but also greatly amplified. In September , Hurricane Dorian exploded into a Category 5 hurricane as it approached the northwestern Bahamas.

From Sept. This crawl proved devastating. Marsh Harbour, on Abaco Island, had tropical-storm-force winds for 72 hours. While over the northwestern Bahamas, Dorian was the slowest-moving major hurricane - Category 3 or stronger - on record in the Atlantic Basin, crawling at 1 to 2 mph averaged over a hour period, according to Robert Rohde, lead scientist at Berkeley Earth. The hashtag 1mph trended on Twitter for a time. It will take years for these areas to recover from Dorian, in part due to this terribly timed stall.

A storm's rainfall potential has little or nothing to do with the storm's wind intensity. It's largely a function of how fast it moves. Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coast at Category 4 intensity in with a destructive storm surge and damaging winds. But it was Harvey's agonizingly slow meander over or near the Texas coast that made this a historic event. Harvey's center of circulation stalled over South Texas on Aug. In a Category 5 hurricane, the highest category hurricane, winds are mph or higher.

People, livestock and pets can be in danger from flying debris, even indoors. Most mobile homes will be completely destroyed, and a high percentage of frame homes will be destroyed. Commercial buildings with wood roofs will experience severe damage, metal buildings may collapse and high-rise windows will nearly all be blown out. A Category 5 hurricane is likely to uproot most trees and ruin most power poles.

And like with Category 4 hurricanes, power outages will likely last for weeks to months. People should expect long-term water shortages. Only three hurricanes have made landfall as a Category 5 hurricane since One of the most famous hurricanes in recent decades, Hurricane Andrew back in , was a Category 5 hurricane when it hit Florida.

There is no such thing as a Category 6 hurricane. When Hurricane Irma was headed toward the coast of southern Florida in August, it had maximum wind speeds of mph, according to the New York Times. But the Saffir-Simpson scale only goes up to 5. Some people have been talking about creating a Category 6 hurricane designation , but a Category 5 already means near total destruction. So while there is a measurement difference between mph winds and mph winds, there may not be much practical difference in terms of destructive force between a Category 5 hurricane and what might be labeled as a Category 6 hurricane.

Write to Abigail Abrams at abigail. By Abigail Abrams. Related Stories. How Big Is Hurricane Maria? The 25 Defining Works of the Black Renaissance. Many never make landfall, completing their entire life cycle -- from formation to dissolution -- over the open ocean, such as powerful Hurricane Linda in the Eastern Pacific in Harris holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Penn State University; she taught high school math for several years and has also worked in the field of instructional design.

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