Surfing the Net With Kids

July 22, 2011|By Barbara Feldman

Hurricane season in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico runs from June through November, and averages seven named storms. To be named by the National Hurricane Center, a storm must reach speeds of 39 miles an hour. When it reaches sustained speeds of 74 miles per hour, it is called a hurricane.

NASA: Earth Science Enterprise: TropicalTwisters kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/hurricane

“Most people associate twisters with tornadoes, but in fact tropical twisters come from hurricanes.’’ Visit this NASA site to learn how hurricanes are created, why they move, and how deadly they can be. Hurricane damage can be caused by wind, floods, or a surge of huge waves along the coast. “Even Category 1 hurricanes can cause death, property damage and flooding and should be taken very seriously. Coastal areas are often evacuated by the police when a hurricane is approaching.’’

Scholastic: Weather Watch: Hurricanes teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwatch/hurricanes

“Hurricanes start life as a cluster of strong thunderstorms moving across the ocean, called a tropical disturbance or tropical wave. Atmospheric conditions must be just right to turn a tropical wave into a hurricane - less than 5 percent of them ever become full-blown hurricanes.’’ Scholastic.com has a great hurricane section that includes a glossary, experiments, videos, clickable infographics, recommended links, an interview with a meteorologist, and a quiz.

Sky Diary: Facts About Hurricanes skydiary.com/kids/hurricanes.html

Sky Diary publisher Chris Kridler is a storm chaser and journalist. Her site answers commonly asked questions about hurricanes, tornadoes, and lightning, and houses her amazing storm and sky photos. The hurricane section addresses how hurricanes form, how they are classified using the Saffir-Simpson scale, and hurricane safety. “We are fortunate to have technology now that can detect the formation of a hurricane long before one is a danger to land. Yet, despite all the data we have, we can’t predict exactly where a hurricane will go.’’

University of Illinois: Hurricanes ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/%28Gh%29/guides/mtr/hurr/home.rxml

“Hurricanes are tropical cyclones with winds that exceed 64 knots (74 m.p.h.) and circulate counterclockwise about their centers in the Northern Hemisphere (clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere).’’ This meteorology guide for high school students and grown-ups is published by the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Reasons to visit are the animated videos explaining the science of hurricanes (even though I usually dislike videos that autostart).