This was the most shocking fact that Sandy produced, usually when a storm makes it up to the Northern mid-Atlantic latitude, it is always way out to sea, but Sandy did otherwise. This factor was ultimately the one which caused all the damage and devastation for the habitants of N.Y if it wasn’t for the high pressure, the hurricane would have carried North rather than the quick turn forcing Sandy onto landfall. The geography of N.Y also made it more susceptible to storm surges. The long and narrow shape of the Long Island Sound helped to channel the waves in the 12 foot storm surge, making it even bigger. Additionally, areas such as Battery Park were built from landfill and therefore are low-lying areas and also flat.
The Eye of Hazel was smaller than other hurricanes, which a smaller eye equals more wind speed. The highest wind speed recorded was at 155 mph when it was still over the Atlantic Ocean before it had hit Haiti. Hazel was formed in the North Atlantic Basin and its path took it east of the Gulf of Mexico. The small eye also accounted for more than the average number of rain clouds that the hurricane carried which caused a lot more rain and a lot more flooding in the places it hit. Hurricane Hazel was mainly a category four, but may have been a category five early in the hurricanes process.
On the other hand in California in 1996-7 they were experiencing sub-tropical storms, it had been the wettest December in a while. Furthermore rail was falling at a high elevation causing snow of mountains to melt and increasing further water. Impacts included 23000 homes and buildings destroyed, 1200 evacuated and caused $2 billion in damage. This is less than the Philippines because they had some protection from levees on the Sacramento River however they did fail, due to the already saturated land. However it reduced the amount of water but also they had a bit of warning and many people got evacuated in time.
Which category a hurricane is put under is decided by storm’s wind speed. The higher the category the more deadly the storm becomes. Large storms at sea cause huge waves that can roll over tanker ships and other top heavy vessels. The most powerful part of a hurricane is it’s eye wall. The eye wall is where the heaviest rain and the most powerful wind is located.
The position of the UK makes storm events an inevitable part of our climate. Located at latitude of 52 to 56 degrees north of the equator, low-pressure systems frequently dominate our weather as cold air from the poles meet warm moist air from the equator. In total, five different air masses compete for control of our weather creating turbulent and unstable air that results in storms. A storm can be defined as ‘a rainfall and wind event that produces more than 0.1 inches of precipitation and which is separated from the previous storm event by at least 72 hours of dry weather’. This essay will firstly discuss the extent to which the impacts of storms in the UK, such as ‘The Great Storm’ of October 1987 in Southern England and the recent St Jude’s storm in October 2013, are the result of physical and human influences, and then evaluate the effectiveness the responses to these storms.
At this point in it's journey Katrina was a category 2 hurricane and brought winds of of 105 miles per hour or 170 kilometres hour. Walls of water were seen running down skyscrapers like water falls and cars were hurled into buildings by the catastrophic winds. Causes All hurricanes start in tropical waters, this s because they can only form in warm water environments. Hurricane Katrina started because the wind and air conditions were perfect. However hurricanes can start but not cause any damage as they never complete their journey to land this is because for a hurricane to move it must be pushed by very strong
1/3 of population live in SE – but driest part of the UK (600-800mm p.a.) – in mountainous areas like N Wales – low population but high rainfall totals (200mm p.a) www.geobytesgcse.wordpress.com St Ivo School Geography Department - GCSE REVISION Point source pollution – contamination resulting from emissions from a particular location. Define point source pollution and give an example of this in an LIC. www.geobytesgcse.wordpress.com Fold along
“The 7.0-magnitude earthquake would be a strong, potentially destructive earthquake anywhere, but it is an unusually strong event for Haiti, with even more potential destructive impact because of the weak infrastructure of the impoverished nation” (Thompson, 2010, p.1). There were more than 40
They are both convection storms, which means rising air causes low pressure and, in turn, makes air rush in from surrounding areas to create very strong winds. However, the area that each storm covers differs drastically. A hurricane can cover up to 600 square miles while blizzards are limited to much smaller areas. To compare and contrast hurricanes and blizzards, the main points of interest are how these natural phenomena are formed, and the destruction associated with them.
Each event normally lasts 9-12 months they often starts in spring reaches its strongest point between December and January and appears to end around may of the next year. It frequently brings record rainfall to Peru, Chile and Ecuador. Southern Australia is often hit by drought and it also sees an increase in its temperatures. South east Australia heats up and because it is already dry due to drought there is a massive increase in the chance of bush fires. The other effects on Southern Australia are; lower rainfall, fewer cyclones, late and weak tropical monsoon and lower