Hurricanes

Heat engines over warm oceans

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Hurricanes are heat engines fuelled by warm ocean water and latent heat.
• They need the Coriolis effect, so they don’t form at the equator.
• Lower central pressure means stronger winds; land cuts off their fuel.

Steps

1. Fuelled by warm water
2. Hurricane season
3. Pressure and wind
4. Energy from rain
5. Twice the wind
6. Landfall