Weather

How And Why Hurricanes Form

Hurricanes can cause severe and even devastating destruction to homes and businesses when the storms make landfall.

But in nature they serve a very important role.

Hurricanes form over warm ocean waters when gathering thunderstorms become an area of low pressure and further strengthen.

Hurricanes can travel at speeds of 20 miles per hour or greater and pack winds of over 155 miles per hour. It's easy to see why hurricanes wind up doing some pretty extreme damage.

So, how exactly do hurricanes serve a good purpose when they tend to destroy our communities and many things within them?

Actually, hurricanes do a number of beneficial things:

• Hurricanes cool off areas underneath with rain, wind, and cloud cover.
   
• Rains from a hurricane can snap a drought very quickly.
   
• Hurricanes may destroy trees and mess up beaches, but in the process they encourage the growth of new trees and create new sand bars and other beach formations.