Hurricanes, Typhoons and cyclones are all roughly the same thing. They are very large and sometimes violent storm systems with sustained winds of over 120km/hr. Different areas of the world have different names for these tropical storms. In the Atlantic and eastern pacific they are called hurricanes, originating from the West Indian word hurcan which means big wind. In the western pacific they are called typhoons, originating from the Chinese word taifun meaning great wind. Hurricanes are generally smaller than storms in mid-latitudes, typically about 500 km (311 miles) in diameter. At the ocean’s surface, the air spirals inward in a counter clockwise direction. The flow comes weaker as it gains height eventually turning clockwise ate the top of the hurricane.

Hurricanes form near the equator then spread west and away from the equator. They form over tropical oceans with water a water temperature of at least 27 centigrade. Hurricanes need a huge amount of energy so only the most humid and moist air can produce one of these extreme weather systems. After the hurricanes formation two things can happen it can intensify over warmer waters and de-intensify over cooler waters. Only the largest of hurricanes will continue further than 300 miles over dry land others die out before they get further than the coast line. This results in Islands such as Cuba and Hawaii being affected every year in the hurricane season as the hurricane carries on at full strength over the island. The amount of energy a hurricane produces is equal to the amount a small industrialized nation produces. Once a hurricane is up and running the chances of it affecting civilians in its path is likely. Its course can alter drastically and violently make it extremely hard to warn people if it’s going to affect them. Teams of expert scientists all around the world track hurricanes and their paths and find new methods to track their potential and path. One such team is the Hurricane research intercept team, founded in 1998. They use specialized meteorological equipment to record and track hurricanes along the U.S coast. 

 There equipment includes two 10m wind recording towers which indicate the way the hurricane will come and its speed at arrival. For the public’s use their recorded information is streamed live on the internet for all surrounding residents to let them know of the danger they may be in.

At 9am on September 6th the first NHC advisory warning sweeped the state of carolina and its surrounding states. The Hurricane had formed earlier that day from a giant tropical wave. I gathered strength and speed in the atlantic ocean and swept itself towards the coast. It was small and unrecognised at first but soon it had turned into the second major hurricane of that season. It was bound to be the coastliest.

After its birth by the wave it formed a very low depression which slowly swept west. Its convection initially appeared to become better organized On September 3, as it passed to the south of the Cape Verde islands, organization within the system degraded, though convection increased the next day. This made this particular hurricane extremely hard to predict as it never looked like being the natural destroyer that it was. On September 6th 2003 it was rated on the Dvorak scale as a tropical storm 13. The National Hurricane Agency didn’t start issuing warning until the next day. In that time tropical storm Isabel moved in an arc over warm waters. Its convection grew into a organized swirling in the centre allowing to pick up more speed. It moved North to North West steadily gathering strength as it went. On September 7th it was labeled hurricane Isabel.

Within hours of hitting land the eye was 40 miles wide. On September 9th Isabel reached its peak intensifying to winds of up to 135 mph. It now is rated at a category 4 scale hurricane on the Saffir Simpson scale. Just before hitting mainland the intensity of Isabel decreased its wind flow eroded and became dis- organized it sank to a category 3 hurricane. Later on September 10, Isabel restrengthened to a Category 4 hurricane after convection deepened near the increasingly organizing eyewall. The hurricane continued to intensify, and Isabel reached its peak intensity of 165 mph (270 km/h) on September 11, a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Although Isabel was on a downwards  slide after its 165mph wind high it managed to remain a category 5 hurricane for the next 24 hours. Isabel suffered a severe blow to its wind speed and strength when it underwent the eyewall replacement cycle twice in 4 hours. (A feature of significant hurricanes is the eyewall replacement cycle. Basically what occurs is that a new eye begins to develop around the old eye. The new eye gradually decreases in diameter and replaces the old eye). Isabel descended to a category 4 hurricane on September 13th. However it was not all done. Overnight in a period of 7 hours the most viscous hurricane ever to have been formed in the Atlantic was created. It immediately was re-established as a category 5 hurricane and warnings were frantically issued across the east coast of America and Florida.  

A NOAA Hurricane Hunter Reconnaissance Aircraft flying into the hurricane launched a dropsonde which measured an instantaneous wind speed of 233 mph (375 km/h), the strongest instantaneous wind speed recorded in an Atlantic hurricane located 400 miles (650 km) north of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Isabel descended to a Category 2 hurricane on September 16 while located 645 miles (1035 km) southeast of North Carolina. It then slowly disappeared and vanished leaving in its trail a path of destruction from the biggest hurricane in the 2003 season.

Hurricanes are a major cause of devastation every year taking many homes and lives alike. Even though in the northern hemisphere they do occur they are still the biggest natural devastations. As the technology of tracking a hurricane improves the threat of hurricane becomes less. However every year billions of pounds are spent re-building and fixing hurricane damage.