ABSTRACT
Hurricanes are the most energetic and destructive of natural atmospheric events. The ocean waves just outside the “Eye,” the quiescent circular center of the hurricane, are dangerously large, approaching 100 ft in height, and have notoriously destroyed ships, including modern warships. The landfall wind speed of Hurricane Michael in October 2018 is reported as 155 mph, which corresponds to 134.7 knots and 69 m/s. A direct dropsonde measurement from an airplane flying in Hurricane Isabel on September 13, 2003, showed a speed of 233 mph or 104 m/s. The energies of hurricanes are of central interest, and people now make simplified, rough estimates of typical power and energy. The central feature of the nearly circular hurricane is its rotation. The hurricane in its mature state takes up water vapor just above the sea surface and returns a large amount of water to the sea as rain, after losing some to evaporation from the top of the storm.
