Hurricanes: Their Nature and Impacts on Society - Climate Science ...

HURRICANE IMPACTS 119
miles per
hour mb
1016
140-1012
1008
1004
1000
996
992
988
984
70- 980
0
976
972
968
964
960 1
9~6
952
3 6 9 12 15
Time (hours)
18 21 24
'34I
32
30
28
26 ~- 24
.C-
??
O'
20 °G;
r
18
10 ~ 0
14 :3
Figure 5.1 Observations of wind speed, wave height, <strong>and</strong> surface pressure of the
passage of Hurricane Kate over 24 hours beginning on 20 November 1985, as
monitored by a floating oceanic buoy at 26°N <strong>and</strong> 86°W. Original figure provided by
R.H. Johnson
reduce its risk since there is no one direction from which the waves come. Large
waves also superimpose on top of each other, producing enormous swells.
A second important difference between strong winter storms <strong>and</strong> hurricanes
is that the winter storms seldom have winds which exceed the minimal
hurricane strength. In contrast, sustained wind speeds up to 200 mph (90
meters per second) are occasionally observed in hurricanes. In 1944, in the
western North Pacific during World War II, when an American naval convoy
was struck without warning by a Pacific typhoon, three destroyers capsized
<strong>and</strong> sank, nine other ships sustained serious damage, <strong>and</strong> 19 other vessels
received lesser damage (Kotsch 1977).
5.2 LAND IMPACTS AT THE COAST AND A SHORT
DISTANCE INLAND
At the coast, the major impacts of either a l<strong>and</strong>falling hurricane or one
paralleling the coast are:
.Storm surge
.Winds
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