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

74 HURRICANES: THEIR NATURE AND IMPACT ON SOClliTY
Figure 3.5 Schematic of the formation of an eye, as the winds become too strong to
permit the air to spiral all the way into the center of the tropical cyclone
followed by a rapid increase of the wind from the direction opposite to that
observed before the passage of the eye.
Figure 3.8 illustrates the change of wind speed, temperature, <strong>and</strong> pressure
from the periphery of a hurricane into its center (at a height of about 3 kIn
above the ocean). This cross-section, obtained by averaging 16 aircraft
penetrations into Hurricane Anita in the Gulf of Mexico on 2 September
1977, is typical of a strong, mature hurricane. Note that the radius of
maximum winds of about 144 miles per hour, which occurred about 13 miles
(20 kIn) out from the center, corresponds to the outer limit of the warming of
up to 9°F (5°C) caused by the sinking of air in the eye. The average upward
motion of air in the eye wall is also largest at the radius of maximum winds.