Book 6, Question 126
Why Do Hurricanes Grow Over Warm Ocean Water?
A hurricane is like a giant heat engine, and warm ocean water is its fuel. Warm seawater evaporates and rises as moist air. That builds tall storm clouds, and Earth's spin twists them into a spiral.
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 6
More fun facts
- Hurricanes are like giant engines that use warm, moist air as fuel.
- Strong winds whip over the ocean, making water evaporate and rise into the sky, where it cools and forms storm clouds.
- The warmer the water, the more powerful the fuel for a storm.
- Hurricanes form over tropical oceans, between about 5 and 20 degrees of latitude.
- When a hurricane stalls over land, it usually weakens quickly because it has lost its warm water fuel.
- Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and Hurricane Florence in 2018 both weakened after stalling over land.
Sources: NASA Space Place, National Geographic, NOAA Ocean Exploration
Questions kids ask
Why do hurricanes get weaker over land?
They lose the warm ocean water that fuels them.