Hurricanes are intense tropical cyclones that form over warm ocean waters and are characterized by a low-pressure center, organized deep convection, and strong cyclonic surface winds. They derive energy from latent heat released during condensation within deep convective clouds, requiring sea surface temperatures typically above ~26–27 °C, sufficient Coriolis force to initiate rotation, and weak vertical wind shear to maintain structural integrity. Hurricanes exhibit a warm-core structure, an eye and eyewall, and spiral rainbands, and are classified by maximum sustained wind speed. They are central topics in atmospheric science, climate research, and risk modeling due to their role in heat transport, extreme precipitation, storm surge, and high-wind hazards.
Weeks after Cyclone Senyar made landfall in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, the province of Aceh continues to struggle. The cyclone passed through the Strait of Malacca in late November, bringing heavy rains and causing widespread ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 12, 2026
0
18
An existing body of research indicates that climate change is making tropical cyclones wetter and more powerful. Now, a new study is indicating the same thing may be happening to the precursors of these storms: the wet weather ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 22, 2025
0
27
The oceanic conditions that churn up the very strongest of hurricanes and typhoons are heating up in the North Atlantic and Western Pacific, fueled by warm water that extends well below the surface. Human-caused climate change ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 16, 2025
0
176
The summer of 2025 brought unprecedented flash flooding across the U.S., with the central and eastern regions hit particularly hard. These storms claimed hundreds of lives across Texas, Kentucky and several other states and ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 15, 2025
0
24
Tropical storms such as typhoons, hurricanes, and cyclones are Earth's most powerful weather systems. Born over warm oceans, they travel thousands of kilometers to land, traversing waters now polluted with plastics, from ...
How do intermittent events like hurricanes impact natural selection? How do animals adapt to challenging weather? A University of Rhode Island professor has set out to track natural selection in the Anolis lizard over time ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 12, 2025
0
34
For the first time, scientists have resolved extremely intense tropical cyclones and their effect on the ocean carbon cycle in a global Earth system model. Using two category-4 hurricanes in the North Atlantic as examples, ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 10, 2025
0
29
The final week of November was devastating for several South Asian countries. Communities in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand were inundated as Cyclones Ditwah and Senyar unleashed days of relentless rain. Millions were ...
Environment
Dec 8, 2025
0
27
Women, juveniles, and ICE detainees in correctional facilities in five Gulf Coast states are vulnerable to threats from extreme heat, flooding, and hurricanes, a Yale School of the Environment study found. Despite the threats, ...
Environment
Dec 4, 2025
0
17
Cyclone Senyar hit South and Southeast Asian countries in late November. In Indonesia, the island of Sumatra, especially its northern parts, took the worst hit.
Environment
Dec 4, 2025
0
36
