Hurricanes need a lot of heat to form, which is why they usually occur over tropical seas (at least 26°C). The sun is close to the equator, providing energy to heat the ocean. The warm ocean heats the air above it causing it to rise rapidly.
While I was writing we ran into the query “Why do hurricanes have so much energy?”.
Hurricanes are large weather engines, and any engine needs energy to run. The secret energy source of a hurricane is the large latent heat of water. Air over the tropical oceans is drier than you might think. Although both the air and water may be warm and calm, evaporation can take place because the air is not at 100 percent relative humidity.
What conditions are needed to form a hurricane?
For one to form, there needs to be warm ocean water and moist, humid air in the region. When humid air is flowing upward at a zone of low pressure over warm ocean water, the water is released from the air as creating the clouds of the storm. As it rises, the air in a hurricane rotates.
What is a warm core hurricane?
Hurricanes are warm core storms. The heat hurricanes generate is from the condensation of water vapor as it convectively rises around the eye wall. The lapse rate must be unstable around the eyewall to insure rising parcels of air will continue to rise and condense water vapor.
The first condition is that ocean waters must be above 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit). Below this threshold temperature, hurricanes will not form or will weaken rapidly once they move over water below this threshold. Ocean temperatures in the tropical East Pacific and the tropical Atlantic routinely surpass this threshold.
While a hurricane is over warm water it will continue to grow. Because of low pressure at its center, winds flow towards the center of the storm and air is forced upward. High in the atmosphere, winds flow away from the storm, which allows more air from below to rise.
Where do hurricanes form and why?
Hurricanes often form in warm places, over the tropical seas. How do tropical storms form? Hurricanes need a lot of heat to form, which is why they usually occur over tropical seas (at least 26°C). The sun is close to the equator, providing energy to heat the ocean.
Why do hurricanes form only at the equator?
That is why they form only over warm ocean waters near the equator. The warm, moist air over the ocean rises upward from near the surface. Because this air moves up and away from the surface, there is less air left near the surface.