Question

Figure 2 Surface Map

Suppose the hurricane in Figure 2 has stalled off the southeast coast of the United States. Further suppose that the peak winds around the storm are 115 mi/hr and that its central pressure is 934 millibars (27.58 inches). If the hurricane begins to move due west at 10 mi/hr, answer the following questions assuming that the hurricane experiences no change in its intensity.
a. On which side of the hurricane (north, south, east or west) would you expect the winds to be strongest? Select: east, west, south, north
b. How strong would these winds be? Select: 100 mi/hr, 110 mi/hr, 125 mi/hr, 150 mi/hr
c. On which side of the hurricane (north, south, east, or west) would the winds probably be weakest?
d. How "weak" would these winds be? Select: 80 mi/hr, 90 mi/hr, 100 mi/hr, 105 mi/hr
e. Along the coastline, would the strongest storm surge most likely be observed at point A, B, or C? Select: point A, point B, point C, point D
f. Will the hurricane probably make landfall at point A, B, or C? Select: point A, point B, point C, point D
g. As the hurricane approaches, the wind direction at point B will most likely be Select from : the north or northeast, from the south or southwest, from the east or southeast, from the west or northwest
h. With the maximum winds you calculated in (b), on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane wind scale (Table 11.2, p. 335 in your text), determine the category number of this hurricane. Select: category 1, category 2, category 3, category 4
i. Along the coast, about how high in feet would you expect the storm surge to be? (Hint: Look at Figure 11.19, p. 335, for an estimate.) Select: about 8 feet, about 10 feet, about 12 feet, about 15 feet
j. As the storm moves onshore, will the lowest sea level pressure probably be observed at point A, B, or C? Select: point A, point B, point C, point D
k. Since this hurricane is over the North Atlantic Ocean and if it is the fourth tropical storm or hurricane named in this region during the 2016 hurricane season, what would be the name of this storm? (Hint: Look at Table 11. 1, p. 332 in your textbook.) Select: Danielle, Dolly, Danny, Dorian

Answer 1

As we know, in the Northern hemisphere the coriolis effect will cause the movement of winds to deflect towards its right side.

a. The hurricanes can be divided into 4 quadrants. The strongest winds occur in the front right quadrant and weakest winds in the forward left quadrant.

Therefore if the hurricane is moving west, the strongest winds will be on its North side.

b. The strongest winds will have speed which is the sum of the speed of the hurricane and the sourrounding winds. Here the hurricane moves at 10 mi/hr and wind speed is 115 mi/hr, so the strongest winds would be 115 + 10 = 125 mi/hr.

c. On the south of the storm the winds would be the weakest.

d. Weakest winds will result from the difference of speeds of hurricane and the surrounding winds. Thus the speed of the weakest winds will be - 115 - 10 = 105 mi/hr.

e. As the strongest winds would be towards the north of the hurricane, the storm surge would be at point A.

f. As the movement of hurricane is affected by the steering winds and the coriolis effect, the hurricane will probably make landfall at point A.

g. The winds in the centre of hurricane move counterclockwise.  So the winds at point B will appear to be coming from North or North east.

For other parts of the question table needs to be provided.