What does water temp. have to do with hurricane size?

Question

What does the temperature of water have to do with the size of a hurricane? How did global warming have an effect on hurricane Katrina's size?

Answer 1

Hurricanes gain power when the water is warmer. That is why a lot of hurricanes gain power going over the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. If global warming is in effect, then the warmer water makes the hurricane stronger.

Answer 2

This is a little oversimplified, but briefly: Hurricanes are formed by updrafts of warm humid air, which are created by large bodies of warm water. The warmer the water, the stronger the updrafts - in essence, more heat energy is added to the system. When hurricanes have more energy, they tend to be larger and/or more intense (not necessarily both - Camille was very powerful but rather small).

In theory, if the planet gets warmer, the water (on average) will be warmer, and thus hurricanes (on average) will have more energy to draw on. The problem is that the exact pattern of hurricanes is not known, and the exact relationship between average global temperature and hurricane number or strength is even less clear. For example, based partly on the experience in 2005, predictions for the 2006 hurricane season were rather dire; it turned out to be a very mild season in the Atlantic with no landfalling hurricanes in the US, although China and the far east did have a rough time.

Answer 3

Water temperature is an indicator of heat. Heat is the fuel of the hurricane. The higher the temperature, the more energy is availabl for the hurricane.

Hurricane force is not a reliable indicator of Global Warming, it is a local phenomenon.

Camille in 1969 was much stronger than Katrina. If hurricane size is a measure of global warming, then we must have been cooling since Camille.

Answer 4

Tropical cyclones need 80 degree or higher water temperatures to sustain themselves.Warm air rises.The warmer the water temperature, the more energy the cyclone has to build on. Unusually warm water temperatures combined with favorable upper level winds and a strong circulation center helped Katrina to grow into one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded. Katrina weakened to a category 3 storm before making landfall east of New Orleans, however the storm surge that flooded New Orleans and Mississippi was created when Katrina was a category 5 storm, so it proved to be very catestrophic.

Answer 5

The hurricane is a method to remove the heat from the water and allow it to flow upward toward cooler temperature. Therefore a hurricane wants worm water and cooler air space to dump heat into.

Answer 6

the warmer the water, the better chances the hurricane has to strengthen. Katrina had very warm gulf of Mexico waters to move over and plenty of time to strengthen.

Answer 7

At least 82 F to start and sustain. Dies out at around 78 F and over mountain ranges and other high mountainous areas such as plateaus. Due to the size of the wall stopping the hurricane progress but also the water (and air) drops 3.5 F for every thousand feet in elevation. Other factors have significant impact but that is not the question you asked so this is your best answer.

Answer 8

It definatly does. A ocean water of 90 degrees will most likely causes a devestating hurricane to form.

Answer 9

the warmer the water the bigger the hurricane

Answer 10

the warmer the weather, and the lower the pressure, the bigger the hurricane