Hurricane Joaquin

Sarah Flanagan

Earth Science 10H

Current Event #1

October 1, 2015

By Jane J. Lee, National Geographic PUBLISHED Thu Oct 01 14:09:19 EDT 2015. "What Makes Hurricanes Like Joaquin Tick?" National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2015. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151001-joaquin-hurricane-explainer-weather-atmosphere-oceans-science/>  

The article, What Makes Hurricanes Like Joaquin Tick?, by Jane Lee explains Hurricane Joaquin and how hurricanes, in general, behave. Hurricane Joaquin is now a category three hurricane, on a scale of one to five, that is currently “hovering near the Bahamas.” Lee describes that the hurricane is getting stronger and stronger, startling forecasters by being classified as a category three hurricane “two days ahead of predictions.” It is also estimated that by Friday, Hurricane Joaquin could reach a category four hurricane. Lee then goes on to explain how all of this is even possible. She says that it is mostly due to the “hotter sea surface temperatures,” wind shear, and Joaquin’s “slow moving nature.” The temperature of the surface of the water causes more water to evaporate and ‘fuel’ the hurricane and because it’s so slow, the hurricane has more time to collect all of that water. The wind shear also brings in dry air into the center of the hurricane making the hurricane even more ferocious. It’s better when the hurricane finally gets to land, so that it can die down. While these things all contribute to how hurricanes build up and become more dangerous, there are categorized by their wind speeds. However, Lee describes other major hurricanes that were very destructive and life-threatening because of other things, like Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, Haiyan Mitch, and Andrew. Those hurricanes were very destructive because of their storm surges, flash floods, as well as wind blowing around debris. Lee also quotes Kerry Emanuel when saying that climate change will “increase the frequency of ‘high-end hurricanes.’” Lee then finishes her article about where Hurricane Joaquin will likely travel. She said that “the National Hurricane Center expects it to swing west-northwest in the next 24 hours.” Many people are trying to predict exactly where the hurricane will go, many saying that it will hit the “Carolinas and New Jersey.” The European model, however, shows Joaquin going east over the Atlantic, rather than going towards land. Lee also points out that the Europeans “correctly predicted the path of superstorm Sandy.” In any case, Lee finishes the article by saying that Hurricane Joaquin will definitely bring a lot of moisture to the east coast. The article is also accompanied by a video showing the beginnings of Joaquin and how it turned into a hurricane.

This article is important to many people currently and in the future because it gives people information on not only the current hurricane, but other previous ones and how they operate. People should have knowledge on the natural disaster that could occur around them, knowing when to evacuate and stay safe. Hurricane Mitch, alone, killed 12,000 people because of flash floods.

The article that Jane Lee wrote was very informative, engaging, and easy to follow. Everything was well written and she had good quotes from Kerry Emanuel, an atmospheric scientist at MIT, but I think she could have had others provide their input. I also liked that she said that the Europeans correctly predicted the path of Sandy as opposed to other forecasters. Lee even included a link to learn more about why they are so good at predicting these kind of storms, but I think that it would have been really interesting if she somehow incorporated some of that information into her own article. The video of the beginnings of Hurricane Joaquin was also quite interesting to see, but I wish that it were explained by either a short little paragraph of what we were seeing or someone commenting in the background. I found it really fascinating  to learn and understand more about Hurricane Joaquin and other hurricanes like it.