What dictates a hurricaneโs strength?
There are many ways to categorize a hurricane. The stormโs central pressure is one way. The height of its storm surge is another. How much rain it drops is another. And, of course, the strength of its wind is another. But what causes a hurricane to strengthen or weaken? The answer is simple enough, but multifaceted.
Tropical Storm Iota forms, could follow Etaโs deadly path
Hurricane experts were closely watching the Caribbean, where Tropical Storm Iota formed Friday afternoon. The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Iota could bring dangerous wind, storm surge and as much as 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rainfall to northern Nicaragua and Honduras. The storm was located about 350 miles (560 kilometers) south-southeast of Kingston, Jamaica and had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph). Iota is a record-setting 30th named storm of this yearโs extraordinarily busy Atlantic hurricane season. Earlier, firefighters in Tampa had to rescue around a dozen people who got stuck in storm surge flooding on a boulevard adjacent to the bay.
Mag. 6.3 aftershock strikes after 7.7 magnitude earthquake hits between Cuba and Jamaica
HAVANA โ A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck in the Caribbean Sea between Jamaica and eastern Cuba on Tuesday. About three hours later, a massive 6.3 magnitude aftershock struck. A tsunami threat message was issued by the US National Weather Serviceโs Pacific Tsunami Warning Center after the initial earthquake. Aftershocks are still rumbling across the Mid-Cayman Spreading Center (green dashed area) from that strong #earthquake a few hours ago. The quake also hit the Cayman Islands, leaving cracked roads and what appeared to be sewage spilling from cracked mains.