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Recently, the USA state of Louisiana has again found itself in the news due to Hurricane Delta. This storm marks the second significant hurricane to hit the area within the year, as recovery efforts from the previous hurricane, Laura, are still ongoing. Hurricane Delta’s landfall has brought numerous aspects into focus, including the influence of global warming on hurricane intensification and the unique situation wherein Greek alphabets are employed for hurricane names.
Unprecedented Occurrence: Record-Breaking Hurricane Landfall
Hurricane Delta has gained notoriety as it became the 10th named storm to make a landfall in the USA in 2020. This record-breaking activity outpaced a century-old record previously set in 1916. According to scientific research, a crucial contributing factor behind this intensified Atlantic hurricane activity is global warming.
Greek Influence: First of its Kind
Delta has earned another distinctive recognition as the first-ever hurricane, named using the Greek alphabet, to make a landfall in the continental USA. In scenarios where an active hurricane season exhausts the predefined list of names, the system resorts to the Greek alphabet. Originally landing as a Category 2 hurricane, Delta weakened to a Category 1 after moving inland.
Understanding Hurricanes: Nature’s Fierce Storms
Recognized as the most violent storms on Earth, hurricanes wreak havoc every year between June and November, particularly impacting the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern coast of the United States. They go by different names around the globe – ‘Typhoons’ in the western North Pacific, ‘Cyclones’ in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, and ‘Willy-Willy’ in Australia.
The Birth and Evolution of a Hurricane
The inception of a hurricane occurs with a tropical disturbance, an area over warm ocean waters marked by building rain clouds. As this disturbance grows, it may morph into a tropical depression, characterized by rotating thunderstorms with winds up to 62 km/hr. If the winds escalate to reach 63 km/hr, the tropical depression graduates into a tropical storm. This will further intensify into a hurricane if the wind speed surges to 119 km/hr.
Classification and Naming of Hurricanes
The categorization of hurricanes is based on their sustained wind speeds, split into five distinct categories, as measured by the Saffir-Simpson wind scale in the Atlantic. Each hurricane is composed of three primary parts: the ‘Eye,’ signifying the calm center; the ‘Eye Wall,’ comprising the ring of thunderstorms displaying the strongest winds and heaviest rains; and far-reaching ‘Rain Bands,’ extending for hundreds of miles, often containing additional thunderstorms and sometimes even tornadoes. The naming convention for hurricanes involves cycling through alphabetical names from six designated lists, reused every six years.
