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Hurricanes

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I am a veteran storm chaser of 12 years for the NWS (National Weather Service); this is what I do. I have seen firsthand the devastation of many a tornado. The destruction they leave behind is both breathtaking and awe-inspiring. However, as fierce as the winds of a tornado are, nothing on this planet can match the sheer destructive power of a hurricane in both lives taken and property damaged.

The most deadly tornado is the dreaded F-5, known also as the Finger of God. It packs winds around 315 mph that can drive grass into telephone poles. Unlike hurricanes, the largest tornadoes generally don't get beyond a mile or so wide, and are short-lived. The reason for this is that the dynamics required to fuel a tornado (updraft, wind sheer, cape values, heat and humidity) are super critical. Many times a tornado will simply run out of energy and collapse in on itself; much like a drunk stepping on his own coattails. Not so for the hurricane. It can travel hundreds of miles inland, causing surrounding states to deal with their own weather woes.

By their nature, hurricanes are massive. They can be many hundreds of miles in circumference, and pack a deadly one-two punch. As they make landfall their winds can be anywhere from 74 to 150 mph with gusts up to 200 mph. This is the uppercut of the storm's arrival. After this comes the right cross, in the form of opposing winds. Hurricanes can be slow movers allowing for sustained damage and flooding that you normally don't get with tornadoes. And, if this weren't enough, many hurricanes pack their own tornadoes.

So, while the tornado pound-for-pound is the bad boy of it's class, it is still only a lightweight when it comes to its heavyweight cousin the hurricane.

P.S. Both types of storms pack dangerous cloud-to-ground (CG) lightening, and lightening kills more people each year than do snowstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes combined! Lightening can reach out and take a life more than twenty miles away (and often does), even from over the horizon. Remember: you don't have to see lightening to be in danger from it. If you hear thunder, it's time to seek shelter either in your car or a building - but never under a tree! Lightening has a tendency to splash after it hits something, and all those little veins of electricity are still live and seeking a ground. If you are ever caught out in the open during a lightening storm and have no place to go, make yourself as small as possible by crouching down on the balls of your feet. This way you present less of a target. Never lie down on the ground, as this only expands your profile as a grounding rod. And by all means dispose of that metal golf club!

Learn more about this author, Wayne Stewart.
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