Download Why hurricanes form over warm oceans

Why hurricanes form over warm oceans
Source: Hurricane Watch by Dr. Bob Sheets and Jack Williams
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/whur7.htm
Hurricanes draw their power from warm, extremely humid air found only over warm oceans.
This is because the key energy source is the latent heat that's released when water vapor condenses
into cloud droplets and rain. Tropical storms and hurricanes grow best in a deep layer of humid air
that supplies plenty of moisture.
Disturbances that can grow into hurricanes begin where air is converging and being pushed upward.
If the air is unstable, it will continue rising after the initial upward shove.
The disturbance will grow only when winds at all levels of the atmosphere from the ocean up to
30,000 feet or higher are blowing at the same speed and from the same direction. Otherwise, the
winds can rip apart a growing storm.
Hurricanes grow under high pressure areas high above the ocean, which help pump away the rising
air, allowing more air to flow into the storm and rise. Text discusses more on what hurricanes need
to be born and grow.