In the Eye of the Storm Trivia Quiz

Answer: June 1

Hurricane season starts June 1 and runs to November 30 in the Atlantic Region. In the Pacific region the start time is May 15 and also runs until Nov 30.
Hurricanes' strengths are defined by a category scale from 1 to 5 with increasing ferocity. Hurricanes can occur outside of the official hurricane season but 97% of these storms fit into the June through November range.

Answer: Arlene

The list of named hurricanes only being female ended in 1978 when male names were added. The list of names rotates every six years. Arlene is the most frequently used name, having been used ten times up to 2016. The next use of Arlene will be in 2017.

The World Meterological Organization (WMO) determines what names to retire, usually based on sensitivity to storms that are especially costly to life and property.

Answer: Galveston, TX

8,000 lives were lost on Sep 8, 1900 when a 15 foot wave and 130 MPH winds struck and devastated the Texas coastal island. There were no names given to storms in 1900. Most of the deaths were caused by the storm surge of this Category 4 hurricane.

Answer: Cyclones

Hurricanes are wind storms that occur in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans. Typhoons occur in the Western Pacific. Monsoons are a seasonal reversal of wind patterns bring heavy rains mainly occurring in the Western parts of Africa and the Asia-Australian regions.

Answer: Tropical Depression

Meteorologists use all of these terms, but tropical depression is the official term. The wind speed of a tropical depression is greater than 20 MPH but less than 39 MPH. Tropical depressions are not named, but given a code number.

Answer: Saffir-Simpson

Herb Saffir, a wind engineer and Bob Simpson, a meteorologist devised the scale. Cat 1 is 74-95 MPH, Cat 2 is 96-110 MPH, Cat 3 is 111-129 MPH, Cat 4 is 130-156 MPH and Cat 5 is over 156 MPH. A structural engineer, Saffir was employed by the U.N. in 1969 to study the hurricane effects on low-cost housing.

He fashioned his scale after the Richter earthquake scale based on wind speed that reflected the potential structural damage from a hurricane. The director of the US Hurricane Center, Robert Simpson, then modified the scale by adding the effect of water damage from floodwaters and storm surge.

Answer: The eyewall

The eye of the hurricane is a calm, low pressure, area about 20-25 miles wide and made up of sinking air. The eye is surrounded by the eye wall that carries the strongest winds and rain. The other answers are red herrings.

Answer: Katrina

Katrina struck the northern Gulf Coast hitting Louisiana and Mississippi. New Orleans, being below sea level, suffered catastrophic damage when the levee system pumps failed. The monetary damage has been estimated to be 108 billion dollars.

Answer: Storm surge

A storm surge occurs when a hurricane makes landfall and creates a wall of water that can be as high as 20 feet. 90% of all fatalities are due to the storm surge and subsequent flooding. Federal flood insurance is available for those living in a flood zone and is required to secure a home mortgage. Flood zone areas can have requirements for new homes to be build higher than any anticipated flood height, hence the term "stilt" homes in Florida.

Answer: Clockwise

Cyclones rotate counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. A force called the Coriolis is created by the rotation of the earth. This force directs wind to the right in the Northern Hemisphere. When a low pressure area forms north of the Equator, winds will move inward to fill in the low and will be deflected to the right causing the start of a counterclockwise rotation.

The opposite action occurs in the south of the Equator creating clockwise wind rotation. This force does not affect the motion of water going down a drain or toilet. That rotation is determined by the shape of the basin and the original direction of the water.

Another old wive's tale debunked.