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Predicting hurricane intensity.(weatherfront)
- Article from:
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Weatherwise
- Article date:
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November 1, 2007
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Researchers from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu have found that the rate of lightning strikes in a hurricane's eyewall can help predict the strength of the storm while it is still far out over the ocean. When water condenses to form clouds, it releases latent heat that causes updrafts in the clouds and fuels hurricanes. If the updrafts are strong enough, they result in the separation of charge, which in turn produces lightning.
Lead author Kirt Squires, a recent graduate from the meteorology program at the University of Hawaii, studied data from 2005's hurricanes Rita and Katrina to determine whether there was a correlation between the rate of lightning strikes and ...