Unraveling Nature’s Fury: Understanding Why Hurricanes Intensify
Venice Florida’s Friendly Weather Service

Source: Pexels
Hurricanes are no stranger to the Florida peninsula, leaving behind destruction and devastation. In order to better protect life and property during hurricane season, it is important to understand the multiple factors that contribute to the formation and intensification of tropical storms and hurricanes. Keep reading to find out the scientific processes behind the intensification and development of hurricanes. This information is essential to better prepare for these life and property-threatening events.
1. Warm Ocean Waters – The main driving force of a Hurricane
Warm SSTs (sea surface temperatures) are one of the core factors that contribute to the intensification of tropical systems. Hurricanes feed off of SSTs that are at least 80°F (26.5°C) or higher. When hurricanes move over ocean waters with these temperatures, it acts as fuel to the storm by absorbing large amounts of energy and moisture from the surface of the ocean. The scientific name for this process is known as latent heat release. In short, latent heat release is when the warm, moist air rises and cools while releasing heat that helps to intensify the storm.
2. Wind Shear
You may often hear the term “wind shear” when meteorologists talk about tropical systems and intensification, but what does “wind shear” actually mean? The easy definition of wind shear is literally just high winds way up in the atmosphere. You may ask, what type of wind speeds affect the intensification of hurricanes? In general, winds must be at least 20 knots (23 mph) or higher in order to limit the growth of hurricanes. In most circumstances, if winds are lower than 20 knots, the storm most likely won’t have a difficult time strengthening depending on certain factors to be discussed below.
3. High Humidity and Moisture Content
It is common that high humidity and moisture content are also vital when it comes to hurricane intensification and development. We know that hurricane season runs from the beginning of Summer until the end of Fall. The reasoning is that during this time of the year, close to the Equator, we have high moisture content. This is also why, speaking in general terms, when hurricanes move toward the North Pole, on average, they tend to weaken. Colder waters, along with less moisture and humidity, are not a hurricane’s best friend. Earlier, we talked about the scientific term “latent heat,” which is a process that occurs when we talk about warm, moist air rising from the ocean’s surface and then cooling and condensing. This cooling and condensing release latent heat, which will help sustain the hurricane’s energy.
4. Coriolis Effect – Spinning Hurricanes
The Coriolis effect is always a tricky topic to explain to people. To keep things simple, in general, the Earth rotates on its axis as we know. We also know that Earth is split into two hemispheres, the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, circulating air is deflected toward the right direction, while in the Southern Hemisphere, it is toward the left. This is exactly why hurricanes spin counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and the opposite in the Southern. Fun fact, hurricanes in the Southern Hemisphere are more commonly known as just “tropical cyclones.” The term “hurricane” is mainly used when we talk about storms in the North Atlantic, central North Pacific, and eastern North Pacific oceans. Overall, the deflection of this air towards the right or left is what’s known as the Coriolis effect. Without the Coriolis effect, hurricanes would not be able to rotate and develop circulation.
5. Eye Formation and Eyewall Replacement Cycles
Meteorologists also tend to mention “eyewall replacement cycles” which is just fancy for saying a new eyewall forms around the existing eye. The eye of a hurricane is an area of pretty benign conditions which usually includes calm winds, blue skies, and lower pressure. The eyewall is what surrounds the area where these calm conditions occur, which is where the worst and most powerful part of the hurricane is. This is the part of the storm where you will tend to see the maximum wind speeds occur along with flooding rains. Unfortunately, the eyewall is also where the majority of the wind damage can occur as well, depending on the strength of the storm. As hurricanes strengthen, the eye and eyewall become very well-defined, especially on radar and satellite imagery. As the eyewall replacement cycle occurs, the storm will actually weaken shortly as a new eyewall forms around the existing one, which then can intensify the storm even more. The formation of the eye and the eyewall replacement cycle is another important aspect of intensifying hurricanes and sustaining energy.
6. Ocean Heat Depth
Ocean heat depth means exactly how it sounds. How deep the warm water goes down within the ocean. The scientific name for this is ocean heat content (OHC). The greater the depth of the warm water, the more fuel the storm has to maintain its strength and continue intensifying. A phenomenon related to this is called “upwelling” and upwelling actually occurs after a storm passes over a certain area of the ocean where cooler water from deep down moves towards the surface. This can be easily seen when looking at maps of sea surface temperatures shortly after a storm passes over. If the ocean heat depth is deep enough, upwelling won’t occur. This depends on exactly how deep the ocean floor is. The deeper the ocean floor, the better chance for upwelling.
7. Climate Change and Hurricane Intensification
Climate change tends to be a controversial topic for many. Is it actually happening or is it all a hoax? Well, based on scientific measurements from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shown below, we can clearly see an increase in average global sea surface temperatures. Remember that the words “average” and “global” are very important to focus on. This is NOT referring to “local” sea surface temperatures within a specific ocean. This refers to the whole entire globe. For example, some years, the Gulf of Mexico may be warmer than average, and some years it may be cooler, but that does not mean that globally we are seeing a rise or decrease in sea temperatures. We also have to keep in mind that weather patterns affect ocean temperatures as well. So, when it comes to hurricanes in general, we know from experience and observation that warmer ocean waters do contribute to stronger storms. Could this mean in the future we see stronger storms? Sure, but remember all the other ingredients that must come together for stronger storms mentioned throughout this article.

Source: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
In conclusion, Hurricane Ian is an example that had many of these ingredients come together including warm ocean waters, low wind shear, high moisture content, eyewall replacement cycle, and many other factors which unfortunately devastated parts of the West coast of Florida including Sarasota down to Fort Myers. Climate scientists will continue to study hurricane intensification and climate change which will, in return, help us meteorologists better inform and prepare the general public before, during, and after a storm!
~ Joey
Be sure to check out the official hurricane preparation list page here and the helpful hurricane links page here for more information about storm preparation and don’t forget to leave a rating/comment below if you learned something after reading this article!