Views of hurricanes from satellites located thousands of miles above the earth show how unique these powerful, tightly coiled weather systems are.
Hurricanes are products of the tropical ocean and atmosphere.
Powered by heat from the sea, they are steered by the easterly trade winds and the temperate westerlies as well as by their own ferocious energy. Around their core, winds grow with great velocity, generating violent seas. Moving ashore, they sweep the ocean inward while spawning tornadoes and producing torrential rains and floods. Many of these remain over the ocean. However, about five hurricanes strike the United States coastline every 3 years.