Introduction Mary N. Harrison Hurricanes Hurricanes are tropical storms with winds that reach more than 74 miles per hour.
Hurricanes blow in a large spiral around a relatively calm center the eye.
They begin as small tropical cyclones which, in the Northern Hemisphere, move slowly in a west- northwesterly direction. The hurricanes that strike the Eastern United States originate in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico. The initial forward speed of a hurricane is slow usually 15 miles per hour or less. As the hurricane moves northward, its forward speed increases. The hurricane area can be as large as 500 miles in diameter, but major damage usually occurs along the coast in an area that is 30 to 100 miles wide.