By United Press International Experts who track the path and intensity of hurricanes in order to determine when to issue evacuation warnings are now looking at how a flow of warm water called the Loop Current may impact the strength of the storms that cross it.
Hurricanes get their fuel from the warm surface water of the ocean.
The storms dissipate when they move inland away from their warm water energy source, or when winds churn up the surface water and allow the undersea layers of low-energy cold water to reach the surface. The Loop Current, however, includes warm water running at deeper depths, and therefore packs the kind of energy that can theoretically intensify a hurricane from a relatively weak Category 1 to a dangerous Category 4 or even a Category 5 storm in a matter of hours, leaving coastal residents who had been planning to ride out a modest storm little time to escape from a potential killer storm. Determining the level of the Loop Current's influence on hurricanes should make it easier for forecasters and government officials to decided if and when to give the order to evacuate. All evacuations are based on the forecast of intensity. A minimal Category 1 hurricane has winds up to 95 mph and storm surges of up to 5 feet.