What Causes a Hurricane to Form?

Imagine the ocean as a giant bathtub filled with warm water. When it gets really hot, warm air rises from the surface and creates a kind of vacuum below. This pulls more water vapor up into the sky, making clouds bigger and stronger until they turn into a hurricane.

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Examples

  1. A bathtub with warm water starts a big splash when you pull the plug out.
  2. A hurricane is like a giant whirlpool that forms over warm ocean waters.
  3. Imagine boiling water rising up and creating a powerful storm above it.

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Categories: Environment · hurricanes· weather· oceanography · Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.