im kind of an idiot
In: Other
Storms, and their big brother cousins Tornadoes, are powered by energy in the atmosphere that is typically released when a cold front enables rapid disturbance of air layers and a fast release of energy already in the air.
Theres a limited amount of energy (this is in the form of water vapor in the air, that releases air when it condenses out) and the storm has access to a limited area of air, so these events are very localized and end once they’ve tapped out energy reserves in the local area – ie very quickly.
Hurricanes are powered by energy in the sea, with the warm ocean powering it up by releasing humidity into the atmosphere, and as it powers up it uses the energy released by the ocean faster and faster so keeps on powering up as long as it’s over warm ocean. There’s a vast quantity of energy available here, over a huge area, that can spend a week or more powering up a hurricane as long as it stays over warm water., resulting in a days long sustained storm event over a huge area. This is also why, with a handful of exceptions, hurricanes lose power so fast as soon as they hit land – they go from being able to draw from the enormous energy reserve in the ocean to having to tap the much more modest energy reserves in the atmosphere, so power down fairly promptly.
Latest Answers