A hurricane develops over the oceans and between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Tropical storms can also develop over the South Atlantic Ocean and the eastern South Pacific Ocean. Each year, an average of ten tropical storms develop over the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico (Fitzpatrick 15). Hurricanes are known by different names in different parts of the world: typhoons (in the Western Pacific) and cyclones (in the Indian Ocean) are two examples (Danielson 382).

Hurricane movement is related to the global winds. The easterly winds in the tropics usually steer hurricanes westward. Most storms then gradually swing north-westward around the subtropical high to the north. If the storm moves into middle latitudes, the prevailing westerlies steer it northeastward. A hurricane originating in the northern hemisphere moves toward the west veering northward and then northeastward as it moves into more higher latitudes. Because hurricanes receive their energy from the warm surface water and from the latent heat of condensation, they tend to disintegrate rapidly when they move over cold water or over a large mass of land (Fitzpatrick 27).

Typical hurricanes are about three-hundred miles wide although they can vary considerably in size. Hurricanes rotate counter-clockwise around the eye, which is most distinctive feature of a hurricane. The eye at a hurricane's center is a relatively calm, clear area approximately twenty to fourty miles across. The eyewall surrounding the

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