Post by weather2a on Aug 21, 2015 0:48:51 GMT -6
As we watch one of the smallest hurricanes that we can remember churning in the Atlantic I'm sure that the question "why do we see hurricanes vary in size so much?" or "what causes a storm to be a certain size" comes to mind. I for one have seen some answers to the question but I remain unsatisfied. It seems as though tropical systems take on a personality that is usually carried with them for their entire existence. Hurricane Andrew remained a compact storm system despite intensifying to a category 5 hurricane and despite being disrupted by the Florida peninsula. Hurricane Ike was always a medium to large sized tropical system even as it grew to a category 4 hurricane but after its core was disrupted by Cuba and it entered the GOM it seemed to grow more in size than in intensity. So, what causes a tropical system to start out with a compact or large circulation and what causes it to change? Why is Hurricane Danny a midget.
