Hurricane Dolly Research Paper

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On the morning of my 10th birthday, July 23rd, 2008. I had been woken up by the hum of heavy rainfall scattering harshly on my roof. My grandmother’s house had been cradled and rocked gently by the high winds taking place right outside our window. It was my 10th birthday and I was witnessing first had how much a hurricane could affect the daily life and long term living of any human being that fell in its path. That hurricane turned out to be the tropical storm, Hurricane Dolly. A storm that would later be the 4th most destructive hurricane on record that has hit Texas.
A hurricane is first created by the formation of low pressure areas over warm ocean waters that take place within the warmer seasons. Water vapor is the source of a hurricane’s …show more content…

The difference between these two terms is merely dependent on the location of where the storm originates. A tropical cyclone is a general term used by meteorologists. They are often used to describe a rotating system of clouds that originate over subtropical or tropical waters and often acquire closed, low-level circulation. In order to be considered for classification under the title of hurricane, cyclone, or typhoon, a tropical storm has to reach maximum sustained wind levels of at least 74 miles per hour. Once a storm’s maximum sustained wind levels have reached or passed 74 miles per hour, they are in fact a hurricane. A scale by the name Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is a 1 to 5 scale that rates the hurricane based off of the maximum sustained winds. The higher the number is, the greater the potential damage of the …show more content…

Starting out as a tropical depression at a wind speed of less than 39 hours per mile, then transitioning to a tropical storm with winds at 39-73 miles per hour, then changing to a category 1 with winds 74-95 miles per hour, and finally evolving into a category 2 with winds at 111-130 miles per hour. Hurricane usually season lasts around 5 months, beginning on June 1st, 2008 and ending on November 30th of the same year. Hurricane Dolly was 2nd hurricane during the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season and the 4th tropical cyclone. It formed on July 20th and lived a long 5 days before dissipating. The storm reached landfall on July 21st of 2008. Landfall is a term regarding the eye of the hurricane and it passing over land. The areas of land that were affected by Hurricane Dolly were Honduras, the Cayman Islands, Belize, Guatemala, Yucatan, Peninsula, Texas, North Western and North Eastern Mexico, Arizona, and New Mexico. A total of 21 people died due to the conditions of Hurricane Dolly. 1 one was injured, but no one was killed in