Hurricane Information for Kids - What Causes a Hurricanes to Form?

A hurricane is a powerful, whirling storm that starts over tropical oceans. 

Hurricanes can also be called typhoons or cyclones.

How do Hurricanes Form?

In tropical regions, warm air rises quickly above the sea.
It contains large amounts of water vapor that has evaporated from the sea below.
Above the sea, the water vapor cools, turns back into water droplets and forms storm clouds.
Sometimes, the very moist air traveling upwards meets strong winds that pull it up even higher.
More moist air then rises from above the sea, making a huge, swirling ring of wind and rain.

Hurricane winds rotate at speeds of up to 150 miles (240 kilometers) an hour around a calm area in the center, called the eye of the storm.

The hurricane may last several days, moving forwards at about 12 miles (20 kilometers) an hour.
Most of the damage caused by hurricanes happens because the storm creates huge waves that flood the land.
This kind of storm needs a constant supply of moist air rising from warm seas.

So once they reach dry land, hurricanes die out.

If you could slice through a hurricane, this is how it would look.

It consists of a huge mass of wind and rain, swirling at enormous speed around a still point in the middle, called the eye.
A hurricane moves forward as it rotates, creating huge, destructive waves in its path.