plane races down a runway. Its engines
roar as it liſt s off . Today’s weather forecast calls for clear skies
and gentle breezes. What a perfect day for flying, thinks pilot Lt. Col. Shannon Hailes. Yet he knows trouble is coming. T at’s why
he’s up in the air. He’s practicing ways to fly into the worst kind of weather. Soon, he’ll have to do it for real. A warm winter and spring have turned
into a hot summer. T at’s a perfect recipe for storms. It heats up the oceans. T e warm water fuels monster storms called hurricanes.
Humble Beginnings Hurricanes are the largest kind of storm. T ey start as ordinary thunderstorms. Yet they don’t stay that way for long. T at’s because they form over warm, tropical waters. T e sun’s energy turns them into megastorms. Here’s how. Day aſt er day, the sun beats down on the
ocean near the Equator. T e sun’s energy heats the water. It warms a layer of water as deep as 46 meters (150 feet) below the surface. When this water reaches 26° Celsius (80° Fahrenheit), a hurricane can form. T is warm water evaporates easily. It turns
into a gas called water vapor. T e warm, moist vapor rises and cools. It forms storm clouds. T e rising vapor also changes air pressure.
T at’s the force of air pressing on Earth’s surface. As air rises, an area of low pressure forms. Now air doesn’t press down as heavily. Low air pressure is like a huge vacuum
cleaner. It sucks up air from near the ocean’s surface. As air pressure drops, more air rushes in and up. Soon, these winds whirl. T e storm spins like a giant pinwheel. When steady wind speeds top 119 kilometers (74 miles) per hour, it’s a hurricane!
18 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXTREME EXPLORER
Hurricane Hunters High up in the atmosphere, giant currents of air blow. T ey push the hurricane across the ocean. As the hurricane moves, its spinning winds churn up wild waves. Hailes flies into this wicked weather. He
doesn’t do it for the wild ride. He is a hurricane hunter. His flights can save lives. He and his team collect weather data inside the hurricane. T ey help track the storm.
eyewall eye
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