Hurricane Observations

Abstract

The terms “hurricane”, “typhoon”, and “tropical cyclone” reflect only a difference in geographical location, but not of underlying physical principles. For this reason, when geographical considerations are not relevant, the above terms will be used more or less interchangeably throughout this book. The unique vertical structure of a hurricane can best be seen from a few vertical cross-sections that portray its wind, temperature, equivalent potential temperature, and clouds. Some of the classical illustrations of wind and temperature have come from an analysis of Hurricane Inez of 1966 by Hawkins and Imbembo (1976). Figure 15.1 is a cross-section across the hurricane that was produced using multiple aircraft reconnaissance data sets. The hurricane reconnaissance aircraft provided flight level winds and a center fix that enabled the construction of this inner core structure of the strong winds in a hurricane.