Question

The strongest winds in a hurricane are ____________________.

A. in the eye
B. in the eye wall
C. typically about 100 miles away from the eye
D. on the left-hand side of the storm (looking in the direction the hurricane is moving)

Answer 1

The strongest winds in a hurricane are found in the eye wall. This area encircles the calm eye of the storm, where due to the physics of rotation, winds achieve their greatest velocity.

Step-by-step explanation:

The strongest winds in a hurricane are in the eye wall. The eye wall surrounds the eye of the hurricane, where the most intense and damaging winds can be found. In the very center, or eye, of the hurricane, winds are relatively calm due to the low pressure and lack of air forced to move rapidly around the center.

Hurricanes are immense low pressure systems that form over warm water and huge amounts of energy can be released, with wind speeds that can dramatically increase in speed as they near the eye wall, becoming highly destructive. Understanding this phenomenon relies on grasping the physics at play, such as the Coriolis effect that contributes to the rotational movement.