A monstrous presence engulfs the coast, pushing inland ahead of it surging waves rising fifteen feet, casting forward lightning storms, spawning tornadoes and howling forward at speeds that equal a redlining stock car racer. Once a year this might be a bad scene, but with hurricanes season covering half the year, this scenario could occur two, three, four times or more.

What is a hurricane to beleaguered Floridians and Georgians is a typhoon to the Japanese. There are a number of names for it, but whatever country it hits, under whatever name it’s called, the impacts are always the same.

What is a hurricane?

A tropical cyclone starts off as a tropical depression, which is a system of clouds and thunderstorms with sustained winds of 38mph or more. There is no eye to a tropical depression, nor is there a marked spiral shape. It is called a “depression” because it is a low-pressure system.

Once the winds pick up into the 38 to 73mph range the storm becomes a tropical storm. Typically the eye is still absent, but the infamous cyclonic shape begins to form. At this stage the storm has a name given to it by government weather services.

Once sustained maximum winds reach 74mph plus, the storm becomes a hurricane (or typhoon, or tropical cyclone, or severe cyclonic storm; whatever the name, it packs a serious punch.) At this stage the hurricane develops an eye, an area of relative calm in the center of the swirling winds and rain, which is the area of lowest atmospheric pressure.

When is hurricane season?

Officially, hurricane season begins the first of June and carries on six months to end November 30th. While June 1 to November 30 are the start and stop dates, hurricanes have occurred outside this range of dates. August through October typically host the strongest of hurricanes during the season, especially in the Atlantic Basin; September is the most active month globally.