To: capt. obvious
Once a hurricane or typhoon reaches land, it tends to gravitate toward the first thing it hits. Try this: put the end of your vacuum's hose just above the floor and turn it on. Then, place you finger on the floor near the nozzle. The nozzle pulls toward your finger since the air can't rush in around your finger as easily as it would otherwise and a higher vacuum is created near your finger. The eye of the storm is just a huge vacuum, pulling everything in toward it and flinging it out in bands as it circulates. The trees, buildings, etc..cause friction for the wind headed into the eye and often steer the storm toward the first land mass it hits. That, and its counter-clockwise motion, usually make these things jog to the east. Once it hits friction from all sides over land, it starts to lose its power as the air can't get into the eye as easily and its major heat source is gone.
To: SCDockman
.....it tends to gravitate toward the first thing it hits....
Bert's theory of hurricane direction, formed today, states that the Missippi River delta, the protruding section of LA, the first land fall, bumped the hurricane slightly eastward, saving NO and damning MS.
The theory was buttressed when it was announced that Camille followed a similar path.
For the record, I'll try the vacuum experiment.
3,809 posted on
08/29/2005 12:44:53 PM PDT by
bert
(K.E. ; N.P . The wild winds of fortune will carry us onward)
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