Educational Science

Powerful winds, drenching rain and towering storm surges make hurricanes not only some of the planet’s most violent storms, but also the costliest natural disasters in the United States, researchers reported in 2019 in the journal PNAS. Ranking the most damaging hurricanes, however, depends on the measure used: usually, financial...

Hurricane Ian to reach Category 3 before hitting Cuba, turning toward West Florida

Hurricane Ian, the fourth hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic season, strengthened from a tropical storm into a Category 1 hurricane in the early hours of Monday morning (Sept. 26), and it's expected to continue intensifying into at least a Category 3 storm as it nears Cuba's western shore, the National...

Hurricane Ida, an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane, made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, at 11:55 a.m. local time on Sunday (Aug. 29), bringing with it maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km/h) and extremely life-threatening storm surges of 12 to 16 feet (3.7 to 4.9 meters) according to...

Expect another above-average hurricane season in 2022, NOAA predicts

Experts are warning that the Eastern U.S. should prepare for another barrage of tropical storms this year. The 2022 Atlantic hurricane season is likely to be more active than average for the seventh year in a row, according to the latest prediction from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)....

Hurricane Ian to unleash 'life-threatening' flooding in Florida as Category 4 storm

Editor's note: This is a developing story and may be updated. Hurricane Ian strengthened to a Category 4 storm early Wednesday (Sept. 28) morning having just passed over western Cuba, causing an island-wide blackout and killing at least two people. The storm's center is due to reach Florida's western shore...

This hurricane season will be even more active than previously predicted, NOAA says

It's been just over two months since the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season kicked off on June 1, and we can expect to see even more hurricanes and named storms than experts previously predicted, before the season winds down on Nov. 30. On Wednesday (Aug. 4), scientists with the National Oceanic...

Hurricane Fiona hits the Dominican Republic after wiping out Puerto Rico's power grid

Hurricane Fiona struck the eastern coast of the Dominican Republic on Monday (Sept. 19) after the Category 1 storm had caused widespread flooding, landslides and a territory-wide blackout in Puerto Rico the day before. Fiona strengthened from a tropical storm to a hurricane on Sunday morning (Sept. 18), and the...

See Hurricane Ida from 1 million miles away in this NOAA satellite view

When Hurricane Ida slammed into Louisiana as huge Category 4 storm on Sunday (Aug. 29), the tempest's sheer size was evident from nearly a million miles away. A new photo from NASA's Epic camera on the NOAA Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) shows Hurricane Ida as it appeared from Lagrange...