Lee County Hazards Guide

The Lee County All Hazards Guide is available in Spanish and German. Click here to find out more about hurricanes and to get a copy of the All Hazards Guide (now available in Spanish and German).

Fire Department
P.O. Box 150027
Cape Coral, FL 33915-0027

phone: 239-574-0501
fax: 239-242-3309
email: ccfire@capecoral.net

Hurricane Q & A

What is a hurricane?

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A hurricane is a gigantic atmospheric heat pump whose intake spans hundreds of miles over tropical oceans or other tropical bodies, and pulls in water from the ocean surface toward a low-pressure center. As this air rises and converges near the center of the storm (in the vicinity of the eye wall), it rises, condenses the moisture it carries and releases the latent heat, which is the fuel that drives the hurricane. The cloud droplets and ice crystals rise in a chimney-like structure located in the eye wall and are spewed out of the top of the cloud mass at an altitude of 8 to 10 miles. This exhaust product is what is usually seen by the weather satellite and typically looks like the shape of a comma.

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