PrintModule 5 Lab
This short lab will help you hone your skills for predicting whether a hurricane is likely to develop or not, and where it might go. As we have learned, there are many factors that control whether a storm develops and its ultimate path, but here we will focus on sea surface temperature (SSTs), wind shear, and pressure. Here are the basics: for a storm to develop you need some type of disturbance, SSTs above 79oF (26oC), and for it to gain momentum you need low wind shear. Storms are steered by winds, this essentially being “deflected” or moving around areas of high pressure including the Bermuda high and towards troughs of low pressure. As we’ve said, it's more complex than that, but these are the nuts and bolts.
To hone your skills, we have set up a few practice questions. Go to Module 5 Lab (Practice). You can take this practice quiz as many times as you like and ask us questions if you don’t understand something. When you are ready, go to Module 5 Lab (Graded) to answer questions for credit. You will only get one chance at them. Again, this is a fairly short and simple exercise, but we truly hope it will help you predict the next storm!