Scientist's to use H20 temps to predict Hurricane intensity

[vbhoutex]

An article I took off of Weather Matrix, where I am a member.

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/sc ... canes.html

"MIAMI -- Scientists are using water temperature to help predict when
hurricanes are about to make a dangerous change in intensity.

Hurricanes suddenly gain strength in part because they pass over rings,
swirls and eddies of unusually deep, warm water -- "bumps" that can be 2
inches higher than the rest of the ocean.

Scientist Gustavo Goni and others have developed a tool -- the tropical
cyclone heat potential -- to measure how warm the water is in these areas,
and how deep the higher temperatures reach. They measure the "bumps" with
precise satellite altimeters.

The ocean's surface must be at least 78.8 degrees Fahrenheit for hurricanes
to form and thrive.

Researchers have found those temperatures can range from 78.8 degrees at 45
feet to 87.8 degrees at 600 feet -- enough to make a big difference in a
hurricane's strength, said Goni, who works at the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological
Laboratory near Key Biscayne.

"We have examples we can show of hurricanes that intensified after passing
over these very warm areas," he said."