TROPICAL
STORMS
Starter
In pairs, think of 5 questions beginning with the letter ‘W’ that
you could ask about this image
Lesson 1 and 2
What are tropical storms?
Lesson objectives
• To understand what tropical storms are and how they are formed.
Success Criteria
• To label and annotate a world map showing a definition and the location of
tropical storms around the world.
• To draw a diagram showing the stages of the formation of a tropical storm.
What is a tropical storm?
Definition: Tropical storms are large areas of low
pressure or extreme depressions. They occur in areas
where sea surface temperatures are over 27 degrees
centigrade.
Depressions and Anti-cyclones
• Depressions bring very wet and windy conditions. Depressions occur all throughout
the year, but are most common around Autumn into Winter. Depressions also bring
lots of clouds with them (try to remember a Depression as a depressingly wet and
windy day!!!)
• The opposite to a Depression is an Anti-Cyclone. Anti-cyclones bring calm weather
with clear skies. You can also experience an anti-cyclone all throughout the year.
During the summer months, anti-cyclones bring very hot weather with very little
cloud and no rain, during the winter you usually get clear skies at night which
makes it very cold. Usually in winter you will get lots of frost and fog in the morning
as the night brought clear skies. Brrrrrrrr!!! Anti-Cyclones are also referred to as
areas of High Pressure.
The Eye of the storm
• On satellite images they are shown up as, swirling masses of cloud,
with the eye clearly visible at the centre
• The eye of the storm is where you will find the calm and clear area at
the centre of the tropical storm.
• THINK: Why do you think that the eye of the storm may be
considered as being dangerous to people?
Tip: Think about what happened in the
Film “The day after tomorrow”.
Can you name the types of tropical storms?
There are four types of
tropical storms:
• Hurricanes
• Typhoons
• Cyclones
These are the
different terms used, but
they all mean the same!!
Map skills Task 1:
• Using a world map complete the following:
1. Draw on where the different types of tropical
storms are found
2. Shade in where sea temperature in over 27
degrees centigrade
3. Homework: Annotate the map with 6
interesting facts about tropical storms
Where can we find tropical storms?
The Hurricane Song
• http://www.gatm.org.uk/geographyatthemovi
es/weather.html
Task 2: Using the cards, sort them into a
sequence of events to explain the formation of
a hurricane.
How a hurricane forms...card sort
answers
•
Hurricanes need a lot of heat to form (a sea surface temperature of at least 26 degrees), which is
why they usually occur over tropical seas. They also need to be between 5 and 20 degrees north or
south of the equator.
•
Rising warm air rises fast, causing towering clouds, heavy rainfall, and intense low pressure.
•
The low pressure sucks in air, causing very strong winds which spiral - anti-clockwise in the northern
hemisphere - around the centre of the low, at speeds of around 120 km/h (75 mph).
•
Huge circular bodies of thick cloud around 450 km (300miles) wide. The cloud brings heavy rain,
thunder and lightning.
•
In the centre is the eye of the hurricane, about 45 km across (30miles) across. Often there will be
no cloud in the eye. Seen from below it will seem calmer, with a circle of blue sky above. The eye is
formed because this is the only part of the hurricane where air is sinking.
•
In the northern hemisphere, the prevailing easterly tropical winds tend to steer hurricanes toward
land - although their course is unpredictable. As they move inshore their power gradually reduces,
because their energy comes from sucking up moist sea air.
Task 3: Using the text book on page 75, produce a diagram showing the stages of
the formation of a tropical storm using the examples in the book. You must
annotate the various stages of the storm.
EXAM TIP
The formation of a tropical
storm could appear in two
types of question; one
involving diagrams and the
other asking for a more
detailed written response.
Make sure that you can
tackle both tasks effectively.
Plenary: Peer Assessment
• Make up an exam question to test your peer. This
question must test them on what they have learnt in
today’s lesson.
• Swap questions and attempt to answer it.
• Now peer mark each other’s work.
1. Put an ‘S’ for strengths and write at least one strength
of their work.
2. Put a ‘T’ for targets and write one improvement target
to help them next time.
What are tropical storms?
Lesson objectives
• To understand what tropical storms are and how they are formed.
Success Criteria
• To label and annotate a world map showing a definition and the
location of tropical storms around the world.
• To draw a diagram showing the stages of the formation of a tropical
storm.
Lesson 3:
How are tropical storms measured?
What evidence is there on Figure 5 to suggest that changes in
sea temperatures occurred between 1980 and 2010? 4 marks
Using the Markscheme below self assess your answer
using the self assessment sheet.
• Identifies a cycle/fluctuations (1), indicates
increasing/decreasing
• sea temperatures (1)
• Identifies a peak (dates/number of storm days)
(1), link to heating or El Nino (1)
• Identifies a trough (dates/number of storm days)
(1), link to cooling or La Nina (1).
• Higher/lower sea temperatures = more/fewer
tropical storm days = 1 mark only.
How are tropical storms measured?
Lesson objectives
• To understand how tropical storms are measured.
Success Criteria
• To practice an exam question and self assessment
• To accurately complete the Saffir-Simpson scale card matching exercise.
• To create an article educating others about the usefulness of Saffir-Simpson
scale .
How are tropical storms measured?
All tropical storms are dangerous, but some are
more so than others. To make comparisons easier
and to make the predicted hazards of
approaching tropical storms clearer to emergency
managers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration's tropical storms forecasters use a
disaster-potential scale which assigns storms to
five categories. This can be used to give an
estimate of the potential property damage and
flooding expected along the coast with a tropical
storms.
The scale was formulated in 1969 by Herbert Saffir, a
consulting engineer, and Dr. Bob Simpson, director of
the National Hurricane Centre. The World
Meteorological Organization was preparing a report
on structural damage to dwellings due to
windstorms, and Dr. Simpson added information
about storm surge heights that accompany tropical
storms in each category. It is called the SaffirSimpson scale.
Herbert Saffir
Task: Read the cards you have been
given and match them up so that the
categories match the wind speeds and
descriptions of what effects the
tropical storm would have.
Saffir- Simpson Scale
Category
Winds
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Effects
74-95 mph
No real damage to building structures. Damage primarily to
unanchored mobile homes, shrubbery, and trees. Also, some coastal
road flooding and minor pier damage
96-110 mph
Some roofing material, door, and window damage to buildings.
Considerable damage to vegetation, mobile homes, and piers. Coastal
and low-lying escape routes flood 2-4 hours before arrival of centre.
Small craft in unprotected anchorages break moorings.
111-130 mph
Some structural damage to small residences and utility buildings with a
minor amount of curtain wall failures. Mobile homes are destroyed.
Flooding near the coast destroys smaller structures with larger
structures damaged by floating debris. Terrain continuously lower than
5 feet ASL may be flooded inland 8 miles or more.
More extensive curtainwall failures with some complete roof strucutre
failure on small residences. Major erosion of beach. Major damage to
131-155 mph
lower floors of structures near the shore. Terrain continuously lower
than 10 feet ASL may be flooded requiring massive evacuation of
residential areas inland as far as 6 miles.
Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings.
Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over
or away. Major damage to lower floors of all structures located less
greater than 155 mph
than 15 feet ASL and within 500 yards of the shoreline. Massive
evacuation of residential areas on low ground within 5 to 10 miles of
the shoreline may be required.
Task: Now stick the answer sheet into your
book.
Plenary Literacy Task:
The map below shows the path taken by tropical storms and their intensity. Write
a short article for a Geography magazine aimed at GCSE Geography students
on how useful this map is to Geographers and people living in areas prone to
tropical storms?
Now pretend you are the editor of the
magazine and peer mark your study
buddy’s article using a red pen. Is it
good enough to go to print? How can
it be improved? Put one Strength and
one Target.
S = Strength
T= Target
Starter:
In pairs, think of 5 questions beginning with the letter
‘W’ that you could ask about this image
Effects of tropical storms
Lesson Objectives
• All to know the effects of a tropical storm
• Most to categorise the effects into primary and secondary effects of
tropical storms
• Some to know the differences between the environmental, social and
economic effects of tropical storms
Success Criteria
• All to complete table of the effects of a tropical storm
• Most to group effects of a tropical storm into primary and secondary
effects
Task 1:
In pairs create a thought shower on the effects of a tropical storm. When creating your thought
shower you might like to think about tropical storms that have been in the news, for example
Hurricane Katrina. Think of as many effects as you can, big or small.
Effects of
a tropical
storm
The intense winds of tropical storms can
destroy whole communities, buildings and
communication networks. As well as their
own destructive energy, the winds generate
abnormally high waves and tidal surges,
which cause flooding in coastal areas. The
most destructive elements are the high seas
and the flooding that accompany the storms.
Literacy Task: Look at this image it shows a storm surge
caused by a Tropical storm. Write a short poem describing its
power and what a person might feel seeing it coming towards
them.
What is a Storm Surge?
Storm surges: Abnormal rise of the sea along a shore as the result of a storm;
sometimes called a tidal surge. Draw a quick but accurate sketch of this diagram.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/storm_surge.shtml
Annotate your diagram with some of this
information a storm surge is...
Storm surge is water that is pushed toward the shore by the force of the winds swirling
around the storm.
This advancing surge combines with the normal tide to create a tropical storm tide.
This rise in water level can cause severe flooding in coastal areas, particularly when the
storm tide coincides with the normal high tides.
The level of surge in a particular area is also determined by the slope of the continental
shelf. A shallow slope off the coast will allow a greater surge to inundate coastal
communities.
Communities with a steeper continental shelf will not see as much surge inundation,
although large breaking waves can still present major problems. Storm tides, waves,
and currents in confined harbours severely damage ships, marinas, and pleasure boats.
Did you know
•The highest storm surge ever recorded was
15 metres above normal high tide (Cyclone
Mahina in the Pacific Ocean, 1899)
•Hurricane Katrina (2005) had the highest
recorded storm surge of any Atlantic
hurricane. It was 8.5 metres in height.
(Do not confuse a storm surge with a
Tsunami!!!)
Task 2: a) Discuss what these images show.
b) Using these photos of Haiti after Hurricane Hanna, can you identify the primary
and secondary effects of a Tropical Storm?
The island of Haiti was greatly
affected by Hurricane Hanna
Images of Haiti, an between the
Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic
Ocean
MEDCs are better placed to reduce the effects of tropical storms, because they have more
financial resources and educational and technological know-how to help deal with them. This
means they are better able to observe and predict storm behaviour, and to invest in
infrastructure, which can withstand storms - as well as having more resources for repairing
the damage caused.
Therefore...if MEDCs are better prepared for tropical storms and LEDCs are not, in what
ways do you think that LEDCs can be affected
by tropical storms?
Think about countries poor low lying like Bangladesh.
Who and what do you think LEDCs rely on
after a storm event?
Task 3: Create a table that shows the effects of a tropical
storm, consider the physical, environmental, social and
economic effects. Use the text book (pg. 72) to help you.
Type of damage
Physical and
environmental
Social
Economic
Primary Effects
Secondary Effects
Plenary:
a) Which effect do you consider to be the most
severe and why?
b) Go back to your poem and add another verse
about the primary effects of a tropical storm.
Extension: Add a verse to your poem about
the secondary effects of a tropical storm.
Effects of tropical storms
Lesson Objectives
• All to know the effects of a tropical storm
• Most to categorise the effects into the primary and secondary effects
of tropical storms
• Some to know the differences between the environmental, social and
economic effects of tropical storms
Success Criteria
• All to complete table of the effects of a tropical storm
• Most to group effects of a tropical storm into primary and secondary
effects
Case Study: Hurricane Katrina
Lesson Objectives
• All to create the case study of Hurricane Katrina
Success Criteria
• Produce detailed DVD notes
• You will of created a detailed case study of Hurricane
Katrina.
Starter:
Find New Orleans in the Atlas. Work out the
longitude and latitude?
Tip: look at page 103
Answer: Latitude 30 degrees North
Longitude 90 degrees West
Task: Using the Geofile and the DVD to
help you, create a case study of
Hurricane Katrina. You will need to use
the following structure to help you.
When did Hurricane Katrina hit?
Describe the path of Hurricane Katrina
What Category did Katrina reach?
What wind speeds did Katrina reach?
What states did Hurricane Katrina hit?
How did people prepare for the Hurricane?
What were the primary effects of Hurricane Katrina?
What were the secondary effects of Hurricane Katrina?
How did people respond to the Hurricane? Including the clean-up.
Case Study of Hurricane Katrina
Causes of Hurricane Katrina
Path of the Hurricane
Summary of key Facts and Figures
Primary Effects
Secondary Effects
Responses and clean up
Plenary:
Give me 5!!!
Write five things that you have learnt about Hurricane
Katrina. Pick your best answer to share with the class.
Case Study: Hurricane Katrina
Lesson Objectives
• All to create the case study of Hurricane Katrina
Success Criteria
• Produce detailed DVD notes
• You will of created a detailed case study of Hurricane
Katrina.
Case Study: Cyclone Nargis
Lesson Objectives
• All to create the case study of Hurricane Nargis
Success Criteria
• You will have created a detailed case study of Cyclone
Nargis.
Starter:
In pairs discuss what this image is, what shows and how it
might be useful.
Case study: Cyclone Nargis 2008
Convection increases,
Changes direction eastwards
May 1st
Landfall May 2nd Burma.
Peak winds of 215 km/h
Category 4
Dies outs May 3rd
Convection decreases
Originally predicted to
hit Bangladesh or SE India
April 27th: formed in
Bay of Bengal
Cyclone Nargis May 2008: The impacts
146,000 fatalities
1000s missing.
Many feared washed
out to sea
700,000 homes
destroyed in delta
5 regions declared
a disaster area
$10 estimated cost
75% of health service
& 4,000 schools
damaged
65% of paddy fields
contaminated by
salt water
2.7% of projected GDP
predicted lost by event
75% livestock killed
1,163 temples
destroyed
Extensive destruction
of buildings, e.g. Labutta
town 75% buildings collapsed
100,000 fishing
vessels destroyed
Cyclone Nargis May 2008: the
response
• 44 countries responded by donating
money to the relief operation, food,
shelter, volunteers, water and
medicine.
• Long term response has been to
restore quality of life through
projects working with farmers,
rebuilding school and health centres
and clean water supplies.
• Improving road infrastructure to
allow for quicker access to safer areas
in future disasters.
• Preparation to prepare people in
most vulnerable areas and educate
on appropriate response.
Case Study of Cyclone Nargis
Causes of Cyclone Nargis
Path of the Cyclone
Summary of key Facts and Figures
Primary Effects
Secondary Effects
Responses and clean
up
Plenary:
Compare Hurricane Katrina to Cyclone Nargis.
How are the effects similar? How are they
different?
Which one in your opinion is worse? Why?
Case Study: Cyclone Nargis
Lesson Objectives
• All to create the case study of Hurricane Nargis
Success Criteria
• You will have created a detailed case study of Cyclone
Nargis.
Kinaesthetic learning activities
(To be completed over 2 lessons)
Lesson objectives
• To create a drama piece, song, rap or poem to
explore the life of a tropical storm
Success Criteria
• All students to consider the formation of a tropical
storm
• Most to consider the primary and secondary effects of
the storm
Starter;
Think of 3 questions to ask your study buddy
on Tropical storms.
What must I include in my presentation?
•In groups of 4 or 5 decide upon your presentation piece
•Using your text book and exercise book piece together the life of a
tropical storm
•In your group you must be able to portray the formation of a tropical
storm, the path of a tropical storm and the primary and secondary
effects of a tropical storm.
•If your group decides to do a drama piece, you must have a narrator
to inform you audience of the sequence of events
TIP: Use you exercise books and text books to help you
Plenary
Peer Assessment
• As each performance is taking place, the audience
is responsible for assessing each performance.
• On a piece of paper you will need to write down 2
things that you liked about the performance and 1
thing that you think could be improved or 1 thing
that you think that the group have missed out.
• Based on your 2 strengths and 1 target, you will
need to mark the group out of 10.
Kinaesthetic learning activities
(To be completed over 2 lessons)
Lesson objectives
• To create a drama piece, song, rap or poem to
explore the life of a tropical storm
Success Criteria
• All students to consider the formation of a tropical
storm
• Most to consider the primary and secondary effects of
the storm
Reducing the damage from tropical storms
Lesson Objectives
• Understand how tropical storms are forecast and how people prepare
for them.
Success Criteria
• Create tables about how different groups help people to cope with
tropical storms.
• Create an emergency kit list.
Starter:
In small groups look at the different forecasts of the
path of Hurricane Ike.
Evaluate how useful are they in allowing people and
governments to prepare for a tropical storm?
What negative effects could forecasts like these
have?
Reducing the damage from tropical storms
In order to reduce the damage from tropical storms, people are advised to follow
these three steps:
Forecast
Prepare
Act
Task: Why do you think that these 3 methods are used to reduce damage
following a tropical storm? Create thought showers to explore your ideas.
Forecasting and Preparing for Tropical
Storms
Did you know?!?! Forecasters analyse large amounts of weather data and use complex
computer modelling, but still only have a 20-25% chance of knowing exactly where a
tropical storm will strike 48 hours in advance.
Two large agencies monitor the movement of tropical storms, one is the ‘National
Hurricane Centre’ (Atlantic) and the other is the ‘Joint Typhoon Warning Centre’
(Pacific).
Warnings are issued to places where a tropical storm is likely to strike, but it is difficult
to predict their movement with complete accuracy. WHY?
Paired Tasks:
The speed and path of a tropical storm are affected by many factors that make them
unpredictable.
Task 1: Create a thought shower to consider the above factor – what do you think affects
the path and speed of a tropical storm?
Forecasts are available on the internet for people to look at if they are worried that they
may be affected by a tropical storm. People who live within the area should prepare
themselves for the possibility that a storm may hit.
Task 2: In pairs, create a thought shower to consider what items people should have in
their emergency kit! Once you have considered the items to have in an emergency kit,
explain underneath WHY you think that the item is needed and HOW it might help them
in a tropical storm.
Having thought about items to have in an emergency kit, you now need to think about
the design of some buildings that are subject to frequent and very strong tropical storms.
Task 3: Consider the materials and designs of buildings in tropical storm zones, how can
they be designed to resist the force of tropical storms and possible storm surges?
Solutions: How have they coped?
We need to consider 3 groups of people – NGOs, Government and the individuals (public)
Task 4: Copy out the table below, using the text book to help you and the class discussion,
fill in the ways in which these 3 groups have helped people through and after tropical
storms in LEDCs, like Bangladesh in Cyclone Nargis.
Government
NGOs
Civilians
Task 5: Now fill in the ways in which these 3 groups have helped people through and after
Hurricane Katrina. Is it different for an MEDC?
Government
NGOs
Civilians
NGO schemes in Bangladesh
Most people in less developed countries, such as Bangladesh, are
unable to afford the same protection as those in richer countries like the
USA.
With the help of Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), simple yet
effective measures are being put in place to protect people from the
cyclones that strike the country.
Task 6: Using the text book, pg. 77 – create some cartoon characters
and the ways in which NGOs are helping developing countries to recover
from tropical cyclones.
Plenary:
What would you do?
If you lived in a country that is subject to tropical storms, how
would you prepare for tropical storms?
What would you have in your emergency kit?
Why would you have these in your kit?
Extension Task: Create a picture of your own emergency kit,
annotate it to explain the purpose of the items in your kit.
Reducing the damage from tropical storms
Lesson Objectives
• Understand how tropical storms are forecast and how people prepare
for them.
Success Criteria
• Create tables about how different groups help people to cope with
tropical storms.
• Create an emergency kit list.
Are There More Tropical Storms To
Come?
Lesson Objectives
• All to decide whether or not tropical storms will
increase in force in the future
• Some to know about the nature of the changes to the
number and severity of tropical storms
Success Criteria
• All to draw a table to show the debate about people’s opinions over
whether the number and severity of storms will increase in the future
• Most to use graphs to assess the changes in force of tropical storms
• Some to suggest why data about tropical storms might be unreliable
Starter:
Write down all of the key terms from your work
on Tropical Storms that you can recall. The
winner will get a plus point!
Did you know?????????
The tropical storms with the highest ever wind
speeds of over 310km/h were Typhoon Tip (1979),
Typhoon Keith (1997), Hurricane Camilla (1969)
and Hurricane Allen (1980).
Task: Which oceans would you expect to find a Typhoon
and which a Hurricane?
Gold star homework: Find out which countries were hit by
each of these tropical storms listed above!!
Think about these three statements as to the changing
patterns of tropical storms, which one do you think is the
odd one out and why?
1. Many people believe that climate change, due to
global warming, has caused an increase in the
number of tropical storms and that this will increase
further in the future
2. The number of tropical storms has stayed the same,
but they are becoming more severe
3. The number of tropical storms will start to decline in
the future
Challenge: Try to think about which one you think is the
odd one Independently and then compare with your
buddy. You must state your reason as to why you think
that your chosen statement is the odd one out.
Examiners Tip:
Be able to argue both for
and against the idea that
the number of tropical
storms, and the damaged
caused is likely to
increase
Title: A table to show the debate about change in the number and severity of tropical storms
Using the text book on page 78, draw out the table below into your exercise books.
Read what each character is saying on page 78 and decide whether or not you think that they are
talking about the number of tropical storms or the changes in severity of tropical storms. Once you
have made your decision, write each comment under the appropriate title in your table, you have 10
minutes!
Changes in the number of tropical
storms
Changes to the severity of tropical
storms
Task: In pairs, create a thought shower of your ideas that answer the
following question:
Why do you think
that tropical
storms are
becoming more
destructive?
El Nino – the
warming of
the ocean
surface off
the western
coast of
South
America
Using pages 78 and 79, look at graphs B, C and D.
Graph B shows a natural cycle of the variations in the number of hurricanes over a period of time.
Graphs C and D show the changes to the severity of hurricanes over a period of time.
Title: The changing number and changing severity of hurricanes over a period of time
(ALL STUDENTS) Task 1: What evidence is there on graphs C and D that hurricanes are becoming more
severe?
(ALL STUDENTS) Task 2: What evidence is there on graphs B and D that there is a cycle of variation in
the number of tropical storms?
(MOST STUDENTS) Task 3: Using your answers from tasks 1 and 2, explain whether or not you think that
the number of hurricane storms and the severity of them are increasing? You must use evidence in you
explanations!!!
(SOME STUDENTS) Task 4: Suggest 2 reasons why data on tropical storms recorded before 1970 may be
unreliable.
(EXTENSION) Task 5: Why do you think a category of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5....... Is given to a hurricane? What do
the different categories suggest?
Are There More Tropical Storms To
Come?
Lesson Objectives
• All to decide whether or not tropical storms will
increase in force in the future
• Some to know about the nature of the changes to the
number and severity of tropical storms
Success Criteria
• All to draw a table to show the debate about people’s opinions over
whether the number and severity of storms will increase in the future
• Most to use graphs to assess the changes in force of tropical storms
• Some to suggest why data about tropical storms might be unreliable