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If a hurricane or other tropical cyclone is moving the winds on one side will be faster than on the opposite side in relation to the ocean or ground the storm is moving over. In the Northern Hemisphere the fastest winds will be on the right side, if you are looking in the direction of the storm's movement. That is, if the hurricane is moving toward the west, the strongest winds will be on the north side; if it's moving north, the strongest winds will be on the east side. To see why the winds on the right side of a Northern Hemisphere hurricane or typhoon are faster than those on the left, imagine the winds are circling the storm at 100 mph, and the entire storm is moving forward at 10 mph. With counterclockwise winds of 100 mph added to the forward speed of 10 mph on the right side, a ship there will be hit by 110 mph winds because the 100 mph winds and forward motion of the storm are in the same direction.. Another ship, to the left of the storm's center, where the 10 mph forward motion is subtracted from the 100 mph wind speed, will feel 90 mph winds. This was first realize in the 19th century and was one of the first important advances in understanding tropical cyclones and other storms. In fact, this knowledge was called the "Law of Storms" in the 19th century and various scientists wrote books telling ship captions how to use it to figure out where they were in relation to a storm's center and which way to go to said away from a storm's strongest winds and highest waves. This is described in detail in Chapter 2 of Hurricane Watch: Forecasting the Deadliest Storms on Earth by Dr. Bob Sheets and Jack Williams, published by Vintage Books, 2001.

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15y ago
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15y ago

The hurricane is a spinning mass of thunderstorms. These storms form in bands that spin around the center of circulation. The winds are strongest near the center of circulation. This region is called the eye wall. The closer a place is to the eye wall the stronger the winds can be expected to be.

The onshore region of a hurricane tends to be stronger. When a hurricane makes landfall the wind will be coming from the ocean toward the land (onshore) on one side of the hurricane and the wind will be coming from the land toward the ocean (offshore) on the other side of the hurricane. The onshore winds are stronger because there is less friction over the ocean surface. The storm surge is the strongest in this region also since the winds are piling ocean water toward the land.

On the onshore side of a hurricane the hurricane's forward motion combines with the storm relative wind velocity. Thus, this also contributes to winds being stronger on the onshore side especially for faster moving hurricanes. As air moves from the water onto land it is sheared. The land slows the wind down somewhat while the wind speeds aloft remain at a stronger intensity. This produces vertical speed shear. Friction also turns the wind more toward lower pressure over the land. This produces vertical directional shear. This enhanced shear with the presence of thunderstorms increases the likelihood oftornadoes. Thus, it is common for a tornado watch to be issued for the Northeast quadrant of a hurricane. This quadrant is the region that often experiences onshore flow.

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12y ago

The right side of the hurricane is the strongest because a hurricane rotates counterclockwise. As a result the wind speed on the right side is the sum of the speed at which the hurricane is rotating and the storm's forward speed.

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12y ago

The storm surge is worst on the right side of a hurricane.

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6y ago

The East side (right side) will have the strongest winds.

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Q: If hurricane is traveling North which side is the wind speed the reatest East West South?
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