Windswept_ The Story of Wind and Weather - Marq de Villiers [137]
APPENDIX 4
Hurricane strikes in the U S.
U.S. hurricane strikes by decade
U.S. hurricane strikes by state, 1900 through 1996
Major hurricane direct hits on the mainland U.S. coastline from 1900 to 1996, by state and month
APPENDIX 5
Canadian tropical cyclone statistics
Only two major hurricanes (Saffir-Simpson Category 3 or above) have ever made landfall in Canada: an unnamed Category 3 storm in 1893 that made landfall in St. Margaret's Bay, Nova Scotia; and Hurricane Luis, also a Category 3 storm, which made landfall on the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland, in 1995.
Hurricane Juan, which hit Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Isand in 2003, was first classified as a Category 1 storm, but it was on the margins of a Category 2, and has been so reclassified.
Note: TS = Tropical Storm; SSi= Saffir-Simpson Category 1 Hurricane; SS2 = Saffir-Simpson Category 2 Hurricane, etc.
* A dash (-) under Pressure means that it was not measured.
Key: NB = New Brunswick NF = Newfoundland NS = Nova Scotia ON = Ontario PEI = Prince Edward Island PQ = Quebec
Most active years of landfalling tropical cyclones in Canada
Year Number
1893 6
1996 5
1995 4
1937 4
1923 4
1891 4
1888 4
1988 3
1979 3
1954 3
Most common date for a landfalling hurricane in Canada
September 15th
Average number of tropical cyclones affecting Canada each year
From 1901 to 2000: 3.3
From 1951 to 2000: 4.2
From 1993 to 2002: 4.9
Source: Canadian Hurricane Centre
APPENDIX 6
World's worst tropical cyclones (hurricanes and typhoons, by year, with casualties)
APPENDIX 7
Wind speed variation within the hurricane eyewall, by elevation
APPENDIX 8
Worst winter storms on record
APPENDIX 9
The Fujita tornado scale
Fujita o, gale tornado:
Winds 40—72 mph. Such tornadoes cause some damage to chimneys, break branches off trees, and push over shallow-rooted trees.
Fujita 1, moderate tornado:
Winds ranging from 74 to 112 mph. The lower limit of a moderate tornado is the sustained wind speed that defines a Category 1 hurricane. Such tornadoes can peel off roofs, overturn mobile homes, and push cars off roads. Some poorly made buildings will be destroyed.
Fujita 2, significant tornado:
Winds ranging from 113 to 157 mph. Such winds will do considerable damage, tearing roofs off many houses, demolishing mobile homes, snapping large trees. "Light-object missiles" will be generated—debris picked up in the winds that become battering rams.
Fujita 3, severe tornado:
Winds from 158 to 206 mph. Roofs and walls torn off well-made buildings, trees uprooted, and even trains overturned.
Fujita 4, devastating tornado:
Winds ranging from 207 to 260 mph. In these conditions even well-made houses are leveled. Structures with weak foundations will be blown some distance. Cars are thrown about, and "large missiles" generated.
Fujita 5, incredible tornado:
Winds of 261 to 318 mph, Strong frame houses lifted off their moorings, car-sized missiles flying about, trees debarked, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged.
Fujita 6, inconceivable tornado:
Sustained winds of 319 to 379 mph, but no one will ever know, because all measuring devices would be destroyed, along with pretty well everything else. (The Fujita scale recognizes that "the small area of damage they might produce would probably not be recognizable along with the mess produced by F4 and F5 winds that would surround the F6 winds. Missiles, such as cars and refrigerators would do serious secondary damage that could not be directly identified as F6 damage. If this level is ever achieved, evidence for it might only be found in some manner of ground swirl pattern, for it may never be identifiable through engineering studies.")
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