Special Report: The End of Hurricane Season

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⛈️The End of Hurricane Season!

👩‍🔬Hurricane Season Wraps Up, but the Science is Just Getting Started!

🎤Jetpack Jamie joins Ryan and Pam and talks with Sofia de Solo from NOAA about life as a Hurricane Hunter.

Resources

10 Facts about Hurricanes! - National Geographic Kids

Hurricanes

What Causes Hurricanes—Hurricane Facts

What Hurricane Helene’s 500-mile path of destruction looks like | CNN

Hurricane Milton by the numbers: what made this hurricane so historic | WUSF

Hurricane Milton aftermath: 17 dead as Florida power outages, flooding persist

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Transcript:

INT. TEN NEWS STUDIO 

<SFX door opens>

RYAN: Then I’m cool with it! How would you feel about trying out my new AR experience?
PAM: Ummm, sure?

RYAN: Just sit here, <SFX sits> and put these over your eyes… <SFX goggles over eyes>

PAM: You built an Augmented Reality device…? This feels like I’m just wearing a blindfold–

RYAN: Oh no it’s not Augmented Reality, my AR device stands for ALMOST Reality. It’s very analog, it’s just a blind fold, a really strong fan and a bucket of water– 

PAM: –wait what do you mean ALMOST reality? And why do need a bucket of water and a fan–

RYAN: Pam, trust the process. OKAY. <SFX FAN CLICKS AND WHIZZES ON LIKE A HURRICANE> Level 1: what’s pretty freaky, really wet and FINALLY over? 

PAM: Ummmm, hurricane season–

<SFX A BUCKET SPLASH OF WATER>

PAM: (GASPS)

RYAN: That was correct! Hurricane season is OVER! <SFX FAN CLICKS OFF> And you experiencing the hurricane simulation was ALMOST reality. Oh hey, we should probably start the show. 

PAM: I–I–I–I’m—-soaking wet. And cold. 

RYAN: And I-I-I-I’m Ryan Willard. It’s Thursday, December 5th. 

PAM: I’m Pamela Kirkland, and I will get even with my co-host, after this Ten News Special report. 

INT. TEN NEWS STUDIO

PAM: Ry, we have a special guest stopping by–

RYAN: Wait, are you mad at me?

PAM: Why would I be mad at you?

RYAN: Because you didn’t like my AR Hurricane Simulator?

PAM: Correct, I did not like your Hurricane Simulator. But you did raise a great point, hurricane season is OVER! And I think we need someone with a little more expertise to break it down for us. 

JAMIE: Hey Pam, hey Ryan!

RYAN: Whoa! Whatup Jetpack Jamie. Do you wanna try my AR Hurricane–

JAMIE: You hear that? Wind howling <SFX WIND>, trees smashing <SFX TREE SMASH>, the sound of thunder crashing down! <SFX THUNDER> Oceans rising and flooding everything in their wake <SFX HUGE WAVE CRASHING> as heavy rain beats down from above <SFX HEAVY RAIN>

RYAN: Okay this is getting a little too freaky! I gotta go to the bathroom and hide! <SFX THUNDER CRASH> AHHHHHHHHHHHH! <SFX RUNS AWAY> 

PAM: Well that was easier than I thought. Jamie, please continue. 

JAMIE: Sure! You hear that? Wind howling (wind sound effect), trees smashing (sound effect), the sound of thunder crashing down (sound effect). Oceans rising and flooding everything in their wake (huge wave crashing sound effect) as heavy rain beats down from above (heavy rain sound effect). 

Wow, that is some simulator.  

Well Tenners, this year we saw some of the worst hurricanes in this country’s history, with many parts of the US,

including Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia all being hit hard. 

There were actually two major hurricanes in the space of just two weeks this hurricane season, which both took place around late September/early October as that’s when the water is warmest. One was called hurricane Helene and the other hurricane Milton. And while their names may make them sound more like a couple of grandparents than fierce hurricanes, they caused a lot of damage to a lot of people. 

But now, thankfully, hurricane season, which began June 1 and runs until November 30th is over. Phew! It’ll be a long time before we’re hit by another one. 

But what exactly is a hurricane and where do they come from? 

Well a hurricane is actually just a really really really bad tropical storm. 

And actually most aren’t that dangerous! While most happen out at sea, where they can’t cause damage, the ones we have to worry about are the ones that move near land.

That is when the flooding that we have seen from hurricanes Helene and Milton happens, where cars, shops, and homes are all too often sadly destroyed and towns and cities can take months if not years to rebuild. 

In fact, there are actually about 14 hurricanes every year in the US, although this year we had 18, and they always start as regular storms before they become hurricanes, sometimes taking days to build. 

There are two major ingredients any hurricane needs to begin. These are warm ocean water and low air pressure. If the ocean water is at least 79F, because of the low air pressure, hot, humid air from the ocean begins to rise, forming a spiral shape.

As the air continues rising, it releases heat, which then cools down, and forms into thick, fluffy clouds. The spiral shape gets stronger and stronger and faster and faster and once its speed reaches 74 miles per hour it is officially called a hurricane. In the middle of the spiral is a giant hole called the eye of the hurricane, and this where the hurricane is calmest.  

The eye alone can be as large as 40 miles wide, which is more than double the width of New York City, and the largest hurricane in history, Typhoon Tip, was almost half the size of the entire country. 

The word hurricane actually comes from the mayan god of wind, storm, and fire, Huracan. Fitting!

And we call hurricanes different things depending on where in the world they happen. 

In the southern pacific and Indian ocean they’re called cyclones. If they happen in the western pacific, they’re called typhoons, hence the name typhoon tip, which didn’t hit the US but did make its way to the Philippines and Japan in 1979. 

And although, luckily, typhoon Tip did not cause much damage, as it was mostly offshore, smaller hurricanes like Helene and Milton have affected the lives of thousands across the country. 

Hurricane Helene left one million people without access to water, and tens of thousands were forced to evacuate their homes. And from hurricane Milton more than a million people were forced to leave their homes, and 2 million people were left without power.

As communities across the country continue to rebuild, throughout both hurricanes, stories of heroes emerged, with many risking their lives to save those of friends, family, and strangers.    

And while not all heroes wear capes, some do wear jumpsuits and our friend Sofia de Solo is one of them. 

She works for NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and has one of the coolest and most dangerous jobs in the world. She is a hurricane hunter — and well, I’ll let her tell you more about it. 

JAMIE: (radio transmission sfx) Sofia. Sofia, do you read me? 

SOFIA: (radio transmission sfx) Hey, copy, hear you. 

JAMIE: Awesome, well thank you for being with us here today at the Ten News. What do you do? 

SOFIA: I am a meteorologist and a flight director for NOAA’s aircraft operation center. We're more popularly or more famously known as NOAA's hurricane hunters. So I fly into hurricanes with a crew of pilots, technicians, maintenance people, and we're collecting data inside of hurricanes to help us understand more about the hurricanes and help us improve the forecasts. 

JAMIE: So why are hurricane hunters so important, especially during times like hurricane Helene and Milton?

SOFIA: So I always say, to understand what's going to happen tomorrow, we need to understand what's happening today, so that's where our aircraft come in. So we fly these airplanes, and they're essentially like weather stations that we fly to the hurricanes. So we have all this instrumentation that we take to the hurricanes, and we're collecting data about what's happening right now. So we're getting temperature, dew point, pressure, wind, and then we're putting this into our weather models. // [00:02:45] So we're getting an understanding of what's steering the hurricane, and if we have a better idea of where the hurricane's going, we can improve evacuations and get people out of the dangerous areas prior to the storm hitting.

JAMIE: Can you describe, like, I don't know, maybe your first time, or just in general, like, what it feels like when you first went into the hurricane? 

SOFIA: My co-workers describe it perfectly. They like to say that being in a hurricane in an airplane is kind of like being on a roller coaster, except there's no tracks, and you don't know what's going to happen next, right? So it can be very turbulent and the airplane moves a lot, and it's not just up and down, sometimes it's a bit side to side. And every Hurricane's different, right? Like, sometimes you got, like, a weaker hurricane, but it can be more turbulent, and sometimes very strong hurricanes. 

JAMIE: So is there like a weird feeling when you, like, come out of the, like, clouds and kind of enter the eye of the hurricane and it kind of becomes calmer, and, yeah, is that, like —

SOFIA: I haven't experienced it myself, but there's this, there's this phenomenon, or this thing that happens inside a hurricane eye. When you fly through the middle, it looks like you're in a stadium of clouds. It's called the stadium effect. So the way hurricanes are structured the eye, the bottom of the eye tends to be pretty small, and at the very top it's very big. So when you're flying through it, it kind of looks like you're in a stadium and all the seats are just the clouds surrounding you. And then in nighttime, since we're typically out in the like open ocean in the eye, they say that it's a beautiful, like view of the stars as well. 

JAMIE: What made you want to be a hurricane hunter? 

SOFIA: So I grew up in Florida, where there's a lot of thunderstorms, and then I was, like, terrified of lightning. I remember being on the beach, and every afternoon there'd be like, thunderstorms, and I remember, like, waking my mom up from naps, or like, you know, bugging my parents. We need to get off the beach. We need to get off the beach because I was so terrified of thunderstorms, I thought that was going to kill me. And then hurricane season came around. // [00:03:45] And I thought, you know, it's crazy that the atmosphere can move all these things and it can cause so much damage. So that fear basically turned into like a curiosity. And I became super intrigued. And I started saying, I want to be a weather girl. I want to be a WEATHER GIRL. And then I learned what a meteorologist is, which is, you know, a scientist who studies the atmosphere and the weather, and just kind of always wanted to do that. And then I knew I didn't want a desk job // and I wanted to do more hands on so flying into hurricanes is essentially the most hands on job you can have when it comes into the weather, right? I'm basically in in the weather itself. 

JAMIE: And do you have any advice for any kids out there who are listening to this and saying, ‘I want this job one day?’ And want to become a hurricane hunter?

SOFIA: It's important to understand that science isn't just done in a lab coat, and it's not just done in in a laboratory. And there's more than just the chemist, right? It's what we all think of when we think of science, but science is around us everywhere, and if you're interested in anything, there's probably a science career involving it. For me, it happened to be hurricanes, and you know, I get to go collect data inside of them. So there's science surrounding us. And if you're interested in anything, just pursue it. 

PAM: Jamie, thank you so much for stopping by, dropping knowledge and giving Ryan the scare he deserves. Which reminds me that…I should probably go find him. Let’s go to Owen for some Trivia. 

<SFX Trivia Theme song> 

OWEN: Hey guys, great timing! I’ve been doing a lot of studying about hurricanes. You might say I’ve been reading up a storm. What’s the longest storm ever recorded?

1. 4 days

2. 100 days

3. One year

4. 150+ years

<SFX 5 second clock tick>

OWEN: Did ya get it? The answer is D! Believe it or not, the longest storm on record lasted more than 150 years. 

PAM: You heard right, Ten’ners, 150 years! This storm has been swirling since longer than bread has been sliced! This storm is older than the oldest person ever recorded! This storm has seen 150 Christmases! 150 years of a storm - I am never going to complain about one measly rainy day again…How much do you want to bet Ryan would be asking if this means there were 150 years worth of snow days?

OWEN: Well, this storm isn’t really in a school district. In fact, it’s not even on this planet. The massive storm is on Jupiter, and it’s known as the Great Red Spot. 

PAM: To give you an idea, the biggest, most powerful storms on earth have been over 1,000 miles across, and have had winds around 200 miles per hour. The Great Red Spot has winds that are double that speed. 

OWEN: And it’s twice as wide as Earth. Double the size of this whole planet! We know it’s been around for at least 150 years, but it’s possibly even older than that. 

PAM: How does something like that even happen?

OWEN: Well, Jupiter is about a thousand times the size of Earth, so a storm this large isn’t completely insane by Jupiter standards. To add on, unlike Earth, Jupiter is mostly gas. This means there’s no solid ground to weaken storms the way it happens on Earth.

PAM: So what you’re saying is, if I’m going to visit Jupiter, I need to pack an extra coat?

INT. TEN NEWS STUDIO

<SFX knocking> 

PAM: Ry? You in there? You okay buddy? That wasn’t real thunder!

RYAN: (from behind the door) I don’t have my thunderpants on which make me feel safe when it’s Thundy time. Is it over??

PAM: It’s over. You can come out. <SFX DOOR UNLOCKS AND OPENS>

RYAN: I’m sorry about my AR hurricane simulator and throwing a bucket of water at you. 

PAM: Apology accepted. And I’m sorry for letting Jamie scare you when you didn’t have your thunderpants on. 

RYAN: Apology also accepted, we’re good. Should we give Ten News Snaps to one of our listeners? 

PAM: Of course, but before that, here’s a quick note for the grownups!

RYAN:Time for Ten News Snaps! <Grand fanfare SFX>

PAM: A Ten’er named DTD Player left us this review on Apple Podcasts: This podcast is one of my favorites. I’m from Japan (born and raised) so I don’t hear much about holidays and the news and things from the US but thanks to you I can catch up!! Thank you so much! You guys are AWESOME. 

RYAN: A Ten’er from Japan?! That’s so cool! Konichiwa! O genki desu ka? 

PAM: He also said, “I think Ryan has lepidopterophobia, which is the phobia of butterflies. (and then left butterfly emojis). But, I HATE CATERPILLARS! I don’t know if there’s such thing as a phobia of caterpillars but I hate them! I don’t mind other bugs though. Thanks Ten News! You’re awesome! Awwww, thanks DTD Player, I hope you don’t hold that hate in your heart, you might be scare of caterpillars or dislike them, but maybe try not to hate them! 

RYAN: Listen, DTD Player, I get it. Caterpillars are just as freaky as butterflies. I’m with you. I will look into Lepidopterophobia, I appreciate you sharing some knowledge! I hope all is well in Japan, and thank you for listening. If you ever want to be on the show, email us at hello@thetennews.com ! 

PAM: FYI, Ten Things You Need to Know drops on Thursdays, and our deep dive episodes drop once a month.

If you want some bonus content, you could join the Ten’ers Club on our website. And to our grownups, if you want to help support the Ten News, you can make a tax-deductible donation at the link in our show notes. The whole team thanks you for your support!

RYAN: “The Ten News” is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts, and part of the Airwave Podcast Network.

PAM:The Ten News creative team is NOT throwing water at each other inside the studio and includes Tracey Not A Crooks, Adam the Great Bambino Bernard, Captain Kyle Murdock, Hebba the Big Cheese Gouda and Carson Pitter Patter Potter. Big thanks to Owen for contributing to this episode. 

RYAN:Our Production Director is Jeremiah Tittle, and our Executive Producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan.  

PAM: I’m Pamela Kirkland.

RYAN: And I’m Ryan Willard, thanks for listening to the Ten News.