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Re: Back on Line? (Hurricane)

At 7:39 AM -0400 9/30/98, kyle forinash wrote:
As long we are on the subject of hurricanes- can anyone give a short
explanation of how hurricanes come to be, in particular, why do they gain
energy while over water (but lose energy over land)?

Not an explanation of the mechanism, but an observatiuon:

Just after Bonnie and the 'C' hurricane moved up the eastern edge of the
Atlantic, our local weather geek had a satellite image of the ocean surface
temperature that showed both tracks as being significantly cooler than the
surrounding waters.

So, the hurricane is clearly a heat engine that draws its power from the
warm water.

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