what are some characteristics of  hurricanes??/?
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high winds, rain and floodings
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National Hurricane Center\nhttp://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
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A hurricane begins when a warm, wet mass of air over the sea begins to rise quickly. Then combined actions of air, water and heat may then produce a huge, spinning system of clouds, rain and wind- a hurricane. The center, or eye, of a hurricane is calm. It is a hole in a dough-nut of wind. \nA hurricane usually lasts 9-12 days. It forms and builds strength over warm sea water. It loses energy as it moves over cooler sea water or land.
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For a very good explanation start here:\n\nhttp://clearlyexplained.com/nature/earth/disasters/cyclones.html\n\nIf you want some additional information read on:\n\nCyclones\n\nThe terms "hurricane" and "typhoon" are regionally specific names for a strong "tropical cyclone". A tropical cyclone is the generic term for a non-frontal synoptic scale low-pressure system over tropical or sub-tropical waters with organized convection (i.e. thunderstorm activity) and definite cyclonic surface wind circulation (Holland 1993).\n\nTropical cyclones with maximum sustained surface winds of less than 17 m/s (34 kt, 39 mph) are called "tropical depressions" (This is not to be confused with the condition mid-latitude people get during a long, cold and grey winter wishing they could be closer to the equator ;-)). Once the tropical cyclone reaches winds of at least 17 m/s (34 kt, 39 mph) they are typically called a "tropical storm" and assigned a name. If winds reach 33 m/s (64 kt, 74 mph)), then they are called:\n\n    * "hurricane" (the North Atlantic Ocean, the Northeast Pacific Ocean east of the dateline, or the South Pacific Ocean east of 160E)\n    * "typhoon" (the Northwest Pacific Ocean west of the dateline)\n    * "severe tropical cyclone" (the Southwest Pacific Ocean west of 160E or Southeast Indian Ocean east of 90E)\n    * "severe cyclonic storm" (the North Indian Ocean)\n    * "tropical cyclone" (the Southwest Indian Ocean) \n\nHow they are Caused\n\nGo to this link for a diagram:\n\nhttp://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/A15.html\n\nTo undergo tropical cyclogenesis, there are several favorable pre cursor environmental conditions that must be in place (Gray 1968,1979) :\n\n1. Warm ocean waters (of at least 26.5°C [80°F]) throughout a sufficient depth (unknown how deep, but at least on the order of 50 m [150 ft]). Warm waters are necessary to fuel the heat engine of the tropical cyclone.\n\n2. An atmosphere which cools fast enough with height such that it is potentially unstable to moist convection. It is the thunderstorm activity which allows the heat stored in the ocean waters to be liberated for the tropical cyclone development.\n\n3. Relatively moist layers near the mid-troposphere (5 km [3 mi]). Dry mid levels are not conducive for allowing the continuing development of widespread thunderstorm activity.\n\n4. A minimum distance of at least 500 km [300 mi] from the equator. For tropical cyclogenesis to occur, there is a requirement for non-negligible amounts of the Coriolis force to provide for near gradient wind balance to occur. Without the Coriolis force, the low pressure of the disturbance cannot be maintained.\n\n5. A pre-existing near-surface disturbance with sufficient vorticity and convergence. Tropical cyclones cannot be generated spontaneously. To develop, they require a weakly organized system with sizable spin and low level inflow.\n\n6. Low values (less than about 10 m/s [20 kts 23 mph]) of vertical wind shear between the surface and the upper troposphere. Vertical wind shear is the magnitude of wind change with height. Large values of vertical wind shear disrupt the incipient tropical cyclone and can prevent genesis, or, if a tropical cyclone has already formed, large vertical shear can weaken or destroy the tropical cyclone by interfering with the organization of deep convection around the cyclone center.
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LOOK OUT FOR A HURRICANE!!!!!!
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Here's a link that talks about basic characteristics of tsunamis.  It was easy enough to search.  Thanks for the 2 points.\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami#Characteristics
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Hurricanes are what scientists call "strong Tropical Cyclones". They are formed when large areas of the ocean become heated, and the air pressure over that area drops. This causes thunderstorms and strong surface winds. Cyclones develop over tropical or sub-tropical waters (for example, in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa, or in the Pacific). As they travel long distances gathering energy from the ocean, they are likely to be classified as strong Tropical Cyclones. When the winds of a tropical storm reach 74 mph, then the storm is classified as a hurricane.\n\nMore information on how hurricanes happen can be found on this good site : http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/hurricane/creation.html
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Well some obvious differences are:\n\nTornadoes form over land. Hurricanes form over water.\n\nHurricanes are huge, tens to hundreds of miles across.\nTornadoes are rarely more than a hundred yards in diameter.\n\nHurricanes linger in the ocean for days or even weeks.\nTornadoes are usually gone in under an hour.\n\nHurricanes are rated by their wind speed: Category 1 70 mph winds to category 5 180 mph winds.\n\nTornadoes are rated by size (I think), F1 through F5.\n\nTry any web site having to do with weather or meteorology for lots more info.\n\nThe National Weather Service, The Weather Channel, etc.
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By definition, a hurricane is fierce rotating storm with an intense centre of low pressure that only happens in the tropics. In south-east Asia they're known as typhoons and in the Indian Ocean, cyclones.\nThey cause high winds, huge waves, and heavy flooding. One of the most powerful of all weather systems, hurricanes are powered by the heat energy released by the condensation of water vapour. However, the conditions have to be exact for a hurricane to form, with the sea's surface temperature being above 26.5°C.\n\nStorm surge\nThis is caused by the intense low pressure at the eye of a hurricane, combining with the effect of strong winds. The sea rises 1cm for every millibar of pressure - if the pressure is 930 millibar, the sea surge will be about 80 cm. Hurricanes can raise the seas surface by as much as 4m.\n\nThe hurricane winds push the surge along in front of its path. When this surge hits low-lying coasts, the effects can be devastating. In addition to the sea surge, flooding can also result from torrential rain falling from the storm clouds.\n\nTsunamis\nA tsunami (pronounced tsoo-nah-mee) is a chain of fast moving waves caused by sudden trauma in the ocean. They can be generated by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or even the impact of meteorites. Tsunami are also incorrectly known as tidal waves, but unlike tidal waves they are not caused by changes in the tides.\n\nThey are most common around the edge of the Pacific, where more than half of the world's volcanoes are found. These seismic surges can assault coastlines, often with little or no warning. Rocks weighing as much as 20 metric tonnes have been plucked from sea walls and carried 180m inland. \n\nWave power\nTsunamis aren't like wind-generated waves that rhythmically roll onto a beach. A tsunami can have a wavelength (ie distance between wave crests) in excess of 100km (60 miles) and there may be an hour between them. They travel at great speeds across an ocean with hardly any energy losses and are barely noticeable out at sea.\n\nOver the deep Pacific Ocean, a tsunami travels at about 800kph (500mph). If an earthquake happened in Los Angeles, a tsunami could hit Tokyo quicker than you could fly between the cities by jet. The tsunami caused by the earthquake off the coast of Indonesia in late 2004 travelled 4,500km (2,800 miles) to Somalia in East Africa in just seven hours.\n\nAs a tsunami leaves the deep water of the open ocean and travels into the shallower water near the coast, it behaves like a normal wave - only with more muscle.\n\nShallow water slows the tsunami and its height grows. Tsunamis batter the coast with tremendous amounts of energy. They can strip sand from beaches, tearing up trees, and even obliterating whole towns. Some have been known to reach as much as 30m above sea level. \n\n\nThe only way they may be alike is that because of a Hurricane, you might have huge waves, but still, waves generated by Tsunami would be larger.
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C'mon now, sometimes I wonder why people ask questions like this....sorry to be rude but I know you know what a hurricane is but here...\n\nhur·ri·cane    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (hûr-kn, hr-)\nn. \nA severe tropical cyclone originating in the equatorial regions of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea or eastern regions of the Pacific Ocean, traveling north, northwest, or northeast from its point of origin, and usually involving heavy rains. \nA wind with a speed greater than 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour, according to the Beaufort scale.
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The Saffir-Simpson Scale ranks hurricanes from Category 1 to Category 5, the most powerful. \n\nCATEGORY 1\nWinds: 74 to 95 mph \n\nDamage: Minimal; signs, unanchored mobile homes, tree branches power lines blown down, some coastal flooding. Central pressure will be 28.94 inches or more and will be accompanied by a 4- to 5-foot storm surge.\n   \nCATEGORY 2\nWinds: 96 to 110 mph \n\nDamage: Moderate; larger signs, roofs, doors, windows, mobile homes, small boats, some flooding, tree branches blown down. Pressure 28.50 to 28.93 inches accompanied by a storm surge of 6 to 8 feet.\n   \nCATEGORY 3\nWinds: 111 to 130 mph \n\nDamage: Extensive; minor damage to buildings, some walls fail, mobile homes, trees blown down. Flooding washes away smaller coastal structures. Flooding up to 8 miles inland. Pressure 27.91 to 28.49 inches accompanied by a storm surge of nine to 12 feet\n   \nCATEGORY 4\nWinds: 131 to 155 mph \n\nDamage: Extreme; almost total destruction of doors, windows. Some wall and roof failure. Major damage to lower floors of oceanfront buildings. Evacuations up to 6 miles inland. Pressure 27.17 to 27.90 inches accompanied by a storm surge of 13 to 18 feet.. Hurricanes Andrew, Hugo, and Hazel were Category 4 storms.\n   \nCATEGORY 5\nWinds: More than 155 mph \n \nDamage: Catastrophic; buildings, roofs, structures destroyed. Flooding up to 10 miles inland, evacuation of area. Pressure less than 27.17 inches accompanied by a storm surge higher than 18 feet. Remember Luis in 1995
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Africa do not experience hurricanes they only occur in tropical regions, anyway animals usually have a 6 th sense  that warns them when a natural diaster will occur and so they evacuate to safer areas before the actual diaster.
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The list can go on and on, but as the previous poster mentioned, they are virtually all associated with low pressure areas at some level (surface &/or aloft).\n\nA few examples are:\n\nOrdinary (synoptic scale) Lows\nNor'easters\nAlberta clippers\nColorado Lows\nInverted trofs\nInland runners (in from the Atlantic coast)\nCoastal Lows\nHurricanes\nTropical cyclones\nMesoscale convective systems\nShortwave trofs (aloft)\n\nSome meteorologists take great pride in naming them or knowing the names - which is not really the important thing, though it can help a person understand them and thus predict them better.
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A storm is any disturbed state of a planet's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather. It may be marked by strong wind (a wind storm), thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), heavy precipitation, such as ice (ice storm), or wind transporting some substance through the atmosphere (as in a dust storm, snowstorm, hailstorm, etc).\n\nFormation\nStorms are created when a center of low pressure develops, with a system of high pressure surrounding it. This combination of opposing forces can create winds and result in the formation of storm clouds, such as the cumulonimbus. Small, localized areas of low pressure can form from hot air rising off hot ground, resulting in smaller disturbances such as dust devils and whirlwinds.\n\nYou could get more information from the link below...
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Storms are created when a center of low pressure develops, with a system of high pressure surrounding it. This combination of opposing forces can create winds and result in the formation of storm clouds, such as the cumulonimbus. Small, localized areas of low pressure can form from hot air rising off hot ground, resulting in smaller disturbances such as dust devils and whirlwinds.
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cyclones are the same as tornadoes and occur on land.\n\ntyphoons are the same as hurricanes and occur along the coastline.  In the western hemisphere we call the hurricanes (like in the Americas). In the eastern hemisphere they are called typhoons (like in India).
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The difference is where they happen.  The storms are called hurricanes in the Caribbean, the Atlantic and the eastern Pacific.  They are called typhoons in the western Pacific, and they are called cyclones in the Indian Ocean, but the physics of the storms are the same.  I believe the direction of rotation may be different, depending on whether they are in the northern hemisphere or the southern hemisphere.\n\nA hurricane, typhoon, or cyclone is any mass of air that spirals around a low pressure center. It is an organized collection of thunderstorms embedded in a swirling mass of air.\n\nAt the center of the spiral is the eye, a vertical tube of clear skies and calm winds; the more intense the storm, the smaller the eye.\n\nAlthough the main upwards flow of air is around the eye, the entire air mass is unstable. Spiraling rows of thunderstorms with relatively clear areas between them extend outwards for up to two thousand miles from the center, gradually diminishing in intensity.