Chapter 10: The Southern Coastlands: On the Subtropical Margin

Down in the southern coastlands, they are easily deceived by the typical mild winters. Like stated in the book, they may attempt to produce their crops all year round, but unfortunately some inevitable circumstances creeps up on them unexpectedly. Those mid-winter frost comes through the southern lands like Florida and considerable crop damage happens and financially gives them hardship. Those kinds of unforeseeable circumstances cannot be prevented, but at the same time, with the type of mild winter Florida has, it is hard to make a prediction. In Santa Clarita, it is a 4 season year. It is easier to predict what the outcome of the weather can be.

Another disaster that the southern coastland experiences are the hurricanes. Hurricanes are large cyclonic tropical storms that are generated by intense solar heating over large bodies of warm water. Like stated in the book, "The earth's rotation and spheroidal shape mean that air flowing toward the hurricane's center establishes the storm's broad, counterclockwise rotational pattern. The deeper the pressure pocket, the faster the wind flows and the more destructive the storm's potential(textbook).

Examples and different categories of the hurricanes:

Apr 11 2011
The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is utilized to determine the relative strengths of hurricanes that may impact the United States coast. Since the 1990s, only wind speed has been used to categorize hurricanes.

Category One Hurricane

* Maximum Sustained Wind Speed: 74-95 miles per hour
* Damage Category: Minimal
* Approximate Pressure: Above 980 mb
* Approximate Storm Surge: 3-5 feet
* Examples: Hurricane Lili (2002) in Louisiana; Hurricane Gaston (2004) in South Carolina

Category Two Hurricane

* Maximum Sustained Wind Speed: 96-110 miles per hour
* Damage Category: Moderate
* Approximate Pressure: 979-965 mb
* Approximate Storm Surge: 6-8 feet
* Example: Hurricane Isabel (2003) in North Carolina

Category Three Hurricane

* Maximum Sustained Wind Speed: 111-130 miles per hour
* Damage Category: Extensive
* Approximate Pressure: 964-945 mb
* Approximate Storm Surge: 9-12 feet
* Examples: Hurricane Katrina (2005) in Louisiana; Hurricane Jeanne (2004) in Florida; Hurricane Ivan (2004) in Alabama

Category Four Hurricane

* Maximum Sustained Wind Speed: 131-155 miles per hour
* Damage Category: Extreme
* Approximate Pressure: 944-920 mb
* Approximate Storm Surge: 13-18 feet
* Example: Hurricane Charley (2004) in Florida; Hurricane Iniki (1992) in Hawaii; the Galveston Hurricane (1900) in Texas

Category Five Hurricane

* Maximum Sustained Wind Speed: Above 155 miles per hour
* Damage Category: Catastrophic
* Approximate Pressure: Below 920 mb
* Approximate Storm Surge: More than 18 feet
* Examples: Only three Category 5 hurricanes have struck the United States since records began: The Labor Day Hurricane (1935) in the Florida Keyes, Hurricane Camille (1969) near the mouth of the Mississippi River, and Hurricane Andrew (1992) in Florida



(Information obtained from)
(Regional Landscapes of the United States and Canada textbook page 196-197)
(Hurricane categories: http://geography.about.com/od/lists/a/hurrcategories.htm)