Hurricanes generally only form in the summer and fall months when the ocean waters can reach to temperatures above 82 degrees fahrenheit. The warm moist air above these spots rises, creating an area of low pressure. The area of low pressure then fills up with the surrounding air of higher pressure. As the air within cools, it creates water vapor that creates a large system of clouds and thunderstorms above. The entire system spins and grows when in the most favorable conditions which are areas with warm, moist air, high humidity, and easterly winds.
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Hurricane Maria formed into an intense category 5 hurricane due to the amount of energy it was able to receive from the warm tropical waters in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Because of this, global warming and climate change can attribute to more intense hurricanes in the future. There was a time period where there were a lot of active hurricanes that were forming in the North Atlantic, and these hurricanes were thought to have been under a warming climate. There were some hurricanes that had higher speed winds and a lot more rainfall than a lot of other hurricanes, and some states were left struggling to survive because of how much rain had developed from the hurricane.Although researchers today believe that the change in temperature small enough factor that won't cause drastic changes in the hurricanes, if temperatures continue to rise it may need to be recalculated.