Terms to Know

c Hurricane: A tropical cyclone with minimum winds of 74 mph. The term hurricane is used for Northern Hemisphere tropical cyclones east of the International Dateline to the Greenwich Meridian.

c Tropical storm: A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds from 39 mph to 73 mph.

c Tropical depression: A tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 38 mph.

c Remnant low: Used to describe systems no longer having convection required of a tropical cyclone.

c Hurricane warning: An announcement that hurricane conditions are expected within a specified coastal area. The warning is issued 36 hours prior to the anticipated onset of tropical-storm-force winds.

c Hurricane watch: An announcement that hurricane conditions are possible within a specific coastal area. The watch is issued 48 hours in advance of the anticipated onset of tropical-storm-force winds.

c Tropical storm warning: An announcement that tropical storm conditions are expected in a specified coastal area within 36 hours.

c Tropical storm watch: An announcement that tropical storm conditions are possible within the specified coastal area within 48 hours.

c The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale is used to estimate a storm’s potential damage. As an example, when Hurricane Iniki made landfall on Kauai in 1992 it was a category 4 storm.

– Category 1: winds ranging from 74 mph to 95 mph

– Category 2: winds ranging from 96 mph to 110 mph

– Category 3: winds ranging from 111 mph to 129 mph

– Category 4: winds ranging from 130 mph to 156 mph

– Category 5: winds of 157 mph and up

Source: Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu. For more, visit prh.noaa.gov/cphc.