The three Atlantic Basin hurricanes (all Category 5) with the lowest pressures on record are Wilma (Oct. 19, 2005, with 882 millibars or 26.05 inches of mercury), Gilbert (Sept. 14, 1988, 888 millibars or 26.22 inches) and the Labor Day Hurricane (Sept. 2, 1935, 892 millibars or 26.35 inches).

Hurricane Conditions Hurricanes conditions occur when warm, moist air evaporates from the surface of the ocean and rises quickly. This warm air meets cool air in the higher elevations that causes condensation of the warm air vapor. The condensation turns into storm clouds that make up hurricanes.

When the surface water is warm, the storm sucks up heat energy from the water, just like a straw sucks up a liquid. This creates moisture in the air. If wind conditions are right, the storm becomes a hurricane. This heat energy is the fuel for the storm.

A hurricane is a large rotating storm with high speed winds that forms over warm waters in tropical areas. Hurricanes have sustained winds of at least 74 miles per hour and an area of low air pressure in the center called the eye. The scientific name for a hurricane is a tropical cyclone.

Warm ocean waters and thunderstorms fuel power-hungry hurricanes. Hurricanes form over the ocean, often beginning as a tropical wave—a low pressure area that moves through the moisture-rich tropics, possibly enhancing shower and thunderstorm activity.

Hurricanes start near the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America. Typhoons start near the Philippines, China and Japan. In the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean, these storms are just called cyclones.

The top 10 safest cities in Florida during a hurricane, according to the insurance study, are:

• Sanford.
• Kissimmee.
• Palatka.
• Lake City.
• Naples.
• Ocala.
• Gainesville.
• Fernandina Beach.

Where Do Hurricanes Hit the Most in the United States?

• Florida: 120 hurricanes (37 were Category 3 through Category 5)
• Texas 64 hurricanes (19 were Category 3 through Category 5)
• North Carolina: 55 hurricanes (7 were Category 3 through Category 5)
• Louisiana: 54 hurricanes (17 were Category 3 through Category 5)

A California hurricane is a tropical cyclone that affects the state of California. Usually, only the remnants of tropical cyclones affect California. Since 1900, only two tropical storms have hit California, one by direct landfall from offshore, another after making landfall in Mexico.

More than 150 tsunamis have hit California’s shore since 1800. Most were barely noticeable, but a few have caused fatalities or significant damage. The most destructive tsunami to hit California occurred March 28, 1964.

Tornadoes in California are not unheard of. The state averages a dozen or so tornadoes per year, most of them quick-hitting and weak. Most form in the Central Valley, where low-level southerly winds are accelerated up the length of the valley. Storms in California do occasionally rival those of Tornado Alley.

2011

Of the ten places with populations over 50,000 and the highest violent crime rates, only two had populations under 100,000: they are Santa Cruz (8.26) and Compton (11.49). The other places include (in descending order of violent crime rate) Oakland, Stockton, San Bernardino, Vallejo, and San Francisco.

No, California is not going to fall into the ocean. California is firmly planted on the top of the earth’s crust in a location where it spans two tectonic plates. There is nowhere for California to fall, however, Los Angeles and San Francisco will one day be adjacent to one another!

The 2021 Los Angeles Mega-Tsunami was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States. Triggered by a massive unknown underwater volcano near Hawaii, the tsunami was eighty feet in height upon making landfall in southwestern California on April 1, 2021.

1936: Lituya Bay, Alaska On October 27, 1936, a megatsunami occurred in Lituya Bay in Alaska with a maximum run-up height of 490 feet (149 m) in Crillon Inlet at the head of the bay. The four eyewitnesses to the wave in Lituya Bay itself all survived and described it as between 100 and 250 feet (30 and 76 m) high.

Large tsunamis have occurred in the United States and will undoubtedly occur again. The tsunami generated by the 1964 magnitude 9.2 earthquake in the Gulf of Alaska (Prince William Sound) caused damage and loss of life across the Pacific, including Alaska, Hawaii, California, Oregon, and Washington.

1720 feet

Experts agree that a cruise ship sailing out over a body of water is not likely to feel any impacts from a tsunami’s waves. Cruise ships closer to land or at port would face an immense threat from the tsunami’s tall, high-energy and potentially devastating wave.

2004

~100 m

Dinosaurs lived on all of the continents. At the beginning of the age of dinosaurs (during the Triassic Period, about 230 million years ago), the continents were arranged together as a single supercontinent called Pangea. During the 165 million years of dinosaur existence this supercontinent slowly broke apart.

Fortunately, for mankind, it is indeed very rare for a meteorite or an asteroid to reach the earth. Although no documented tsunami has ever been generated by an asteroid impact, the effects of such an event would be disastrous.

Tsunamis can travel as far as 10 miles (16 km) inland, depending on the shape and slope of the shoreline.

100 feet

Waves of this type are called Mega Tsunami. They are so great that they can reach several hundred meters in height, travel at the speed of a jet aircraft and get up to 12 miles (20 Kilometers) inland.

However, while there is no indication it could happen soon (but could), there are scientifically sound reasons for concern that at some point a mega-tsunami could engulf the entire East Coast with a wave almost 200 feet high sweeping everything and everybody up to 20 miles inland.

The reality of a tsunami hitting NYC is pretty slim, mostly because (for reasons you can read about here) the Atlantic is not prone to earthquakes. Short version: If there is a tsunami coming get on a tall roof somewhere, presuming whatever earthquake initiated the tsunami didn’t flatten New York first.

Beaches, lagoons, bays, estuaries, tidal flats and river mouths are the most dangerous places to be. It is rare for a tsunami to penetrate more than a mile inland. Tsunami waves are unlike normal coastal waves.

Denis García was lucky. Most people do not survive being swept into a tsunami. But there are a few ways you can protect yourself from these natural disasters. Your exact strategy will depend on where you are, and will go a lot more smoothly if you have planned in advance.