Every part of a tropical storm or hurricane is dangerous, but the dirty side typically brings the worst. The dirty side is where you’re most likely to see storm surge, extreme wind and heavier rain bands that can cause flooding and with the embedded storms that can quickly spin tornadoes.

Answer: The average hurricane moves from east to west due to the tropical trade winds that blow near the equator (where hurricanes start). When a hurricane is still in the Caribbean, the tropical jet blows east to west, and the hurricane moves west to gain power.

But it also has to do with physics. In fact, tropical cyclones — the general name for the storms called typhoons, hurricanes or cyclones in different parts of the world — always spin counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, and spin in the opposite direction in the Southern Hemisphere.

Thus the gloval torque on a hurricane due to its forced precession with the Earth creates a northward acceleration which leads to a northward movement. The movement of the hurricane to higher latitudes creates an acceleration to the east.

Dorian

Hurricane John, also known as Typhoon John, was both the longest-lasting and the farthest-traveling tropical cyclone ever observed.

around 15-20 mph

The Worst Storms on Record Ever to Have Hit the United States

• Deadly and Devastating. 1/12.
• Hurricane Katrina, 2005. 2/12.
• 1900 Galveston Hurricane. 3/12.
• 1935 Labor Day Hurricane. 4/12.
• Hurricane Camille, 1969. 5/12.
• Hurricane Harvey, 2017. 6/12.
• Superstorm Sandy, 2012. 7/12.
• 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane. 8/12.

Hurricane Bernard, an example of a fictional Category 8 hurricane, before Delaware landfall. A Category 8 is a hypothetical Saffir-Simpson rating beyond the Category 5 rating which has never officially been recorded in human history.