Knowing how a hurricane forms can assist you when you use your Weather & Radar app to track tropical development throughout the season.

Hurricanes usually have their origins over the warm waters of the tropical oceans. They typically start as a disorganized cluster of thunderstorms that spark from a passing tropical wave or front.

Thunderstorms will tap into the moisture-providing warm water and intensify. Stronger storms, in turn, result in instability that leads to more thunderstorm activity.

As the feedback process continues, the thunderstorm cluster will intensify, become better defined, and likely be labeled a “tropical disturbance.” When identifying tropical disturbances, meteorologists look for organized storm activity that maintains its structure for at least 24 hours.

If atmospheric conditions remain favorable, the tropical disturbance will continue to strengthen. Once wind speeds reach 30 mph, the system becomes a tropical depression, and you can usually identify a spin.

If its maximum sustained winds reach at least 39 mph and up to 73 mph, it is called a tropical storm. The storm has a better-defined cyclonic pattern in this stage, with the winds and storms closer to its center. When storms are named by the National Hurricane Center, it is because they have reached tropical storm status.

The named storm becomes a hurricane if it continues to strengthen. Categories are given based on the maximum sustained wind speed of the storm using the Saffir-Simpson scale shown below.

Since hurricanes are categorized based solely on wind speed, many believe higher-categorized storms are the most threatening. Although this is true in general terms, it is important to remember that every storm is different, and the dangers can change depending on the trajectory, time of impact and speed. No storm is the same.