Project Acceleration: Hurricane Katrina

       Hurricane Katrina was one the most deadly hurricanes to ever hit the USA.  It first formed 200 miles southeast of the Bahamas on Aug 23, 2005. It was first said to be a tropical depression according to the NOAA.  The next morning a band of storm clouds started to wrap around the north side of the storm’s circulation center. The wind at this time was about 40 mph, the storm was then named Tropical storm Katrina.  On Aug 25 Katrina was a moderate category 1 hurricane heading into southern Florida. After hitting Florida hurricane Katrina stalled beneath a very large upper-level anti cyclone that dominated the entire Gulf of Mexico, and Katrina gained strength. On Aug 26 Katrina re-intensified and on Aug 28 with winds at about 175 mph making it a category 5 hurricane.  The hurricane weakened to a category 3 before making landfall along the Louisiana-Mississippi border on Aug 29.It was weakened to a category 1 hurricane after moving inland over southern and central Mississippi and then an became extra tropical low on Aug 31. Hurricane Katrina caused major flooding leaving many people homeless.

Even though Katrina caused so much destruction scientists were able to learn from it and improve science.  “Around the time of Katrina, scientists thought the presence of "hot towers"— tall thunderstorm clouds that carry a lot of heat upward— could increase the intensity of a hurricane. Since Katrina, scientists have been learning that it's not necessarily whether these deep towers of clouds are present or not, but where the drafts of rising air, or updrafts, are positioned in great quantity and in specific locations inside of the cyclone”(Patel, 2015).