Preparing For Hurricane Season

One of nature’s most powerful weather events is the hurricane, also known as a typhoon or cyclone. Hurricanes occur when warm ocean temperatures and moist, unstable air masses come together and start a chain reaction of energy transfer. In the northern hemisphere hurricanes will spin counter-clockwise around their deep low pressure center, while in the southern hemisphere they turn clockwise. In effect, hurricanes are simply very strong storms that are easily fueled by the warm ocean waters of the tropics.

Hurricanes occur during the “season” which lasts from June 1^st to November 30^th in the Atlantic. They are classified according to what is known as the “Saffir-Simpson” scale, a rating from 1 to 5 based on the hurricane’s present intensity (maximum wind speed).

• Category 1: Winds 64-82 knots.
• Category 2: Winds 83-95 knots.
• Category 3: Winds 96-113 knots.
• Category 4: Winds 114-135 knots.
• Category 5: Winds great than 135 knots.

Active Sky Advanced and Active Sky X will simulate these hurricanes inside FSX and will show them on the map screen. The hurricanes and their parameters are generated from real data that is polled from our servers including the present pressure, wind speed and location.

Since real data is used, you can easily simulate hurricane conditions at any time by setting your online active date/time to match known past hurricanes. You can also create them manually in the Wx Configuration screen in Active Sky Advanced and Active Sky X.

Active Sky Advanced and Active Sky X will automatically read the active hurricane data and generate them within FSX at the proper location. Virtual weather stations will be created and configured to represent the proper conditions. Any existing weather stations within the area of the hurricane will inherit the proper hurricane conditions, ignoring METAR reports (which is important since airports and METAR stations usually stop prior to a hurricane’s arrival).

Of course, in reality it is highly recommended to stay well clear of hurricanes especially when flying. Significant associated weather hazards include extreme turbulence, extreme wind speeds, heavy rain and restricted visibility. This will all be modelled in the simulator as per the real data, so realistic planning and operations pertaining to hurricanes can be practiced.

If you do venture into a hurricane, it is important to remember to keep your airspeed below maneuvering speed in order to reduce the chance of the turbulence causing airframe damage.

For more information about hurricanes, check out the Wiki page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane.