Describe the horizontal and vertical structure of a hurricane

Question

What will be the ideal response?

Answer 1

ANSWER: Horizontal structure: As one approaches the hurricane, the sky becomes overcast with cirrostratus clouds; barometric pressure drops slowly at first, then more rapidly as we move closer to the center. Winds blow from the north and northwest with ever-increasing speed as we near the eye. The high winds, which generate huge waves over 10 m (33 ft) high, are accompanied by heavy rainshowers. As we move into the eye, the winds slacken, rainfall ceases, and the sky brightens, as middle and high clouds appear overhead. Vertical structure: Near the surface, moist tropical air flows in toward the hurricane’s center. Adjacent to the eye, this air rises and condenses into huge cumulonimbus clouds that produce heavy rainfall, as much as 25 cm (10 in.) per hour. Near the top of the clouds, the relatively dry air, having lost much of its moisture, begins to flow outward away from the center. This diverging air aloft actually produces an anticyclonic (clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere) flow of air several hundred kilometers from the eye.