Anatomy Of A Hurricane
CBS' Mark Strassmann On The Making Of A Hurricane
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Play CBS Video Video How A Hurricane Works Scientists are trying to save lives by studying the inner workings of hurricanes to better predict the surprising twists and turns the violent storms sometimes take, Mark Strassmann reports.
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Video Ivan Aims For Jamaica With Hurricane Ivan approaching the island with winds topping 145 mph, Jamaica ordered half a million people to evacuate. Residents in the Florida Keys are also on alert, Lee Cowan reports.
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Video Fla. Keys Brace For Ivan Surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, the fragile Florida Keys could take a beating from Hurricane Ivan, and risk being submerged by tidal surges, Randal Pinkston reports.
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A woman listens to the radio as others wait inside a shelter in Kingston, Jamaica. (AP)
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An unidentified Jamaican man films large waves in Kingston, Jamaica as Hurricane Ivan. (AP)
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Photo Essay Ivan In Photos The season's fourth major storm causes death and destruction in the Caribbean and bears down on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
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Interactive Storm Tracker Follow all the storms of the 2009 season with satellite images, warnings and wind speed charts.
Now comes Ivan -- following Charley's path almost exactly, and already a Category Four.
To John Kaplan, a researcher in the fuzzy science of hurricanes, Charley was a reminder.
"There are so many things that can change so quickly," he said.
These storms usually start off Africa, feeding off the warm Atlantic waters, and warm, wet summer atmosphere.
The eye forms and draws in outside winds. Thunderstorms drive it on. The eye tightens, and the winds whip faster and faster.
Think of it like a spinning figure skater. The closer the skater wraps his/her arms around his/her body, the faster the spin.
"Your radius is getting smaller, and therefore your speed has to get, the rotation has to get higher. And it's the same thing with the winds," Kaplan explained.
To sustain a hurricane, ocean waters have to be at least 80 degrees.
Hurricanes become especially devastating, as Ivan was to Grenada, when they pass over even warmer water -- like the Caribbean, or the Gulf of Mexico, where water temperature is in the upper 80's.
Ivan is now reaching a critical point near Cuba, including a vast stretch of warm water that lies ahead.
"As the storm increases, it's like one big gas station?" asked Strassmann.
"Pretty much. Yeah. And the gas is increasing here. So there's much more gas here than there is now actually," replied Kaplan.
But if Ivan cools down and slows down over Cuban soil, Floridians could dodge an ugly storm.
If it's more like Charlie, the state could be in for a three-peat of destruction.
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