# Hurricanes, for the Third Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 2, 2000, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-for-the-third-time/31789 "2000-09-02T16:39:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-for-the-third-time/31789/1 "2000-09-02T16:39:50Z")
I hate to belabor the hurricane thing and I’ve posted twice on this subject, having received some very helpful info and a direction to a link in [weather.com](http://weather.com) which was very helpful, but I still have one more lingering question which I hope some one out there in the Teeming Millions can answer. I know have learned that there are no clouds in the eye of a hurricane because the air is seeking, and seeking air cannot give rise to clouds (no pun intended). However, why is the air so still? My own thought on this is that the rotating winds of a hurricane must rotate round something - a focal point, and so that focal point is still. I am not completely satisfied with that as I envision a top spinning and it spins around its axis, but the axis is also spinning. So if any one knows why the air is calm in the eye of a hurricane, please let me know. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-for-the-third-time/31789/2 "2000-09-02T20:26:19Z")
“Seeking”? Do you mean, “sinking”? If air is sinking it stays clear because it increases in temperature, and warm air can hold more water vapor. When air rises, it cools off and can’t hold as much water vapor. The water vapor forms water droplets, clouds. Now…why isn’t the eye of the hurricane the _most_ violent? Hmmmm…good question. If there are no further questions, class is dismissed. ---
**Author:** ![Stylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4bbf92/32.png) [@Stylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stylus)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-for-the-third-time/31789/3 "2000-09-02T20:40:56Z")
That eye is there only to try to trick you out of your hiding place. First you get slammed by the storm surge and the wind, then calm and sunny skies abound. You say to yourself hurricanes aren’t that bad, and decide to have a picnic in the park. While enjoying your brie and wine you notice the skies beginning to darken, then BAM!! The second half is coming straight at you, in your face!! And you notice the winds are coming from the opposite direction as the first wave. But that observation was for naught, because right before you decide to retreat to shelter you’re head gets bashed in by a blue sign that reads “Hurricane Evacuation Route This Way”. Don’t ever be fooled by that damn, calm eye! It’s a trick I tell ya! ---
**Author:** ![Zarathustra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/898d66/32.png) [@Zarathustra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zarathustra)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2000, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-for-the-third-time/31789/4 "2000-09-02T21:57:11Z")
From _The Onion’s_ “Hurricane Safety Tips”: > [@](#): > > At the exact center of a hurricane is an “eye” of utter tranquility. Use this safety zone as a launch window for your mission to rescue stranded astronaut Gene Hackman. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-for-the-third-time/31789/5 "2000-09-03T14:36:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lemur866 \* > \*\*“Seeking”? Do you mean, “sinking”? > > If air is sinking it stays clear because it increases in temperature, and warm air can hold more water vapor. When air rises, it cools off and can’t hold as much water vapor. The water vapor forms water droplets, clouds. > > Now…why isn’t the eye of the hurricane the _most_ violent? Hmmmm…good question. If there are no further questions, class is dismissed. \*\* Yes, I apologize. I mean “sinking.” I don’t know why my befuddled mind typed “seeking.” Maybe that was a Freudian slip, as it is I who am seeking. And still seeking, as no one has come up with the answer yet. I’m not even talking about the right answer – any answer. Doesn’t any one know? Why is the eye calm? I’ve gotten a couple of epeistomolgical answsers, but I’m looke for a meteorogical answer. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2000, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-for-the-third-time/31789/6 "2000-09-03T16:24:27Z")
_snicker_ I go to answer this, and the Scorpions “Rock you like a Hurricane” comes up. The one with the Berlin Philaharmonic. Cool. Found a link you should read. [http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/tcfaqA.html#a11](http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/tcfaqA.html#a11) “how is the eye formed and maintained?” > [@](#): > > Thus the cloud-free eye may be due to a combination of dynamically forced centrifuging of mass out of the eye into the eyewall and to a forced descent caused by the moist convection of the eyewall. This topic is certainly one that can use more research to ascertain which mechanism is primary. Seems to need a little more research, but this is what the professionals think is happening. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2000, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-for-the-third-time/31789/7 "2000-09-04T14:44:05Z")
Thanks very much. The link you furnished contains all the info anyone would want to know about hurricanes. It did answer my specific q. about the calmness in the eye: Supergradient wind flow near the radius of maximum winds causes air to be centrifuged out of the eye into the eyewall, accounting for the subsidence in the eye. I knew someone in the Teeming Millions knew the answer.