How Long Does A Hurricane Last (And Why)?

How Long Does A Hurricane Last (And Why)?

Exact Answer: 12 Hours To 24 Hours

A hurricane can last anywhere from about 12 hours to as long as 24 hours or maybe even more. There is no fixed time for how long a typical hurricane would last on average. The reason behind that is because the time for how long a typical hurricane would last on average depends upon several different factors which either increase the time or decrease it.

How Long Does A Hurricane Last

How Long Does A Hurricane Last?

Type of hurricaneTime
Category 11 hour to 4 hours
Category 24 hours to 6 hours
Category 36 hours to 12 hours
Category 412 hours to 24 hours
Category 524 hours to 48 hours

To calculate the time for how long a typical hurricane would last on average, it can be done by knowing what type of hurricane it is. That is to say, a hurricane is classified into 5 different categories that depend upon the intensity of the hurricane.

The 5 different classifications in which a hurricane can be divided are category 1 hurricane, category 2 hurricane, category 3 hurricane, category 4 hurricane, and lastly category 5 hurricane. All these 5 different types of hurricanes are of different intensity and thus, as a result, the time for how long a typical hurricane would last on average also varies.

Thus, to calculate the time for how long a typical hurricane would last on average, it is important to first know what category of a hurricane it is.

On average, category 1 hurricanes last for about a minimum of 1 hour to a maximum of 4 hours.

The second type of hurricane, category 2 hurricane lasts for about a minimum of 4 hours to a maximum of 6 hours on average.

The third type of hurricane, category 3 hurricane lasts for about a minimum of 6 hours to a maximum of 12 hours on average.

The second last type of hurricane, that is, category 4 hurricanes last for about a minimum of 12 hours to a maximum of 24 hours on average.

Lastly, category 5 hurricanes last for about a minimum of 24 hours to a maximum of 48 hours on average.

Why Does A Hurricane Last That Long?

Category 1 hurricane is the type of hurricane that causes the least damage to no damage at all. That is to say, this type of hurricane is of nominal speed and does not bring a lot of severity. Moreover, this type of hurricane lasts for the shortest duration of time as compared to the rest of the 4 types of a hurricane. 

The speed of wind during a category 1 hurricane is about a minimum of 74 miles per hour to a maximum of 95 miles per hour.

Secondly, a category 2 hurricane causes nominal damage. However, in certain cases, category 2 hurricanes can cause extreme damage as well. The speed of wind during a category 2 hurricane is about a minimum of 96 miles per hour to a maximum of 110 miles per hour.

A category 3 hurricane causes extreme damage to devastating damage. The speed of wind during a category 3 hurricane is about a minimum of 111 miles per hour to a maximum of 129 miles per hour.

A category 4 hurricane causes devastating damage to catastrophic damage. The speed of wind during a category 4 hurricane is about a minimum of 130 miles per hour to a maximum of 156 miles per hour.

A category 5 hurricane causes enough damage to make the area uninhabitable. The speed of wind during a category 3 hurricane is about 157 miles per hour and above.

Conclusion

Apart from the category of the hurricane, some of the other major factors which determine the time for how long a typical hurricane would last on average could be the region where a hurricane has occurred, if there is any sea body near the area where the hurricane is happening, speed of the wind, and other such factors.

The time for how long a typical hurricane would last on average depends upon all these factors. Thus it is important to consider all the time determining factors to calculate the time for how long a typical hurricane would last on average.

References

  1. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=JyxRAAAAMAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=hurricane&ots=uIwjHh6SD2&sig=NBXF-W2fJtLDpnPdKiUi1RiIhK4
  2. https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/atsc/60/19/1520-0469_2003_060_2349_hs_2.0.co_2.xml
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