<blockquote>
  <p>Would a hurricane increase intensity due to increasing translation speed?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>As depicted below, meteorologists account for this effect in announcing the highest sustained wind speeds. The highest sustained winds account for both the motion of the storm itself and the motion of the winds relative to the moving storm.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/QeGSL.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/QeGSL.jpg" alt="Cartoon of a hurricane moving to the northwest. Winds are strongest to the northeast, weakest to the southwest."></a><br>
<sub>Source: <a href="http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/D6.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/D6.html</a></sub></p>

<p>The hurricane in the above diagram is moving to the northwest at 10 mph and is capable of sustaining 90 mph winds relative to the storm itself. That means that relative to land, those 90 mph winds become 100 mph winds in the northeastern portion of the storm, but only 80 mph in the southeastern portion of the storm. The highest sustained winds would be reported as 100 mph for the hurricane depicted above.</p>

<p>That northeast section of the storm where the winds are strongest is the so-called dirty side of the storm. Note that which side is the dirty side depends on the storm's motion. The dirty side is to the east during a sharp landfall along the Gulf Coast, to the north during a sharp landfall along the US Eastern Seaboard, and to the south for eastern Pacific hurricanes making landfall on Baja California. Because tropical storms rotate clockwise in the southern hemisphere (as opposed rather to counterclockwise as depicted above), which side is the dirty side also depends on the hemisphere.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-12T19:37:28.500Z
2017-04-13T08:26:21.817Z
2017-04-13T08:26:21.817Z
David Hammen
<p>For example, if a hurricane has 200km/h wind speed, and it increases the translation speed from 10km/h to 30km/h, would the intensity become 220km/h?</p>

<tropical-cyclone>
Would a hurricane increase intensity due to increasing translation speed?
Gstestso
# Would a hurricane increase intensity due to increasing translation speed?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-04-12)

For example, if a hurricane has 200km/h wind speed, and it increases the translation speed from 10km/h to 30km/h, would the intensity become 220km/h?

**Tags:** tropical-cyclone


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-04-12. Score: 2

> Would a hurricane increase intensity due to increasing translation speed?

As depicted below, meteorologists account for this effect in announcing the highest sustained wind speeds. The highest sustained winds account for both the motion of the storm itself and the motion of the winds relative to the moving storm.

[![Cartoon of a hurricane moving to the northwest. Winds are strongest to the northeast, weakest to the southwest.](https://i.sstatic.net/QeGSL.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/QeGSL.jpg)  
Source: <http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/D6.html>

The hurricane in the above diagram is moving to the northwest at 10 mph and is capable of sustaining 90 mph winds relative to the storm itself. That means that relative to land, those 90 mph winds become 100 mph winds in the northeastern portion of the storm, but only 80 mph in the southeastern portion of the storm. The highest sustained winds would be reported as 100 mph for the hurricane depicted above.

That northeast section of the storm where the winds are strongest is the so-called dirty side of the storm. Note that which side is the dirty side depends on the storm's motion. The dirty side is to the east during a sharp landfall along the Gulf Coast, to the north during a sharp landfall along the US Eastern Seaboard, and to the south for eastern Pacific hurricanes making landfall on Baja California. Because tropical storms rotate clockwise in the southern hemisphere (as opposed rather to counterclockwise as depicted above), which side is the dirty side also depends on the hemisphere.


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