NORFOLK, Va. — There are a lot of words you only hear during hurricane season.
Words like tropical wave, hurricane, invest…you might know what some mean, but others not so much. Let’s dive into a few words and phrases you need to know.
"Tropical wave" is a term you hear frequently before a storm forms.
A tropical wave is an unorganized area of storms traveling west out of Africa. These are important to follow because around 85 percent of major hurricanes begin as tropical waves.
Another common term you hear -- "invest." Invest stands for Investigative Area. When a tropical wave becomes more organized, the National Hurricane Center will designate the area of disturbed weather “Invest."
Each invest is given a number from 90-99. For example, Invest 90L. The L tells us the system is in the Atlantic. This also allows the NHC to run ensemble models or spaghetti models on these systems.
You might also hear the term "cyclone" during hurricane season. A cyclone is a blanket term for any area of low pressure that has closed circulation. Hurricanes, tropical storms, and tropical depressions are all cyclones because they are closed areas of low pressure.
One more word that is used frequently is "post-tropical cyclone." A tropical storm or hurricane becomes post-tropical when the system loses its tropical characteristics. These former tropical cyclones can still bring strong winds and heavy rain to an area, though.
For more hurricane tidbits or to view our 2024 Hurricane Guide, head to the homepage and click on the tab labeled "Hurricane Center."