Katie
Sullivan's Hurricane Cartoons |
Once upon a time, I wanted to be a meteorologist and study hurricanes. I've since changed my career goals, but I'm still fascinated by the weather in general and hurricanes in particular.
Back in 1997 the website "storm97.com" (affiliated with the Palm Beach Post) featured several my cartoons, and later the Federal Emergency Management Agency added some to their site, as well.
| Hurricanes need warm water (above 80 degrees F) to grow and thrive. | |
Wind shear, winds moving in different directions at different levels of the atmosphere, tears hurricanes apart and quickly kills or weakens them. |
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| A hurricane in therapy | |
| One of the other reasons why hurricanes hate wind shear | |
Just as a high temperature indicates a sick human, unhealthy hurricanes have high air pressure |
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The great New England hurricane of 1938 raced northward to strike the northeast U.S. at an incredible speed, surprising forecasters. |
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The Fujiwhara Effect occurs when two hurricanes get so close together they begin revolving around each other. |
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| When the Fujiwhara Effect gets out of hand | |
The freak tropical storm which formed in the Southern Atlantic in 1991 |
C.D.O.=Central Dense Overcast, the thickest area of thunderstorms, around the center. |
| A hurricane identity crisis | Tropical cyclones are often renamed when they switch ocean basins |
| A hurricane nursery | Warm water below, high pressure above. |
Tropical Depressions are sometimes called "baby hurricanes" |
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| Hurricane nightmares | "Florida was here a second ago..." |
| Why Project Stormfury failed | Project Stormfury was an attempt to weaken hurricanes using cloud seeding. |
| Why the other hurricanes hate to have Felix over for a visit | In 1995, Hurricane Felix sat offshore of the Carolinas, stalled for days. |
| The highly erratic Hurricane Gordon | In 1994, Hurricane Gordon wandered drunkenly all over the Caribbean and Atlantic, looping in circles and backtracking aimlessly. |
| "Ow! I have something in my eye!" | Special Air Force planes called "Hurricane Hunters" routinely fly into hurricanes to make observations. |
In rare cases, hurricane-like storms form in the Mediterranean Sea |
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On Labor Day, 1935, the Keys were blasted by the strongest hurricane ever to hit the United States, with winds of over 200 mph! |
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In reality, the very strongest types of hurricanes do sometimes develop two concentric eyewalls. |
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1992's Hurricane Andrew was the costliest disaster is United States history. |
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In the olden days of cinema, a black-and-white movie was made about hurricanes. |
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"Erin, you've just become a hurricane! |
A new take on a SuperBowl cliché. |
With the advent of satellite and radar, it is now possible to get out of the way of most hurricanes...when the warnings come early enough and are heeded. |
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Emily annoyed residents of North and South Carolina in 1993, but paled next to big brother Andrew of the year before. |
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While boarding up windows before a hurricane, many coastal residents keep their sense of humor and spraypaint messages to the hurricane on their plywood shutters. :-) |
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| Hurricane homework | I like bad puns. So sue me. |
| Hurricane home movies | Hey, it's better than Aunt Velma's slides from the Upper Ferdville Cheese Festival. |
| Watch for flying shingles! | Despite the danger of flying debris, most hurricane fatalities are caused by drowning in either the storm surge or the flooding rains. |
Miscellaneous Funny Hurricane
Faces




These cartoons are meant to be both amusing and educational, and are in no way meant to make light of the danger, death and destruction wrought by real hurricanes.
All cartoons on this page are © Katie Sullivan and may not be used or redistributed without permission.