National Geographic: Cyclone! Page #5

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more than a million cubic miles of

the earth's atmosphere every second,

and travel across an ocean at up to

Yet they have humble beginnings.

In the summer and fall,

the sun heats vast stretches of

tropical ocean

to over 82 degrees Fahrenheit.

Warm, moist air rises over these

hot spots,

forming bands of thunderstorms.

Upper level winds push storm

systems westward,

as surface winds spiral into the

low pressure beneath the clouds.

Occasionally,

one such spinning wheel

of thunderstorms gathers strength,

feeding on moisture and heat.

When winds reach 74 miles an hour,

a hurricane is born.

The storm's architecture is

highly organized.

Rain bands up to 300 miles long

converge in the most violent sector:

the "eye wall".

Here, winds of up to 200 miles

an hour spiral upward.

Within the "eye", down drafts of

dry air create an eerie calm.

Most severe tropical storms spin

out their lives,

uneventfully, in the open sea.

When one threatens to come ashore,

the world's eyes are trained upon it

- including those of Jim Leonard.

A professional storm chaser,

Jim checks forecasts religiously.

He prowls the globe for weather

that most people would simply flee.

Among chasers, Jim has few peers.

Some say he has videotaped more

severe storms than anyone on earth.

He has no formal training,

no college degree in meteorology.

Just a life-long passion.

When I was ten years old

I had my first real hurricane

experience with Hurricane Donna.

We got probably winds of 80,

It was quite an exhilarating

experience at that point.

People think I'm crazy but, that's,

you know, that's their own opinion.

It's not gonna change.

I've always been crazy about storms,

I always will be.

The best of them all, probably,

was Hurricane Hugo,

went down to Puerto Rico

and got a direct hit.

And as it got stronger and stronger,

debris was starting to be

lifted off the parking lot,

and it looked like it was gonna

get blown back toward us.

So we decided at that point to start

going down the stairway.

As we're going down the stairwell,

the rain is being driven into the

walls through the stairs,

coming down the stairway.

And the wind you see up here

squealing.

At this point it's probably

in excess of 150 miles an hour.

And that was quite an experience.

It was like, one of the chasers

called it the Hallway from Hell.

I have no reason to be in a storm

if it's gonna scare me.

I'll, y'know, get to the point,

y'know, y'know, play the safe route

as far as I can.

But if I want to get that

ultimate shot, y'know,

of course you're gonna take

some chances.

Now is this a piece of wind

or is it a piece of wind?

Really! I wouldn't miss a great

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