If you’re a hurricane geek, you’ve heard of the Cape Verde season. This is when storms form off the coast of Africa, near the Cape Verde islands, and then travel across the Atlantic like a determined tourist. These are the big, scary ones that barrel toward the U.S. East Coast. They have all that open ocean to grow into a monster, fueled by warm water and a bad attitude.
Imagine starting a road trip in a hot desert and gaining speed over 3,000 miles of warm asphalt. That’s basically what a Cape Verde hurricane does—it gets meaner and larger every day. By the time it reaches the Bahamas, it’s flexing like a bodybuilder who just won a competition.
The Pacific Side
Flip the map, and you’ll find the Western Pacific is the hurricane world champion. That’s where typhoons hit places like Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan. They get the biggest, strongest storms because the water there is the warmest on the planet. It’s like the ocean is a simmering pot of soup, and a typhoon is the lid popping off.
I once talked to a lady from Manila, and she said, “We have three seasons: hot, hotter, and typhoon.” That’s the truth. The Pacific basin produces about 30 storms a year, which is roughly double the Atlantic. So if you live in Tokyo or Guam, you’re on the hurricane express lane.
How Hurricanes Form | Center for Science Education
