Phillip’s Weather Trivia: What is the center of a hurricane called?

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - The structure of a hurricane is unique and can help us understand how the system works. Hurricanes have a calm center which can range between 5 and 50 miles wide. The strongest part of the storm rotates around this calm center. Check the trivia question below and see if you got it correct.

Phillip's Weather Trivia Question Apr 13(WITN)

Hint: The mouth may refer to the part of a river where it empties into a larger body of water. It doesn’t have anything to do with hurricanes, so don’t guess that one.

Phillip's Weather Trivia Answer Apr 13(WITN)

Yes, the eye of a hurricane is the calm center part of the storm system. As winds blow in a circle around the center of the storm, the centrifugal force causes an opening in the wind field when air slowly sinks in the middle of the storm causing a clearing sky and low winds at the surface. This looks like an eye when seen on a satellite image. The bright white cloud tops surrounding an opening which is usually over a darker ocean surface causes the appearance of a dark eye in the middle of the storm. We track the eye since the worst weather rotates around it.

Tropical storms don’t yet have an eye since the winds blowing around in a circle are not yet strong enough to pull apart and force the opening in the wind field. - Phillip Williams