2023 NESSI Presentations - Harvana Laing

Watch 2023 NESSI intern Harvana Laing's end-of-summer presentation, "Investigating the Different Characterstics of Hurricanes to Improve Hurricane Warnings."

As someone aspiring to be a broadcast meteorologist, I tend to think about ways I can help in the future. Having experienced so many hurricanes helped in the development of this project, as I am aware of the destruction caused. As hurricanes are becoming more intense and stronger, I want to look at ways forecasters and broadcast meteorologists can communicate the imminent risks from approaching hurricanes better to the public. I want the public to be fully aware and more informed about the extreme effects that hurricanes can bring. Factors such as how rapidly a hurricane forms (intensification) or moves (translation speed) play a major role in the effects experienced on the ground. I believe there are ways for broadcasters to educate the public on the severity and risks of these factors. This project focuses on rapid intensification and slow translation speed and associated impacts such as total rainfall. I started with Hurricane Dorian, of which I had firsthand experience, then considered three other hurricanes that traversed the Bahamas (hurricanes Irma, Maria and Matthew). All four hurricanes were classified as rapidly intensifying and I noticed that the slower translation speed from Hurricane Dorian exacerbated the storm surge experienced compared to the other hurricanes.