Hurricane: Roots in Mythology
10 Amazing Hurricane Images: Felix - 2007 (NASA)
Powerful Category 5 Felix was photographed over the western Caribbean by a crew member aboard the International Space Station on September 3, 2007.
Hurricane, tornado and blizzard - we use these terms all the time in weather, but have you ever wondered how they came to describe each particular phenomenon?
After searching through various NOAA websites and the American Meteorological Society weather glossary, we've come up with seven weather-related terms and how they originated. We begin with hurricane, which has its roots in mythology.
Hurricane comes from Hurican, the Caribbean god of evil. Hurican was derived from Hurakan.
Hurakan was one of the Mayan creator gods. He blew his breath across the chaotic water and brought forth dry land and later destroyed the men of wood with a great storm and flood.
Source: Hurricane Research Division/NOAA
