Hurricane Terms - S

S

SAFFIR-SIMPSON DAMAGE-POTENTIAL SCALE: A scale, developed in the early 1970s by Herbert Saffir, a consulting engineer, and Robert Simpson, then Director of the National Hurricane Center, to measure the intensity of a hurricane from 1 to 5. The scale categorizes potential damage based on barometric pressure, wind speeds, and storm surge. Scale numbers are available to public safety officials when a hurricane is within 72 hours of landfall. Scale assessments are revised regularly as new observations are made. Public safety organizations are kept informed of new estimates of the hurricane's disaster potential. In practice, sustained surface wind speed (1-minute average) is the parameter that determines the category since storm surge is strongly dependent on the slope of the continental shelf.

SATELLITE: Used in reference to the manufactured objects that orbit the earth, either in a geostationary or a polar manner. Some of the information that is gathered by weather satellites, such as GOES9, includes upper air temperatures and humidity, recording the temperatures of cloud tops, land, and ocean, monitoring the movement of clouds to determine upper level wind speeds, tracing the movement of water vapor, monitoring the sun and solar activity, and relaying data from weather instruments around the world.

SATELLITE PICTURES: Pictures taken by a weather satellite, such as GOES-9, that reveal information, such as the flow of water vapor, the movement of frontal systems, and the development of a tropical system. Looping individual pictures aids meteorologists in forecasting. One way a picture can be taken is as a visible shot, which is best during times of visible light (daylight). Another way is as an IR (infrared) shot, which reveals cloud temperatures and can be used day or night.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING: Indicates that severe thunderstorms have been sighted or indicated on radar.

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