Weather Flash: Different stages of a hurricane

WASHINGTON ( DC News Now ) — There are a few stages that a storm must go through before it is considered a hurricane.

Altogether there are six stages: A tropical disturbance or wave, a tropical depression, a tropical storm, and finally a hurricane.

A tropical disturbance is a storm that has winds of roughly 23 mph. These systems are a mass of unorganized storms with little to no circulation.

Tropical distances usually form from an easterly wave that moves off the coast of Africa.

A tropical depression is when storms are building around a surface of circulation and will cause minimum impacts.

These clusters of thunderstorms begin to get a little bit more organized. At this time winds are usually between 23-39 mph.

A tropical storm is when storms continue to develop and intensify. The winds in a tropical storm are stronger, and some damage could occur.

Typically, winds are between 39-73 mph. Once a tropical storm develops, it is given a name.

Finally, we have reached hurricane status when winds are 74 mph or greater. Dangerous winds will be seen, as well as the possibility of extensive damage. A wall may begin to develop.

A major hurricane status is when we will see a well-defined eye.

Major hurricanes tend to be extremely powerful and cause devastating to catastrophic damage.

Winds within this storm are 115 mph or greater.

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