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50 free Hurricanes Trivia for Kids trivia questions with answers — science & nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This hurricanes trivia for kids is an easy, friendly quiz for players aged around 8 to 12 who want to understand the biggest storms on Earth. The questions cover how hurricanes form over warm ocean water, why the middle (the eye) is calm and the ring around it (the eyewall) is the fiercest part, which way the winds spin, what the categories on the Saffir-Simpson scale mean, and what a hurricane is called in other parts of the world (typhoon, cyclone). They also explain how storms get their names, why some names are retired, when hurricane season is, and what Hurricane Hunter planes do. There are a few famous storms too, chosen for their record-book facts rather than anything scary: the biggest typhoon ever measured, the strongest winds ever recorded, the storm that filmed itself into Jurassic Park and the one that turned up in a satellite picture in 1960. Every answer comes with a short explanation that teaches one more thing. Older readers can try our main hurricanes trivia (brainpickle.app/quiz/a/hurricanes) or the hard version (brainpickle.app/quiz/a/hard-hurricanes). Every answer has been checked against a reference encyclopaedia, and each question shows its explanation and citation once you have answered.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Hurricanes need lots of energy. What do they form over?
Warm ocean water
The sea surface usually needs to be about 27 degrees Celsius (81 F) or warmer for a storm to grow.
Q 02Which way do hurricane winds spin in the Northern Hemisphere?
Counterclockwise
South of the equator they spin the other way, clockwise, because of the Earth's rotation.
Q 03What is the calm center of a hurricane called?
The eye
It is usually 30 to 65 kilometres across and can be sunny while wild weather rages all around it.
Q 04Where in a hurricane are the very strongest winds found?
In the eyewall
The eyewall is a ring of towering thunderstorms that surrounds the calm eye.
Q 05Roughly how wide is a typical hurricane eye?
30 to 65 kilometres
Hurricane Wilma's eye once shrank to a record 3.7 kilometres, smaller than many towns.
Q 06A hurricane that forms in the northwestern Pacific Ocean is called what?
A typhoon
Near India and Australia the same kind of storm is simply called a cyclone.
Q 07Storms in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific are called what?
Hurricanes
Wherever they form, scientists use the general term 'tropical cyclone' for all of them.
Q 08A storm officially becomes a hurricane when its winds reach at least how fast?
74 miles per hour
Below that it is a tropical storm, and below 39 mph it is only a tropical depression.
Q 09What is the top number on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale?
5
A Category 5 storm has sustained winds of at least 157 mph.
Q 10The Saffir-Simpson scale was created in 1971 by an engineer and what other kind of scientist?
A meteorologist
Herbert Saffir was the engineer and Robert Simpson ran the National Hurricane Center.
Q 11Which two things does the Saffir-Simpson scale NOT measure?
Flooding and rainfall
That is why a weaker storm hitting a big city can do far more damage than a Category 5 hitting a quiet coast.
Q 12When does the Atlantic hurricane season officially run?
June 1 to November 30
The busiest time is late August through September, with the peak around September 10.
Q 13Which date is the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season?
September 10
Late summer is when the difference between air and sea temperatures is greatest.
Q 21Which US Air Force Reserve unit flies Hurricane Hunter missions?
The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron
NOAA's own Hurricane Hunters fly too, and Navy units have done it in the past.
Q 22A storm surge is a dangerous rise in what?
Sea level along the coast
High winds push ocean water toward the shore, and it does not even count the waves on top.
Q 23Why do hurricanes almost never form right on the equator?
Too little Coriolis force to spin them
Q 14Which letters are skipped when naming Atlantic hurricanes?
Q, U, X, Y and Z
Six lists of names rotate every six years and alternate between boys' and girls' names.
Q 15Who is credited with first giving storms people's names, in the 1880s?
Clement Wragge
The Australian meteorologist named storms from 1887 to 1907, then the idea faded until World War II.
Q 16Why is a hurricane's name sometimes 'retired' and never used again?
It caused terrible deaths or damage
A replacement name is chosen at the next meeting of the hurricane committee.
Q 17Before storms got personal names, what were they often named after?
Saints' feast days
They were also named after places or objects, like the ships they wrecked.
Q 18What happens if a season has more storms than the year's alphabet can cover?
Extras come from a backup roster
For years the backup was the Greek alphabet, which was used in 2005 and 2020 before being replaced.
Q 19Which US city is home to the National Hurricane Center?
Miami
It sits on the campus of Florida International University alongside the local Weather Service office.
Q 20What do the 'Hurricane Hunters' do?
Fly airplanes into storms to gather data
In the US, an Air Force Reserve squadron and NOAA both fly the missions.
They rarely form within 5 degrees of the equator, because the Earth's spin gives them no twist there.
Q 24About how many named tropical cyclones form around the world each year?
80 to 90
More than half of them grow strong enough to have hurricane-force winds.
Q 25Which ocean almost never has tropical cyclones because of strong wind shear?
The South Atlantic
Only a handful of storms have ever been recorded there, like Cyclone Catarina in 2004.
Q 26A 1979 storm named Tip holds what world record?
Largest and most intense ever
It reached winds of 190 mph and a record-low pressure of 870 hectopascals near Guam.
Q 27Hurricane Patricia in 2015 set the record for the fastest sustained winds ever measured: how fast?
215 mph
It formed south of Mexico and reached its peak on October 23 before hitting the coast.
Q 28Which 2012 storm was the widest Atlantic hurricane ever measured, with winds spanning 1,150 miles?
Sandy
Nicknamed 'Superstorm Sandy', it did most of its damage after it stopped being a true hurricane off the northeastern US.
Q 29Hurricane Wilma in 2005 set a record for the smallest eye ever measured. How wide was it?
2.3 miles
Wilma was also the most intense Atlantic hurricane ever by pressure.
Q 30Which director was on Kauai when Hurricane Iniki struck in 1992 and used the footage in his film?
Steven Spielberg
He was finishing Jurassic Park, and a tropical storm is a big part of that movie's plot.