Solved cryptogram
A hurricane feeds on warm ocean water, which is why it starts to die the hour it hits land.
Earth Science Facts, sourced to UCAR Center for Science Education.
Solve it yourself
This fact is a cryptogram here: 71 letters over 17 different ones, graded medium.
Or go to the puzzle’s own page first.
What it means
The engine is evaporation. Warm sea water turns to vapor, rises, condenses higher up and releases the heat it took to evaporate, and that heat drives the circulation that pulls in more air. The water has to be warm to a fair depth, because the storm churns cold water up behind itself. Over land the supply stops at once, and the storm weakens fast, which is also why the rain and the flooding usually outlast the wind.
The claim comes from UCAR Center for Science Education.
- SourceUCAR Center for Science Education
- CollectionEarth Science Facts
- Difficultymedium
- Length71 letters, 17 of them different
Nearby in the collection
The facts either side of this one.
- UCAR Center for Science Educationmedium, 76 letters
- UCAR Center for Science Educationeasy, 75 letters
- National Weather Servicehard, 74 letters
- National Snow and Ice Data Centermedium, 70 letters
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Scored closest to it by the model behind our guide to solving cryptograms.
- NOAAmedium, 67 letters
- U.S. Geological Surveymedium, 71 letters
- NASAmedium, 76 letters
- NASAmedium, 75 letters