Hurricane storms are ranked on the Saffir-Simpson scale, where a category 5 rating is the most severe and category 1 is the least severe. Examples of category 5 hurricanes in the United States include Andrew, Camille, Katrina, Rita, Felix, and the "Labor Day" hurricane.
In early September of 1996, Hurricane Fran hit the eastern coast of the United States. The accompanying maps represent the location of Hurricane Fran at 7:00 AM EST on September 5 and 6.
Note that the small, black boxes extending southeast from the storm's center represent the location of the hurricane's eye at 6-hour intervals. The black lines are isobars, or lines of equal pressure, at 7:00 AM EST.
A steep pressure gradient is represented by a narrower spacing of isobar lines. This means that the pressure gradient of an area with isobar lines nearer to each other is steeper than an area with isobar lines with more space between them.
Use the information provided by these maps to match the correct answers to each of the following questions.