The region where a hurricane’s strongest winds are found is the eyewall. It is a ring of powerful thunderstorms surrounding the storm’s calmer central eye.
Air rises violently in the eyewall, where condensation releases heat and helps maintain the cyclone’s circulation. The radius of maximum wind—the distance from the center where sustained winds peak—is normally located within this ring. The heaviest rain and most intense turbulence are also concentrated there.
A common mix-up is confusing the eyewall with the eye. The eye is usually the relatively calm center, sometimes with clearer skies, while the eyewall forms its dangerous boundary. Spiral bands or rainbands can produce intense wind and rainfall too, but they are generally farther from the center and do not contain the storm’s primary wind maximum.
When the eyewall passes over land, it usually brings the hurricane’s most destructive winds. Some intense storms undergo an eyewall replacement cycle, in which a new outer eyewall forms and temporarily weakens the original wind maximum.