Hurricanes quickly lose power over land because they are cut off from their primary fuel: warm ocean water.

Hurricanes, or tropical cyclones, require sea surface temperatures of at least 26.5 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit) to maintain their strength. This warm water provides the necessary latent heat through evaporation, which fuels the storm's massive convection currents. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), once the center of a hurricane moves over land, the supply of moisture is drastically reduced.The loss of latent heat release causes the central pressure of the storm to rise almost immediately. As the pressure gradient weakens, the wind speeds begin to drop significantly. This process is known as 'filling' because the low-pressure center begins to fill with air. Research from the University of Miami shows that a hurricane's wind speeds can drop by up to 50 percent within the first 12 hours of landfall.Physical terrain also plays a critical role in weakening these storms. Land surfaces are much rougher than the open ocean, providing increased surface roughness that creates mechanical friction. This friction disrupts the inflow of air at the base of the storm, further destabilizing the organized structure of the eyewall. Despite this rapid decay, the inland movement of moisture-rich air can still trigger catastrophic flooding hundreds of kilometers from the coast.