Characteristics of tropical cyclones
- They originate from within the tropical latitude usually between 5° and 200 North and south of Equator
- They cover a diameter of between 80-400 km
- They occur between July and October in the Northern hemisphere and January to April in the Southern Hemisphere.
- They usually originate from oceans and move towards land masses. They originate from the western sides of oceans and move towards the Eastern sides of continents.
- Tropical cyclones are associated with gusty winds. Winds blow at high speed ranging from 150km/h to 200km/hr.
- Cyclones result into thunderous and heavy rainfall full of lightening. At many times trees and animals are stroked to death by the lightening
- A combination of dense clouds, torrential rains and very fast winds reduce visibility to a few metres.
- Cyclones are associated with high temperatures of over 270 These warm up the air resulting into heavy convective instability and formation of dense cumulonimbus clouds.
- Sudden appearance of calm, clear, and dry conditions with the advance of the eye and then violent conditions:
- The circulation of winds (air) is anti- clockwise direction in the Northern hemisphere and clock-wise in the southern hemisphere
- Direction of movement of cyclones is basically determined by wind direction.
CATEGORIES Geography
TAGS Dr. Bbosa Science
