Phenomena
Tropical Cyclone
Meteorology
Citation Formats
General Reference
APA Style
BibTeX
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on where it forms and its strength, the same kind of storm is called a hurricane in the Atlantic or northeastern Pacific, a typhoon in the northwestern Pacific, or simply a tropical cyclone in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific. On average around 80 to 90 named tropical cyclones form worldwide each year, more than half of which develop hurricane-force winds of 65 knots or more.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Hurricane Katrina is one of the costliest and deadliest tropical cyclones in United States history.
Caused By
Tropical cyclones form and are steered by large-scale atmospheric circulation over warm ocean water.
Causes
Storm surge is driven by the onshore wind stress and low atmospheric pressure of a landfalling tropical cyclone.
In Discipline
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.