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All you wanted to know about Cyclones :::: GEOGRAPHY
The term cyclone ref ers to a wide variety of broad, low
pressure system with cyclonic rotation, that
is counterclockwise if the system is in the northern
hemisphere and clockwise in the southern
hemisphere.
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The f irst type to explore is called a tropical cyclone.
These are the most intense cyclones in terms of both pressure (in all cyclones, a lower pressure
means a stronger storm) and wind speed.
Tropical cyclones originate f rom disorganized areas of low pressure that move over warm ocean
water, where they f eed on moisture and become stronger and better organized.
These storms can only develop over warm ocean water and weaken rapidly if they hit land.
These tropical systems tend to be called cyclones in the southern hemisphere, and they rotate in a
clockwise direction.
In the northern hemisphere, where cyclones occur in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean and northeastern
Pacif ic Ocean they are called hurricanes and those in the South China Sea and regions of Asia are
called typhoons.
Northern hemisphere cyclones rotate anti-clockwise.
Weaker tropical cyclones in these regions are ref erred to as tropical storms if sustained winds
are between 63 and 118 km/h (39 and 73 mph) and as tropical depressions if winds are less
than 63 km/h.
In addition to producing damaging winds these systems of ten produce heavy f looding. Tropical
cyclones usually f orm in the summer of early autumn when the oceans are warmest.
Cyclone intensity is measured by wind speed, and cyclones are accorded a category based on this:
Hurricanes, which are cyclones in the northern hemisphere are classif ied according to the Saffir-Simpson
Scale, which is also based on wind speed - not wind gusts, but rather sustained wind speeds.
The highest classif ication on this scale is category 5, in which sustained winds exceed 251 km/h (156 mph).
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Next up are mid-latitude or extratropical cyclones.
Unlike tropical cyclones these systems are powered by temperature gradients, or changes in
temperature across a distance.
Because they do not need as much moisture as tropical cyclones these systems can develop
over land or over cool water.
These systems f orm along f ronts, or boundaries between air masses of different temperatures
and dew points (a measure of absolute humidity).
As a mid-latitude cyclone develops, a warm f ront will usually develop on the western side of the low
while a cold f ront develops on the equator ward side (this is the southern side in the northern
hemisphere and northern side in the southern hemisphere).
These systems are usually not as intense as tropical cyclones but are typically larger in geographic
extent, especially if you include the f ronts they connect with. They do sometimes produce gale f orce and
even hurricane f orce winds, especially at sea. Unlike tropical cyclones these cyclones usually occur in f all,
winter, or spring, when temperature contrasts are greatest.
Depending on where and when they occur these systems can cause blizzards, f looding, or outbreaks
of severe weather and tornadoes.
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There are also subtropical cyclones, which have characteristics of both tropical and extratropical
cyclones. These typically f ollow the same naming conventions as tropical cyclones. A cyclone can transition
between these three types.
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Mesocyclone
A mesocyclone is a dense, swirling pack of cloud and winds between half a mile and six miles wide.
To the eye, it looks like a thin, vertical band of black clouds that spins f rom beneath thunderclouds.
A mesocyclone turns into a tornado if it hits the ground and continues to churn up wet, warm air.
The United States experiences approximately 1,700 mesocyclones a year, with 50 percent of these
turning into tornadoes.
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Polar or Arctic Cyclones
Arctic or polar cyclones occur in Antarctic regions and can reach up to 1,200 miles wide.
Polar cyclones dif f er with others because they are not seasonal.
They can occur at any time of the year, unlike in the Gulf of Mexico when during late summer, the risk
of a hurricane increases.
Polar cyclones can also f orm quickly (sometimes less than 24 hours), and their direction or
movement cannot be predicted.
Plus, they can last f rom a day up to several weeks.
Most f requently, polar cyclones develop above northern Russia and Siberia.
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Miscellaneous
Some terms related to Tropical Cylcones...to understand it f urthur !!!
What is a "CDO"?
"CDO" is an acronym that stands f or "central dense overcast".
This is the cirrus cloud shield that results f rom the thunderstorms in the eyewall of a tropical cyclone
and its rainbands.
Bef ore the tropical cyclone reaches very severe cyclonic storm (64 knots,), typically the CDO is
unif ormly showing the cold cloud tops of the cirrus with no eye apparent.
Once the storm reaches the hurricane strength threshold, usually an eye can be seen in either the
inf rared or visible channels of the satellites.
Tropical cyclones that have nearly circular CDO's are indicative of f avourable, low vertical shear
environments.
What is the "eye"? How is it formed and maintained? What is the "eyewall"? What are "spiral
bands"?
EYE
The "eye" is a roughly circular area of comparatively light winds and f air weather f ound at the centre
of a severe tropical cyclone.
Although the winds are calm at the axis of rotation, strong winds may extend well into the eye.
There is little or no precipitation and sometimes blue sky or stars can be seen.
The eye is the region of lowest surf ace pressure and warmest temperatures alof t - the eye
temperature may be 10C warmer or more at an altitude of 12 km than the surrounding environment,
but only 0-2C warmer at the surf ace in the tropical cyclone.
Eyes range in size f rom 8 km to over 200 km across, but most are approximately 30-60 km in
diameter.
EYEWALL
The eye is surrounded by the "eyewall", the roughly circular ring of deep convection, which is
the area of highest surface winds in the tropical cyclone.
The eye is composed of air that is slowly sinking and the eyewall has a net upward f low as a result
of many moderate - occasionally strong - updraf ts and downdraf ts.
The eye's warm temperatures are due to compressional warming of the subsiding air.
Most soundings taken within the eye show a low-level layer, which is relatively moist, with an
inversion above - suggesting that the sinking in the eye typically does not reach the ocean surf ace,
but instead only gets to around 1-3 km of the surf ace.
1. The exact mechanism by which the eye f orms remains somewhat controversial. One idea suggests
that the eye f orms as a result of the downward directed pressure gradient associated with the weakening
and radial spreading of the tangential wind f ield with height (Smith, 1980).
2. Another hypothesis suggests that the eye is f ormed when latent heat release in the eyewall occurs,
f orcing subsidence in the storm's centre (Shapiro and Willoughby, 1982).
It is possible that these hypotheses are not inconsistent with one another. In either case, as the air
subsides, it is compressed and warms relative to air at the same level outside the eye and thereby becomes
locally buoyant. This upward buoyancy approximately balances the downward directed pressure gradient so
that the actual subsidence is produced by a small residual f orce.
SPIRAL BANDS
Another f eature of tropical cyclones that probably plays a role in f orming and maintaining the eye is
the eyewall convection.
Convection in tropical cyclones is organized into long, narrow rainbands which are oriented in the
same direction as the horizontal wind.
Because these bands seem to spiral into the centre of a tropical cyclone, they are called"spiral
bands".
Along these bands, low-level convergence is a maximum, and theref ore, upper-level divergence is
most pronounced above.
A direct circulation develops in which warm, moist air converges at the surf ace, ascends through
these bands, diverges alof t, and descends on both sides of the bands.
Subsidence is distributed over a wide area on the outside of the rainband but is concentrated in the
small inside area.
As the air subsides, adiabatic warming takes place, and the air dries.
Because subsidence is concentrated on the inside of the band, the adiabatic warming is stronger
inward f rom the band causing a sharp contrast in pressure f alls across the band since warm air is
lighter than cold air.
Because of the pressure f alls on the inside, the tangential winds around the tropical cyclone
increase due to increased pressure gradient. Eventually, the band moves toward the centre and
encircles it and the eye and eyewall f orm.
Thus, the cloud-f ree eye may be due to a combination of dynamically f orced centrif uging of mass out of
the eye into the eyewall and to a f orced descent caused by the moist convection of the eyewall.
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Why there are very few Tropical Cyclones during southwest monsoon season?
The southwest monsoon is characterized by the presence of strong westerly winds in the lower
troposphere (below 5 km) and very strong easterly winds in the upper troposphere (above 9
km) .
This results in large vertical wind shear. Strong vertical wind shear inhibits cyclone development.
Also the potential zone f or the development of cyclones shif ts to North Bay of Bengal during
southwest monsoon season.
During this season, the low pressure system upto the intensity of depressions f orm along the
monsoon trough, which extends f rom northwest India to the north Bay of Bengal.
The Depression f orming over this area crosses Orissa West Bengal coast in a day or two.
These systems have shorter oceanic stay which is also one of the reasons f or their non-
intensif ication into intense cyclones.
What is the life period of cyclones? Which tropical cyclone lasted the longest?
Lif e period of a Tropical Cyclone over the north Indian Ocean is 5-6 days.
It will have hurricane intensity f or 2-4 days as against 6 days of global average.
Lif e period of the longest lived Tropical cyclone in Indian seas is 14 days (2
nd
-15
th
Nov, 1886 &
16
th
- 29
th
Nov, 1964).
Hurricane/Typhoon John lasted 31 days as it traveled both the Northeast and Northwest Pacif ic
basins during August and September, 1994. (It f ormed in the Northeast Pacif ic, reached hurricane
f orce there, moved across the dateline and was renamed Typhoon John, and then f inally recurved
back across the dateline and renamed Hurricane John again.)
Hurricane Ginger was a tropical cyclone f or 28 days in the North Atlantic Ocean back in 1971. It
should be noted that prior to the weather satellite era (1961) many tropical cyclones' lif e cycles could
be underestimated.
How are Tropical Cyclones monitored by IMD?
IMD has a well-established and time-tested organization f or monitoring and f orecasting tropical
cyclones.
A good network of meteorological observatories (both surf ace and upper air) is operated by IMD,
covering the entire coastline and islands.
The conventional observations are supplemented by observational data f rom automatic weather
stations (AWS), radar and satellite systems.
INSAT imagery obtained at hourly intervals during cyclone situations has proved to be immensely
usef ul in monitoring the development and movement of cyclones.
Why do 'tropical cyclones' winds rotate counter-clockwise (clockwise) in the Northern (Southern)
Hemisphere?
As the earth's rotation sets up an apparent force (called the Coriolis force) that pulls the winds
to the right in the Northern Hemisphere (and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere).
So, when a low pressure starts to f orm over north of the equator, the surf ace winds will f low inward
trying to f ill in the low and will be def lected to the right and a counter-clockwise rotation will be
initiated. The opposite (a def lection to the lef t and a clockwise rotation) will occur south of the
equator.
This Coriolis f orce is too tiny to ef f ect rotation in, f or example, water that is going down the drains
of sinks and toilets.
The rotation in those will be determined by the geometry of the container and the original motion of
the water.
Thus, one can f ind both clockwise and counter-clockwise f lowing drains no matter what hemisphere
you are located. If you don't believe this, test it out f or yourself .
What causes each cyclone to have a different maximum wind speed for a given minimum sea-level
pressure?
The basic horizontal balance in a tropical cyclone above the boundary layer is between the sum of
the Coriolis 'acceleration' and the centripetal 'acceleration', balanced by the horizontal
pressure gradient force.
This balance is ref erred to as gradient balance, where the Coriolis 'acceleration' is def ined as the
horizontal velocity of an air parcel, v, times the Coriolis parameter, f. Centripetal 'f orce' is def ined as
the acceleration on a parcel of air moving in a curved path, directed toward the centre of curvature of
the path, with magnitudev
2
/r, where v is the horizontal velocity of the parcel and r the radius of
curvature of the path.
The centripetal f orce alters the original two-f orce geostrophic balance and creates a non-
geostrophic gradient wind.
The reason that dif f erent peak winds can result in dif f erent central pressures is caused by the f act
that the radius, r, of the peak wind varies. A storm with 40 m/s peak winds with a 100 km RMW will
have a much lower pressure drop than one with a 25 km RMW.
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What is a Storm Surge?
Storm Surge is an abnormal rise of sea level as the cyclone crosses the coast.
Sea water inundates the coastal strip causing loss of lif e, large scale destruction to property &
crop.
Increased salinity in the soil over af f ected area makes the land unf it f or agricultural use f or two or
three seasons.
Storm surge depends on intensity of the cyclone (Maximum winds and lowest pressure associated
with it and Coastal bathymetry (shallower coastline generates surges of greater heights).
The storm surge is predicted by IMD using nomograms and dynemic model developed by IIT,
Delhi. Both these models taken into consideration dif f erent characteristics, the cyclones and the
coastal bathymetry to predict the storm surge.
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System Pressure deficient
hPa
Associated wind speed
Knots (Kmph)
Low pressure area 1.0 <17(<32)
Depression 1.0- 3.0 17-27 (3250)
Deep Depression 3.0 - 4.5 28-33 (5159)
Cyclonic Storm 4.5- 8.5 34-47 (60-90)
Severe Cyclonic Storm (SCS) 8.5-15.5 48-63 (90-119)
Very Severe Cyclonic Storm 15.5-65.6 64-119 (119-220)
Super Cyclonic Storm >65.6 >119(>220)
What are the super cyclone, super-typhoon, a major hurricane and an intense hurricane?
When the maximum sustained 3 minutes surface winds are more than 119 knots, the low
When the maximum sustained 3 minutes surface winds are more than 119 knots, the low
pressure system is called as "Super Cyclone" over north Indian Ocean.
Similarly, Super-typhoon" is a term utilized by the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Centre f or typhoons
that reach maximum sustained 1 minute surf ace winds of at least 130 knots (65 m/s).
This is the equivalent of a strong Saf f ir-Simpson category 4 or category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic
basin or a category 5 severe tropical cyclone in the Australian basin.