Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
1,507,287,228 visitors served.
forum mailing list For webmasters
?
New: Language forums
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

tropical cyclone

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.04 sec.

tropical cyclone

Enlarge picture
Cross section of a tropical cyclone. A cyclone derives its power from the warm air and water found …
(credit: © Merriam-Webster Inc.)
Severe atmospheric disturbance in tropical oceans. Tropical cyclones have very low atmospheric pressures in the calm, clear centre (the eye) of a circular structure of rain, cloud, and very high winds. In the Atlantic and Caribbean they are called hurricanes; in the Pacific they are known as typhoons. Because of the Earth's rotation, tropical cyclones rotate clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Northern. They may be 50–500 mi (80–800 km) in diameter, and sustained winds in excess of 100 mph (160 kph) are common. In the eye, however, the winds drop abruptly to light breezes or even complete calm. The lowest sea-level pressures on Earth occur in or near the eye.



How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
 Email
Feedback
? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
The Colorado State University-based Tropical Meteorology Project was even more blunt, lowering its tropical storm forecast to below-average activity for the rest of the season and predicting no tropical cyclone activity in November, "largely due to the rapid emergence of an El Nino event during the latter part of this summer.
El Nino's return could have positive impact by Cornejo, Rick / Best's Review
The Saharan air layer may be yet another piece of the puzzle in advancing our understanding of tropical cyclone genesis and intensity change," says Dunion.
Homing in on hurricanes by Vatalaro, Michael / BOAT/U.S. Magazine
Significant improvements in tropical cyclone track forecasts have occurred in recent years, attributable in part to better initial positioning obtained from microwave observations (National Academy of Sciences 2004).
NWA Letter of Support for GOES-MWS by National Weather Digest
More results
 
Encyclopedia browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Encyclopedia
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.