Tropical cyclones are a major short-term weather hazard

The physical conditions and processes leading to the formation of tropical cyclones, including their tracks and
eventual dissipation (Atlantic Basin). (4)

Recap from Unit 1

A cyclone is a system of rotating winds around a low pressure centre. The swirling air rises and cools, creating
clouds and precipitation.

There are two types of cyclones:

● Mid-latitude cyclones (also known as extratropical cyclones) - these are essentially mid-latitude
depressions with stronger winds.
● Tropical cyclones

Picture (1) is a mid-latitude cyclone. Mid-latitude cyclones can be identified by their distinct “comma” shape. Picture
(2) is a tropical cyclone. Tropical cyclones can be identified by swirling winds creating a low pressure centre.

A tropical cyclone: a localised, very intense low-pressure wind system, forming over tropical oceans and with
strong winds. They are short-term hazards because each tropical cyclone lasts for a few days to a few weeks,
typically 5-10 days, before dissipating. Tropical cyclones are called:
● Hurricanes when they develop over the North Atlantic, central North Pacific, and eastern North Pacific
● Cyclones when they form over the South Pacific and Indian Ocean
● Typhoons when they develop in the Northwest Pacific.

Tropical Cyclones are called by different names in different regions

Anatomy of a tropical cyclone:

● Low pressure centre called the eye.

○ Rising air moves away from the surface of the earth. The atmospheric pressure (the force exerted
by the air onto the surface of the earth) is low. Thus, the eye is an area of low pressure as air is
continuously rising here.
○ However, some of the air sinks back into the eye. This prevents rain clouds from forming at the eye.
Thus, at the eye: winds are light, precipitation is minimal and the skies are clear. It is the calm region
of the tropical storm.
○ It is dangerous: many people assume that the storm is over when the eye is above them and go
outside. However, thunderstorms and clouds come up as the eye moves away.
● Around the low pressure centre is the eye wall. At the eye wall, the wind speeds are the greatest, the
clouds are the tallest, the pressure is at its lowest and precipitation is the most intense as the air is rushing
upward.
● Moist air rushes into the low pressure centre.
○ Air moves from high to low pressure. As the centre of a cyclone has the lowest pressure, air
continuously moves towards the centre.
● Air rises upwards at the eye due to convection currents.
● Thunderstorms are organised into spiral rain bands.

Recap the Coriolis Effect:

● The Coriolis effect describes the pattern of deflection taken by objects not firmly connected to the
ground as they travel long distances around the Earth. See this video for a demo:
https://youtu.be/mPsLanVS1Q8
 ● The Earth rotates faster at the equator than it does at the poles.
○ The Earth is wider at the equator, so to make a rotation in one 24-hour period, equatorial regions
race nearly 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles) per hour. Near the poles, Earth rotates at a sluggish
0.00008 kilometres (0.00005 miles) per hour.
● Thus, due to the Coriolis effect, trade winds moving from the poles to the equator are deflected to the
west due to the rotation of the earth.

Ingredients for a tropical cyclone to form

● Ocean water temperatures which are at least 26.5 °C for a depth of 50 metres.
○ This is an optimum temperature for the evaporation rates required for tropical cyclone formation.
○ Exceptions exist to this (small numbers of tropical cyclones are formed below 26.5 °C). However,
26.5 °C is a good guideline.
○ Warm ocean water for a depth of at least 50 metres is helpful for high evaporation rates.
● Location at least 5 degrees latitude away from the equator (north or south).
○ There is almost no effect from the Coriollis force at the equator and upto 5 degrees North and South
of the equator.
○ The coriolis force is present to create the rotational movement of winds in a tropical cyclone. As a
result, cyclones rotate counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern
Hemisphere.
■ The coriolis force also results in the formation of the global prevailing winds such as the
trade winds and westerlies. These winds carry the tropical cyclone and determine the
direction of its movement.
● Pre-existing disturbance with low-level spin and convergence of winds.
○ This is the most important ingredient to form a tropical cyclone. Even on warm ocean waters, with
winds affected by the Coriolis force, a tropical cyclone would not form without a pre-existing
disturbance.
○ A pre-existing tropical disturbance refers to a cluster of showers and thunderstorms.
■ Tropical cyclones do not just happen out of nowhere. A tropical storm that increases in wind
speed and strength is what causes a tropical cyclone (remember that tropical cyclones are
classified when a tropical storm winds reach 74 mph!).
○ Convergence of wind refers to the air moving towards (“converging”) the eye of the tropical cyclone.
○ Low-level spin refers to the winds spinning in the same direction.
■ Low vertical wind shear is essential as wind shear disturbs cyclone formation.
● Vertical wind shear refers to the change of wind direction with height.
● A low wind shear means that wind direction does NOT change with height.
● A high wind shear means that the wind moves in many directions with height. A high
wind shear disperses the thunderstorms away from each other and breaks the
formation of a hurricane.
● Thus, the winds need to be spinning in the same direction.

Hurricane Season
The seasonal movement of the heat equator means that a water temperature of 26.5 °C and the convergence of
rotational winds is only present during the summer in each hemisphere (see: ITCZ & Seasonal Movement on Class
Notebook).
 Distribution of tropical cyclones

All tropical cyclones have three stages:

Step One: Formation in Source Areas

A tropical cyclone will not develop instantaneously: some intermediate, weaker disturbance (such as a cluster of
thunderstorms or showers) is needed to provide the "seed" from which a tropical cyclone can develop. A promising
incipient disturbance is one that satisfies all of the necessary conditions and ingredients for tropical cyclogenesis
(*however, this does not always result in a tropical cyclone):
● Convergence of trade winds that are affected by the Coriollis effect: as trade winds are affected by the coriolis
effect only 5 degrees north and south of the equator, tropical cyclones only originate at these latitudes.
● Weak vertical wind shear: Vertical wind shear refers to winds that move at different speeds at different heights
or winds that move in different directions. To form a tropical cyclone, vertical wind shear needs to be weak. In
other words, the air moves in the same direction, at similar speeds in the same vertical cross section.
● Deep convection conditions (warm, ocean water at a temperature of 27 degrees Celsius and warm, moist air
at the troposphere).

Maintenance of this favourable environment is required for an incipient disturbance to develop into a tropical storm:
● The warm, moist air over the ocean rises upward from near the surface. Because this air moves up and away
from the surface, there is less air left near the ocean surface. Another way to say the same thing is that the
warm air rises, causing an area of lower air pressure below.
● Air from surrounding areas with higher air pressure pushes into the low pressure area. Then that "new" air
becomes warm and moist and rises, too. As the warm air continues to rise, the surrounding air swirls in to
take its place. This movement of air creates the strong winds in a tropical cyclone..
● As the warmed, moist air rises and cools off, the water in the air forms cumulonimbus clouds. The energy
released by condensation keeps the air in a tropical cyclone warm.
 Air moves to the surface of the ocean, where air pressure is low. As it does, it heats up, becomes less dense and
rises. Rising, warm, moist air cools and condenses to form cumulonimbus clouds.

Trade winds moving eastward and deflected by the coriolis effect spins the cumulonimbus clouds counterclockwise
on the north of the equator and clockwise south of the equator. As the storm system rotates faster and faster, an eye
forms in the centre. It is very calm and clear in the eye, with very low air pressure. Higher pressure air from above
flows down into the eye.

Tropical Cyclogenesis
 Satellite images of tropical cyclogenesis

Step Two: Tracking and Intensification

● Intensification: The whole system of clouds and wind spins and grows, fed by the ocean's heat and water
evaporating from the surface.
○ A chain reaction (or feedback mechanism) is now in progress, as the rising temperatures in the centre
of the storm cause surface pressures to drop even more. The lower the surface pressure, the more
rapidly air flows into the storm at the surface, increasing the winds and causing more thunderstorms.
More thunderstorms release more heat, forcing air to move upward and outward. The air pressure at
the surface drops even more, triggering stronger winds, and so on.
○ When the winds in the rotating storm reach 39 mph and the cyclone is self-sustaining, the storm is
called a tropical storm.
○ When the wind speeds reach 74 mph and is self-sustaining, the storm is officially a tropical cyclone.
● Tracking: Tropical cyclones move westward according to the movement of the trade winds. However, if the
tropical storm moves within the Ferrel cell, then it can be carried eastward by the westerlies.
 Intensification and track of 5 tropical cyclones in 2020

Step Three: Landfall* and dissipation (*some tropical cyclones do not make landfall and dissipate over the ocean.)
● When a tropical cyclone moves into a hostile environment it will either dissipate or weaken. A hostile
environment includes at least one of the following:
○ Strong vertical wind shear (in excess of 10-15 m/s over a deep layer)
■ Remember: Vertical wind shear refers to winds that move at different speeds at different
heights or winds that move in different directions. This would cause tropical cyclones to lose
their formation.
○ Cool ocean temperatures under the storm core (less than 26°C)
○ dry air intrusion (loss of moist air)
○ landfall (increased turbulence with ground boundary layer)
■ Two major changes of the storm environment at landfall cause it to weaken:
● 1. loss of the ocean energy source with the reduction in evaporation and therefore
latent heat flux
● 2. increased friction (with the ground)
 The map shows the stages for a typical Atlantic Basin hurricane; in terms of timescale the whole process may
take 2-3 weeks.

Case Study: Atlantic Basin

● Hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin is from June to November:
○ Hurricanes form over tropical waters (between 8 and 20 degrees latitude) in areas of high humidity,
light winds, and warm sea surface temperatures [typically 26.5 degrees Celsius or greater]. These
conditions usually prevail in the summer and early fall months of the tropical North Atlantic and North
Pacific Oceans, and for this reason, hurricane “season” in the northern hemisphere runs from June
through November.
● Cyclogenesis in the Atlantic Basin:
The first sign of hurricane genesis (development) is the appearance of a cluster of thunderstorms over the
tropical oceans, called a tropical disturbance. Tropical disturbances generally form in one of three ways in the
Atlantic Basin, all of which involve the convergence of surface winds. When winds come together (converge),
the force of the collision forces air to rise, initiating thunderstorms.
○ 1. Thunderstorms from the ITCZ can break away:

■ One trigger for convergence is the meeting of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere easterly
trade winds near the equator. The meeting of these wind belts triggers numerous, daily
thunderstorms in a region called the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Occasionally, a
cluster of thunderstorms will break away from the ITCZ and organise into a more unified storm
system.

○ 2. Mid-latitude frontal rainfall

■ Another mechanism that can lead to the formation of a hurricane is the convergence of air
along the boundary between masses of warm and cold air. Along the boundary, denser cold air
can help lift warm and moist air to form thunderstorms. Occasionally such boundaries, called
mid-latitude frontal boundaries, drift over the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean off the East
 Coast of the United States, where developing storms can organise into hurricanes in one of two
ways. Either thunderstorms organise into a large system that forms a new area of low
pressure, or a pre-existing, weak, non-tropical cyclone will form along the front and will develop
into a hurricane.

■ Cyclones that form along mid-latitude frontal boundaries are often called mid-latitude or
extratropical cyclones, and they typically have cold air at upper levels over the cyclone centre.
In contrast, hurricanes (tropical cyclones) have warm air over their centres. To change into a
tropical cyclone, the cold air over an extratropical cyclone must change to warm air. This
change can happen if thunderstorms occur near the cyclone centre. The thunderstorms form
along the frontal boundary as warm air rises over the colder air mass. As the air rises, it cools,
and water vapour condenses into clouds. The heating released by condensation then helps to
warm the air, and eventually the extratropical cyclone transitions into a tropical cyclone.

○ 3. African Easterly winds (Main Cause of Hurricanes on the Atlantic Basin)

■ The last and most common mechanism that triggers the development of a cyclone is the
African easterly wave, a region of disturbed weather that travels from east to west across the
tropical Atlantic.

■ Essentially, an easterly wave forms because of a “kink” in the jet of air that flows west out of
Africa. The jet is created by the strong temperature difference between the Sahara Desert and
the Gulf of Guinea. The warm air over the Sahara rises and, several kilometres above the
surface, turns southward toward the cooler air over the Gulf. The rotation of the Earth turns this
air current westward to form the African Easterly Jet, which then continues out over the
Atlantic Ocean. Occasionally, a “kink” will develop in the jet and move from east to west, hence
the name easterly wave.

■ Diverging winds on the easterly wave trigger the development of thunderstorms, and some of
these large thunderstorm systems go on to become hurricanes. Most Atlantic hurricanes can
be traced to easterly waves that form over Western Africa: Easterly waves initiate
approximately 60 percent of the Atlantic tropical storms and minor hurricanes (Categories 1
and 2 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale), and nearly 85 percent of all the major Atlantic hurricanes
(Category 3 or higher). Easterly waves are fairly common from June through October -- one
exits the west coast of Africa about once every three or four days, so most easterly waves don't
go on to become hurricanes.
Waves that occur within the dominant easterly winds over the tropical Atlantic cause areas of converging
and diverging winds. Divergence forces air to rise, triggering numerous thunderstorms that can go on to
become hurricanes.

Easterly winds are the main cause of Hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin

● Following the incipient tropical disturbance, hurricanes develop as a result of latent heat of condensation,
evaporation of the ocean water and the effect of the coriolis force on wind.
○ The hurricanes move westward due to the movement of the trade winds and the winds move
counterclockwise due to the effect of the Coriollis effect.
■ Some hurricanes can shift in a north-eastern direction if they move above the horse latitudes
and are carried by the westerly winds.
○ Some hurricanes lose energy as they travel over the Atlantic ocean. Others hit landfall in Central
America, the Caribbean islands and on the Eastern/ South-eastern coast of the United States.
● The Atlantic Ocean sees its fair share of named storms each year, averaging around 11 named storms in a
normal season. The eastern Pacific Ocean averages around 16 named storms every year, and the western
Pacific churns out more than two dozen named storms in a normal year. Why are hurricanes less common in
the Atlantic Ocean?
○ Sea-Surface Temperatures are warmer on average in the Pacific Ocean than the Atlantic Ocean
(although the Atlantic Ocean is still warm enough for tropical cyclones to form).
○ High Air Pressure over the Atlantic for most of the year.
○ Higher wind shear in the Atlantic Ocean.
○ Droughts in Africa can prevent the formation of disturbances in the Atlantic ocean.