Equilibrium is the key for proper maintenance of the complex system that is the Earth’s atmosphere. A great deal of heat builds up in the tropical latitudes due to the Earths revolution in its orbit around the sun and its rotation on its tilted axis. This immense heat gets dissipated to the latitudes in the middle by way of tropical storms. Hurricane is the name of the tropical storms that are the most powerful. At the west of the International Date Line these storms are called typhoons while in Australia and around the Indian Ocean they are known as the cyclones.
The Tropical storms originate at a band known as the intertropical convergence zone over warm waters that characterize this zone. An optimal of above 80 degrees Fahrenheit, surface temperatures of the sea is essential. Thunderstorms clusters are formed when areas of large clouds evaporate due to evaporation and convection. The strength of Coriolis effect that’s required to initiate rotation occurs if the formation of these storms take place 10 degrees or above from the equator approximately.
The winds get stronger and the spin increases in speed as the whole storm system rotates away from the equator. The system will be classified as a when winds reach As wind speed reaches 74 miles per hour and 39 miles per hour, the system gets classified as hurricane and tropical storm respectively.
Eye of the Storm
One of the most powerful and destructive of nature’s storms is the Hurricane. But in maintaining a balance in the atmosphere these destructive tropical storms play an irreplaceable role. The eye of the hurricane that is right at the center of the hurricane is an area of calm and has the lowest pressure point.
Although a violent sea is always a possibility, yet predominately clear skies and calm weather characterizes the eye of the storm. On the surface the storm’s coldest temperature is prevalent in the eye while on the higher altitudes the temperature gets warmer. The shape of the eye is usually circular and has a diameter varying from 5 to 125 miles.
The boundary formed between the storm and its eye is called the eye wall. The eye wall comprise of the heaviest rain, tallest clouds and the strongest winds of the storm. A tropical storm passing through land causes major damage and destruction on the land when the eye wall passes over it. The eye wall when completely wraps itself around the eye of the storm in a circle, creates the most well formed and strongest hurricanes. A partial eye wall is common among storms of weaker degree.
‘Eye wall replacement cycle’ is a behavioral pattern that’s exhibited by hurricanes of higher level. The storms of this kind are more intense by nature. They have smaller eye wall radius and eye than other tropical storms. Occasionally the rain band in the outer section creates thunderstorms forming an outer concentric ring. The momentum and moisture that sustained the existing eye thus get cut off and considerably weaken the storm. But the storm intensifies and sometimes in a higher magnitude when a new eye forms in place of the old existing eye.
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