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This is due to increasing Coriolis force closer to the poles, and which is zero at the equator. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] One associated phenomenon often seen with low-latitude cyclones is the equatorial westerly wind burst , which allows for sufficient shear vorticity on both sides of the equator to support tropical cyclogenesis. [ 5 ]
A hurricane is a strong tropical cyclone that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean or northeastern Pacific Ocean, and a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. In the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, comparable storms are referred to as "tropical cyclones", and such storms in the Indian Ocean can also be called "severe cyclonic storms".
In the Atlantic, the area between 10°N and 20°N spawns the most hurricanes in a given season because of the warmer temperatures. Hurricanes do not form outside this range because nearer to the equator the Coriolis effect is not strong enough to create the tight circulation needed, and farther north the temperatures are too cool. [5]
An Atlantic hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean primarily between June and November. The terms "hurricane", "typhoon", and "tropical cyclone" can be used interchangeably to describe this weather phenomenon. These storms are continuously rotating around a low pressure center, which causes stormy weather ...
The water warms as it crosses the world’s biggest ocean, which is why typhoons — the name for a hurricane in the western Pacific — occur in the western Pacific but not in the eastern pacific.
High shear explains why no cyclones can form in the Red Sea, which possesses the necessary depth, vorticity and surface temperatures year-round. Rarely do tropical cyclones that form elsewhere in this basin affect the Arabian Peninsula or Somalia; however, Cyclone Gonu caused heavy damage in Oman on the peninsula in 2007.
To put it in perspective, picture yourself standing on the equator, directly south of New York City. In fact, in the United States, this is the one city that has the highest hurricane risk.
Hurricanes need two main ingredients — warm ocean water and moist, humid air. When warm seawater evaporates, its heat energy is transferred to the atmosphere. This fuels the storm's winds to ...