What Is Inside A Tropical Cyclone

What Is Inside a
Tropical Cyclone
Presented by: Group 3
What is a Tropical Cyclone?
It is a rapidly rotating storm system
characterized by a low-pressure center, a
closed low-level atmospheric circulation,
strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of
thunderstorms that produce heavy rains.
“Tropical” refers to the geographical origin
of these systems, which form almost
exclusively over tropical seas. “Cyclone”
refers to the movement of winds in a circle,
whirling arund their central eye.
Tropical Cyclone
Structure
Parts of a Tropical Cyclone
The parts of a Tropical Cyclone are:
1. Eye
2. Eyewall
3. Rainbands
4. Dense Cirrus Overcast
The Eye
The hurricanes center is relatively calm.
Is a clear area of sinking air and light winds that
do not exceed 15 mph (24km/h).
Is typically 20-40 miles (32—64 km) across.
Will only develop when the maximum sustained
wind speeds go above 74 mph (119 km/h).
Calmest part of the storm.
Eye
The Eyewall
The most dangerous and desctructive part of a
tropical cyclone.
Here winds are strongest, rainfall is heaviest, and
deep convective clouds.
They rise from close to Earth’s surface to a height
of 15 000 meters (49 000 feet).
Winds actually reach their greatest speed at an
altitude of about 300 metres (1,000 feet) above
the surface.
Rainbands
 A rainband is a cloud and precipitation structure
associated with an area of rainfall which is
significantly elongated.
 Rainbands can be stratiform or convective, and are
generated by differences in temperature. When
noted on weather radar imagery, this precipitation
elongation is referred to as banded structure.
 Bands of heavy convective showers that spiral
inward toward the storm's center.
 exist in the periphery of tropical cyclones, which
point towards the cyclone's center of low pressure.
How do Tropical Cyclones
form?
The fuel for a tropical cyclone is provided by a
transfer of water vapor and heat from the warm
ocean to the overlying air, primarily
by evaporation from the sea surface. As the warm,
moist air rises, it expands and cools, quickly becoming
saturated and releasing latent heat through the
condensation of water vapor. The column of air in the
core of the developing disturbance is warmed and
moistened by this process. The temperature
difference between the warm, rising air and the
cooler environment causes the rising air to become
buoyant, further enhancing its upward movement.
If the sea surface is too cool, there will not be
enough heat available, and the evaporation rates
will be too low to provide the tropical cyclone
enough fuel. Energy supplies will also be cut off if
the warm surface water layer is not deep enough,
because the developing tropical system will modify
the underlying ocean. Rain falling from the deep
convective clouds will cool the sea surface, and
the strong winds in the center of the storm will
create turbulence. If the resulting mixing brings cool
water from below the surface layer to the surface,
the fuel supply for the tropical system will be
removed.
The vertical motion of warm air is by itself
inadequate to initiate the formation of a tropical
system. However, if the warm, moist air flows into a
preexisting atmospheric disturbance, further
development will occur. As the rising air warms the
core of the disturbance by both release of latent
heat and direct heat transfer from the sea surface,
the atmospheric pressure in the center of the
disturbance becomes lower. The decreasing
pressure causes the surface winds to increase,
which in turn increases the vapor and heat transfer
and contributes to further rising of air. The warming
of the core and the increased surface winds thus
reinforce each other in a positive feedback
mechanism.
Tropical Classification
 Thunderstorms with a defined circulation, and maximum
sustained winds of 38 mph (61 km/h) or less are called
"tropical depressions".
 Once the tropical cyclone reaches winds of at least 39
mph (63 km/h) they are typically called a "tropical storm"
and assigned a name.
 If maximum sustained winds reach 74 mph (119 km/h), the
cyclone is called:
1. A hurricane in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Northeast
Pacific Ocean east of the dateline, and the South Pacific
Ocean east of 160°E, (The word hurricane comes from
the Carib Indians of the West Indies, who called this storm
a huracan.
2. A typhoon in the Northwest Pacific Ocean west of the
dateline (super typhoon if the maximum sustained winds
are at least 150 mph / 241 km/h),
3. A severe tropical cyclone in the Southwest Pacific Ocean
west of 160°E or Southeast Indian Ocean east of 90°E,
4. A severe cyclonic storm in the North Indian Ocean, and
5. A tropical cyclone in the Southwest Indian Ocean.

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