Where do hurricanes and tornadoes develop?

Answer 1

Simple explanation:

As warm, moist air over the ocean rises up from the ocean surface, there is less air left near the surface, and this causes an area of lower air pressure below. The air around this region has higher air pressure, and so it rushes in to fill the low pressure area. This air also becomes warm and moist and so it rises, too. The cycle keeps going. Warm air rises, the surrounding air swirls in to take its place, and so on. When the warm moist air rises, it cools off, and the water in the air forms clouds. The whole system of clouds and wind spins and grows, because it is being constantly fed by the ocean's heat and water evaporating from the surface.

More detailed explanation:

Cyclones (including typhoons and hurricanes) are caused by warm tropical moisture bearing clouds developing in open oceans or seas. Cyclones can only form over warm waters in the tropical regions of the oceans where the sea temperatures are 26.5 degrees Celsius or higher (around 80 degrees Fahrenheit). They occur in areas of very low pressure when air that is heated by the sun rises rapidly, and becomes saturated with moisture which then condenses into high thunderclouds. As the atmosphere becomes favorable for development (no wind shearing in the higher parts of the atmosphere), normal thunder storms clump together.

When the hot air rises, cooler air rushes in to fill the area left vacant by the hot air. The Coriolis effect of the Earth spinning on its axis causes the air to spiral upwards with considerable force. This in turn causes the winds to rotate faster, causing the tropical low to deepen in intensity into a tropical depression, and eventually a cyclone which is anywhere between hundreds of kilometres to thousands of kilometres wide.

Cyclones are also characterised by strong winds, yet in their centre is a clear, calm region called the 'eye'. When the cyclone continues its course, and the winds return from the other direction, they may seem to be more violent. The winds are not just rotating; there is also the effect of the warmer air continually rising and cold air rushing in. That is why the winds are so strong, and seem to move in all directions.

Winds gusts in a category 5 cyclone can exceed 280 kph, and a fully developed cyclone pumps out about two million tonnes of air per second.

Answer 2

Hurricanes develop over warm ocean water under conditions of high humidity and little to no wind shear.

Tornadoes generally form over land, but not always. They usually form in fairly warm climates to temperate climates. Tornadoes need thunderstorms to form, so they will most often occur along a boundary where cold air displaces a warm air mass (called a cold front) or where dry air displaces moist air (called a dry line).

Answer 3

Cyclones form over warm waters in the tropical regions of the oceans where the sea temperatures are 26.5 degrees Celsius or higher.