When an area of low pressure is created with strong winds that spiral towards the center, a tropical cyclone is being formed. The spiral arrangement of thunderstorms produces heavy rain.
A hurricane (called a Cyclone if in the South Pacific Ocean or a typhoon if in the North Pacific) is an area of low pressure and winds that spiral toward the center
Hurricane.
Anticyclone
Cyclone!
High pressure areas
higher pressure to lower pressure
In zones where air ascends, the air is less dense than its surroundings and this creates a center of low pressure. Winds blow from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure, and so the surface winds would tend to blow toward a low pressure center. In zones where air descends back to the surface, the air is more dense than its surroundings and this creates a center of high atmospheric pressure. Since winds blow from areas ofhigh pressureto areas oflow pressure, winds spiral outward away from the high pressure. The Coriolis Effect deflects air toward the right in the northern hemisphere and creates a general clockwise rotation around the high pressure center. In the southern hemisphere the effect is just the opposite, and winds circulate in a counterclockwise rotation about the high pressure center. Such winds circulating around a high pressure center are calledanticyclonic windsand around a low pressure area they are calledcyclonic winds.
Counter clockwise outward from the center
Winds actually move from areas with higher pressure levels to areas with lower pressure levels, horizontally. Winds actually move from areas with higher pressure levels to areas with lower pressure levels, horizontally.
anticlones
Anticyclone
High pressure areas
Counter clockwise outward from the center
higher pressure to lower pressure
air pressure!
Winds move toward the center of a hurricane because of the low pressure generated by the upward motion of the air inside it.
In zones where air ascends, the air is less dense than its surroundings and this creates a center of low pressure. Winds blow from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure, and so the surface winds would tend to blow toward a low pressure center. In zones where air descends back to the surface, the air is more dense than its surroundings and this creates a center of high atmospheric pressure. Since winds blow from areas ofhigh pressureto areas oflow pressure, winds spiral outward away from the high pressure. The Coriolis Effect deflects air toward the right in the northern hemisphere and creates a general clockwise rotation around the high pressure center. In the southern hemisphere the effect is just the opposite, and winds circulate in a counterclockwise rotation about the high pressure center. Such winds circulating around a high pressure center are calledanticyclonic windsand around a low pressure area they are calledcyclonic winds.
The opposite of a cyclone is an anticyclone. A cyclone is a low-pressure system with inward spiraling winds, while an anticyclone is a high-pressure system with outward spiraling winds.
outward
Counter clockwise outward from the center
The difference in pressure over a given distance. The higher the pressure gradient, the stronger the winds.