REPORT

IN
EARTH SCIENCE
(CYCLONE)

SUBMITTED BY:
RENETH FLOR ANGELINE N. MONTERO

SUBMITTED TO:
PROF. AILEEN LORENO

Cyclone:

1. Meteorology
a. An atmospheric system characterized by the rapid inward circulation of air masses about a lowpressure center, usuallyaccompanied by stormy, often destructive weather. Cyclones circulate counterclo
ckwise in the Northern Hemisphere andclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
b. A violent tropical storm, especially one originating in the southwestern Pacific Ocean or Indian Ocean.
2. A violent rotating windstorm, especially a tornado.
3. Any of various devices using centrifugal force to separate materials.

Cyclones over the warm tropical oceans are capable of producing

dangerous winds, torrential rains and flooding,
all of which may result in tremendous property damage and loss of
life in coastal populations.

Cyclones rotate due to the Carioles Effect

Tropical cyclones
have winds that exceed 34 knots (39 mi/hr)
blow clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere and
counter-clockwise about their centers in the Northern

Hemisphere

Formation
Cyclones are formed from simple thunderstorms. However, these
thunderstorms can only grow to cyclone strength with cooperation
from both the ocean and the atmosphere. First of all, the ocean
water itself must be warmer than 26.5 degrees Celsius (81F). The
heat and moisture from this warm water is ultimately the source of
energy for cyclones. Cyclones will weaken rapidly when they travel

over land or colder ocean waters -- locations where their heat

and/or moisture sources do not exist.
Related to having warm ocean water, high relative humidities in the
lower and middle troposphere are also required for cyclone
development. These high humidities reduce the amount of evaporation
in clouds and maximizes the latent heat released because there is
more precipitation.
The vertical wind shear in a tropical cyclone's environment is also
important. Wind shear is defined as the amount of change in the
wind's direction or speed with increasing altitude.
When the wind shear is weak, the storms that are part of the
cyclone grow vertically, and the latent heat from condensation is
released into the air directly above the storm, aiding in
development. When there is stronger wind shear, this means that the
storms become more slanted and the latent heat release is dispersed
over a much larger area.

Stages of Development
Stages of Development from tropical depression to cyclone
Cyclones evolve through a life cycle of stages from birth to death.
A tropical disturbance in time can grow to a more intense stage by
attaining a specified sustained wind speed.

Cyclones can often live for a long period of time -- as much as

two to three weeks. They may initiate as a cluster of thunderstorms
over the tropical ocean waters. Once a disturbance has become a
tropical depression, the amount of time it takes to achieve the
next stage, tropical storm, can take as little as half a day up to
a couple of days. It may not happen at all. The same may occur for
the amount of time a tropical storm needs to intensify into a
cyclone. Atmospheric and oceanic conditions play the major role in
determining these events.
Below, in this satellite image from 1995, we can see different
tropical disturbances in each stage are evident. At the far left,
Tropical storm Jerry is over Florida, while Hurricanes Iris and
Humberto are further east, amongst a couple of tropical
depressions.

Movement of Cyclones
Movement of Cyclones steered by the global winds
The global wind pattern is also known as the "general circulation"
and the surface winds of each hemisphere are divided into three
wind belts:
Polar Easterlies: From 60-90 degrees latitude.
Prevailing Westerlies: From 30-60 degrees latitude (aka
Westerlies).
Tropical Easterlies: From 0-30 degrees latitude (aka Trade Winds).
The easterly trade winds of both hemispheres converge at an area
near the equator called the "Intertropical Convergence Zone
(ITCZ)", producing a narrow band of clouds and thunderstorms that
encircle portions of the globe.

The path of a cyclone greatly depends upon the wind belt in which
it is located. A cyclone originating in the eastern tropical
Pacific, for example, is driven westward by easterly trade winds in
the tropics.
Eventually, these storms turn northwestward around the subtropical
high and migrate into higher latitudes.

In time, cyclones move into the middle latitudes and are driven
northeastward by the westerlies, occasionally merging with
midlatitude frontal systems.
Cyclones draw their energy from the warm surface water of the
tropics and latent heat of condensation, which explains why
cyclones dissipate rapidly once they move over cold water
Occluded Front
when a cold front overtakes a warm front

A developing cyclone typically has a preceding warm front (the

leading edge of a warm moist air mass) and a faster moving cold
front (the leading edge of a colder drier air mass wrapping around
the storm). North of the warm front is a mass of cooler air that
was in place before the storm even entered the region.

.
As the storm intensifies, the cold front rotates around the storm
and catches the warm front. This forms an occluded front, which is
the boundary that separates the new cold air mass (to the west)
from the older cool air mass already in place north of the warm
front. Symbolically, an occluded front is represented by a solid
line with alternating triangles and a circle pointing the direction
the front is moving.

Cyclones - major areas affected

1. A system of winds that spiral in toward a region of low atmospheric

pressure, circling counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphereand cloc
kwise in the Southern Hemisphere. Compare anticyclone.
2. A violent rotating windstorm, such as a hurricane or tornado.
Did You Know? Technically, a cyclone is nothing more than a region of
low pressure around which air flows. In the NorthernHemisphere, the ai
r moves counterclockwise around the low-pressure center, while in the
Southern Hemisphere, the air travelsclockwise. Meteorologists also ref
er to tropical cyclones, which develop over warm water and can be huge
, severe storms. Strongtropical cyclones are better known as hurricane
s or typhoons, depending on where in the world they occur. Hurricanes
occur in theAtlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, while typhoons occur in
the Pacific Ocean. Such storms can be extremely devastating: twocyclon
es hit a coastal section of India within a few days of each other in 1
999, killing an estimated 10,000 people. Because the wordcyclone broad
ly defines a kind of air flow, cyclones are not confined to our planet
. In 1999, the Hubble Space Telescope photographeda huge cyclone on Ma
rs