Tropical storms

• A tropical storm is a powerful rotating storm

  • hurricanes
  • Cyclones
  • Typhoons
• tropical storms form over tropical oceans and are steered by trade winds

  • heavy rain (250mm)
  • 6-14 days long
• Conditions required for a tropical storm to form

  • sea temperature is 26.5˚C or higher
  • 60m deep ocean
• for a tropical storm to form

  • ocean water starts to evaporate
  • air above the ocean warms up and rises quickly
  • creates low pressure, suck in air from trade winds
  • winds spiral due to Coriolis Effect and aborsob moisture from ocean
  • humid air forms storm clouds
  • cool air sinks, creates and area of calm
• weather associated with tropical storms

  • strong winds
  • heavy rainfall
  • consequence of that is coastal flooding
• The distribution of tropical storms is very regular

  • most happen between 5˚ and 30˚ north and south of the equator
  • Usually in late summer and autumn, as the ocean is the warmest then
• there has not been an overall trend in the last 130 years in the frequency of tropical storms