Cyclone:: Cyclone, Types, Effects and Formation of Cyclone

Cyclone, Types , Effects and formation of Cyclone
 Cyclone:
a system of winds rotating inwards to an area of low barometric pressure, with an anticlockwise
(northern hemisphere) or clockwise (southern hemisphere) circulation; a depression.
This article is about the meteorological phenomenon. For other uses, see Cyclone (disambiguation).
An extratropical cyclone near Iceland on September 4, 2003
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as
theEarth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate counterclockwise in the Northern
Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale cyclonic circulations
are centered on areas of low atmospheric pressureThe largest low-pressure systems are cold-core polar
cyclones and extratropical cyclones which lie on the synoptic scale.
Cyclones are defined as ``an atmospheric system in which the barometric pressure
diminishes progressively to a minimum at the centre and toward which the winds blow spirally inward
from all sides, resulting in a lifting of the air and eventually in clouds and precipitation...''. Hurricanes are
cyclones, that originate in the tropics with windspeeds beyond 64 knots (= 74 mph, 113 km/h)
 Types of Cyclones
The term 'cyclone' actually refers to several different types of storms. They occur in different places,
and some occur over land while others occur over water. What they all have in common is that they are
spinning storms rotating around that low-pressure center.
 Tropical cyclones: are what most people are familiar with because these are cyclones that
occur over tropical ocean regions. Hurricanes and typhoons are actually types of tropical
cyclones, but they have different names so that it's clear where that storm is occurring.
Hurricanes are found in the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, typhoons are found i n the Northwest
Pacific. If you hear 'tropical cyclone,' you should assume that it's occurring in the South Pacific or
Indian Ocean, but for this lesson, we'll use it refer to all types of tropical ocean cyclones.
We can also further describe tropical cyclones based on their wind speeds. They are called category 1, 2,
3, 4 or 5, increasing with intensity and wind speed as the number increases. A category 1 cyclone is the
weakest, with wind speeds of 74-95 mph. A category 5 cyclone, on the other hand, is extremely
dangerous and has the potential for major damage. Category 5 cyclones have wind speeds of 155 mph
and above!
 Polar cyclones: are cyclones that occur in polar regions like Greenland, Siberia and
Antarctica. Unlike tropical cyclones, polar cyclones are usually stronger in winter months. As you
can see, these storms really do prefer the colder weather! They also occur in areas that aren't
very populated, so any damage they do is usually pretty minimal.
 A mesocyclone : is when part of a thunderstorm cloud starts to spin, which may eventually
lead to a tornado. 'Meso' means 'middle', so you can think of this as the mid-point between one
type of storm and the other. Tornadoes all come from thunderstorm clouds, but not all
thunderstorm clouds make tornadoes. In order for a tornado to occur, part of that cloud has to
spin, and though you can't really see this happening, this is the intermediate, or 'meso' step
from regular cloud to dangerous spinning cloud running along the ground.
 Formation of a Cyclone:
Even though they form over different areas, cyclones tend to come about in the same way and revolve
around that low-pressure eye. Warm air likes to rise, and as it rises, it cools. Cool air can't hold as much
moisture as warm air, so that water gets squeezed out of the condensing air and a cloud begins to form.
If the warm air rises very quickly, this creates an updraft.
Likewise, if the water in the cloud builds up enough, it may fall back to the ground as rain and draw cool
air down with it as a downdraft. When they work together, that warm updraft and cool downdraft
create a storm cell. As this process continues, the cloud grows and we eventually get a large
thunderstorm cloud.
This thunderstorm cloud is now ready to diversify into other storms like tropi cal cyclones and tornadoes.
But this can't happen unless the air in the cloud starts spinning horizontally. If this occurs over the
tropical ocean, this is called a tropical depression. This is like a baby tropical cyclone, with wind speeds
less than 39 mph.
If it starts spinning even faster and has wind speeds between 40-73 mph, we have a tropical storm. If
the storm grows even larger over the tropical ocean and has wind speeds above 74 mph, we have our
full-grown hurricane, typhoon or cyclone, depending on where that storm is found.
If the spinning occurs over land, we now have our mesocyclone. If the mesocyclone gets spinning fast
enough that the cloud starts reaching toward the ground like a long arm, this is the beginning of a
tornado. If the cloud's arm reaches all the way to the ground and grabs hold, this is now officially a
tornado, ready to suck up everything in its path like a giant vacuum cleaner hose.
 Effects of Cyclones and Hurricanes:

i. Tropical cyclones cause heavy rainfall and landslides.
ii. They cause a lot of harm to towns and villages, causing severe damage to kuccha
houses. Coastal businesses like shipyards and oil wells are destroyed.
iii. They harm the ecosystem of the surrounding region.
iv. Civic facilities are disturbed.
v. Agricultural land is severely affected, especially in terms of water supply and soil
erosion.
vi. It causes harm to human, plant and animal life.
vii. Communication systems are badly affected due to cyclones.
 Additional Information
Management and Mitigation of Cyclones and Hurricanes:
i. Coastal areas should be well prepared to meet eventualities that arise from cyclones.
ii. Houses should be constructed such that they can withstand the heavy rainfall and
forceful winds.
iii. Shelter beds should be created to check soil erosion and speed of winds.
iv. Remote sensing techniques should be used to forecast cyclones appropriately.
v. When a cyclone does occur, rescue and relief operations should be in place.

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Cyclone, Types , Effects and formation of Cyclone

An extratropical cyclone near Iceland on September 4, 2003

 Effects of Cyclones and Hurricanes:

iii. They harm the ecosystem of the surrounding region.

iv. Civic facilities are disturbed.

vi. It causes harm to human, plant and animal life.

vii. Communication systems are badly affected due to cyclones.

iv. Remote sensing techniques should be used to forecast cyclones appropriately.

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