Guided Notes about Tropical Storms Chapter 13, Section 3

1. Large, rotating, low-pressure storms that are born in the tropics are called tropical cyclones. The strongest of these storms are known in the Atlantic Ocean as hurricanes.

2. Tropical cyclones thrive on the tremendous amount of energy in warm, tropical oceans.

3. The Coriolis effect causes moving air in tropical cyclone to turn counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. This produces a cyclonic rotation.

4. As the air in cyclone rises, the air pressure in the center of the storm continues to decrease, while surface wind speeds increase.

5.Tropical cyclones require 2 basic conditions: an abundant supply of very warm ocean water, and some sort of disturbance to lift warm air. In the Pacific Ocean, they are known as typhoons, and in the Indian Ocean, they are simply called cyclones.

6. Tropical cyclones occur most frequently in the late summer and early fall, when the Earth’s ocean contain their greatest amount of stored heat energy.

7. Tropical cyclones move according to the wind currents that steer them. They move steadily toward the west, then turn poleward when they reach the far edges of the high-pressure systems.

Name and describe the four stages of tropical cyclone development: 1. A traveling tropical disturbance is the 1 st stage of a tropical cyclone 2. A tropical depression has acquired a cyclonic circulation around a center of low pressure. 3. A tropical storm attains wind speeds of 65 km/h around the low pressure center. 4. A hurricane has winds of at least 120 km/h along with falling with falling air pressure

9. The eye is the calm center of the storm, while the strongest winds in a hurricane are concentrated in a band surrounding the eye called the eyewall.

10.The Saffir-Simpson scale classifies hurricanes according to wind speed, air pressure in the center, and potential for property damage.

11.A storm surge occurs when hurricane-force winds drive a mound of ocean water toward coastal areas, where it washes over land. When this occurs during high tide, the surge can cause enormous damage.