The “eye” is the trademark characteristic of a mature tropical cyclone (also called a hurricane or typhoon). While temperate cyclones have low-pressure centers, they rarely develop the clear, calm and well-defined circular eye that tropical cyclones do. This feature is ...
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Trade winds are caused by the convection of heat on a global scale. At the equator, the intense sun heats the air, causing it to rise. As this air moves up, cooler air from the subtropics flows in along the ...
The Bora is a cold, violent wind that blows from the Dinaric Alps down to the Adriatic coast. It is a “gravity wind” that occurs when cold air piles up behind the mountains and then suddenly spills over the peaks, ...
The Harmattan is the primary wind that brings relief to the Guinea coast. Because the coast is usually very humid and rainy, the dry air from the Sahara acts as a natural air conditioner. It lowers the humidity, which helps ...
Because of the Coriolis effect caused by Earth’s rotation, cyclones spin in different directions depending on which side of the equator they are on. In the Northern Hemisphere, the wind is deflected to the right, creating a counter-clockwise spiral. In ...