Weather “U” Lesson 16 Tropical Weather

Once again I would like to thank WXCASTER.com for the images in this chapter.

The image above shows what we call a tropical wave developing in the Atlantic Ocean during the Hurricane Season. There are three types of Tropical Waves that can form. The best way to identify the wave you have is look at the surface and 700mb chart to see where the troughs are.

Next, stage in Tropical Development is into a Tropical Depression and as you read the image above you will see key features that develop when it turns into this state.

The next feature is a Tropical Storm and as you read the image above you will see the enhancements that occur from a Tropical Depression to a Storm.

Ah final stop the world’s famous Hurricane/Typhoon/Cyclone. Why three names for one storm well here is why. In the Eastern Pacific and Atlantic Ocean they are called Hurricanes. Now as you cross the International Date line they take on the name of Typhoon. And when you head south of the Equator near Australia or in the Indian Ocean they take on the name of Cyclone. So other than the location of where they form they can cause the same amount of damage. However stats have it that there are more Typhoons every year than any other storm. The reason for that is the Western Pacific is HOT!!! and storms can occur almost all year round in this region.

Now to some basic fundamentals of our storm. The first stop is the Northeast Section also known as the Right Front Quad. Everyone is scared of being in this part of the storm for reasons as you can see above. If you are a Hurricane Chaser you love that part of the storm if you are a normal human you really don’t enjoy this part of the storm.

Next section of the storm is the Eye Wall. Once again everyone gets this confused with being the end of the storm, however it is the silence before Round 2 starts. When the eyewall passes over it is possible to see the sun or moon shine for a little while. Some eyewalls can be rather large leading people to false sense of the storm being done. Just sit back and relax as Round 2 is about to start.

Now on to the Feeder Bands that set up sometimes hundereds of miles away from the center of the storm. Most commonly these feeder bands can have pretty significant weather with them also. As you see above.

Here are the conditions that are needed for Tropical Weather to begin.

It is very important to know where the Sub-Tropical Ridges are in the summer. The ridges act as a steering flow for tropicals as you can see in the image above. If you live along the coast of a ocean then you really want to listen for where that ridge or on the weather map the Big Blue H.

This is the Hurricane Season in the Atlantic Ocean, each ocean basin has a different season. For example in the Southern Hemisphere they have the majority of their storms around Nov-Jan.

Now on to the review for this chapter.

Enjoy the weather!!