Download Guided Notes about Tropical Storms

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.
2.
3.
4.
A traveling tropical disturbance is the 1st
stage of a tropical cyclone
A tropical depression has acquired a
cyclonic circulation around a center of low
pressure.
A tropical storm attains wind speeds of 65
km/h around the low pressure center.
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.