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Tropical Storms Other Names • Otherwise known as hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons, and wily willies (the Australian name!). • These are very intense areas of very low pressure, approximately 500 to 1000 kilometres in diameter. • Tropical storms form over water that is above 26.5°C in temperature. • The warm water heats the air above it, causing it to rise rapidly. • Cooler air from elsewhere rapidly moves in to replace the rising air and the process starts again. How Do They Occur? • The rapidly rising moist air, cools as it ascends and forms tall cumulo-nimbus clouds. • These slowly spin around the central point. • Jet streams above the storm clouds continue to suck the air up. • Cooling air sinks down through the spiralling mass of clouds to produce a central eye of the storm. • Tropical storms move quickly over water, as long as it is warms enough to keep the storm energised. • Once over land, where there is less moisture and the surface is cooler, tropical storms quickly calm down. Formation • As the storm approached there would be a drop in temperature and pressure. • Wind speeds would begin to increase and clouds would form. • As the storm is overhead the pressure would fall rapidly, as would the temperature. • Wind speeds would be in excess of 150km/hr and the rain would be torrential. • The wind would whip up waves that could swamp entire coastal areas, or drown entire coral islands in the Pacific. Formation • The eye of the storm is overhead. • Skies are clear, the temperature and pressure increase, and the wind dies down. • Unfortunately this is only a brief lull in the storm. • The storm hits again. • Temperature and pressure falls. • Torrential rain and wind speeds of over 100km/hr occur. • The winds are now coming form the opposite direction than they were before. • After the storm the temperature and pressure rise again. • The rain becomes showers, and the winds die down. • The clean up operation begins!