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Tropical cyclones

A tropical cyclone is a mass of air that
whirls around a low-pressure centre.
It forms over the sea and moves towards
the land. The intensity of the cyclone
depends on the wind speed. Wind speed
of over sixty kilometres per hour gives
rise to a tropical cyclone.

The eye of the storm has calm winds, How are tropical cyclones formed?

clear skies, and warm temperatures. Tropical cyclones are formed over the

warm waters near the equator in the

Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The heat

evaporates the water, and it rises into the atmosphere as warm, moist air. Huge masses

of this air start twisting and begin to go round and round. This occurs due to the Coriolis

force, which makes all fluids and free-moving objects—including wind—move right in

the Northern Hemisphere and left in the Southern Hemisphere. This turning makes the

wind spin.

Warm air rising from the sea is spun around due to the
Coriolis force, forming a whirling cyclone.

Swirling cloud

Eyewall Rainbands
Eye

Warm air

TICKER The ÂeyewallÊ of a cyclone can be fifty thousand feet high. This is the area with the highest
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