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Formation and DevelopmentRelated Terms
13 in category
In Context
This effect is too weak within about 5 degrees of the equator to initiate rotation, which is one reason tropical cyclones rarely form there despite often having warm enough water.
Related Terms in Formation and Development
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Atmospheric Instability
Atmospheric instability describes conditions where warm air readily rises through the atmosphere, fueling the thunderstorm activity a tropical cyclone needs to organize and grow.
Dissipation
Dissipation is the breakdown of a tropical cyclone's organized circulation, typically caused by land interaction, cooler water, or increasing wind shear.
Genesis
Genesis is the formal meteorological term for the formation of a tropical cyclone, the point at which a disturbance develops a closed low-level circulation.
Intensification
Intensification is the general process of a tropical cyclone's winds and organization strengthening over time, as opposed to the specific, faster threshold defined by rapid intensification.
Land Interaction
Land interaction refers to the weakening effect land has on a tropical cyclone once it moves over it, cutting off the storm's supply of warm ocean moisture and increasing surface friction.
Low-Level Circulation
Low-level circulation is the rotating wind pattern near the ocean surface that, once it becomes organized and persistent, marks the transition from a disturbance to a tropical depression.
Moist Air
Moist air is air carrying high humidity, providing the water vapor that condenses into the clouds and rainfall powering a tropical cyclone.
Ocean Heat Content
Ocean heat content measures the total heat energy stored in the upper ocean, a more complete indicator of a storm's potential fuel supply than surface temperature alone.
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This definition is part of the azifind.com Typhoon Wiki, informed by PAGASA and the World Bank/GFDRR catastrophe risk data used across our province pages. View all Typhoon Wiki terms →