Tropical Cyclone Flashcards
Climate and Weather
Adiabatic
heating
Occurs when air descends and compresses, resulting in very little
precipitation.
Adiabatic lapse
rate
Is the rate at which the temperature of an air parcel changes in
response to the compression or expansion associated with elevation
change, under the assumption that the process is adiabatic, i.e., no
heat exchange occurs between the given air parcel and its
surroundings.
Coriolis force
A force caused by the rotation of the earth which results in the
deflection of the winds and ocean currents. Deflection is to the right
in the northern and to the left in the southern hemisphere.
Dissipate
Is to break up or disappear or weakening
Eye
The calm area at the centre of a tropical cyclone
Eyewall
The walls of cumulonimbus cloud which surround the eye of a
tropical cyclone.
Latent heat
The heat or energy that is absorbed or released during a phase
change of a substance. It could either be from a gas to a liquid or
liquid to solid.
Make landfall
The term used to describe the arrival of the eye of a tropical cyclone
over the coast.
Storm surge
An abnormal rise of water along the coast associated with a low-pressure system as a tropical cyclone.
Tropical
Cyclone:
A powerful, rotating storm system, around a low-pressure cell which
develops over a warm ocean between the tropics. the eye moves
over land.
Tropical
cyclone landfall
A tropical cyclone is classified as making a landfall when the centre
of the storm moves across the coast, in strong tropical cyclones.
Vortex
A mass of spinning air that attracts more air to its centre.
Water spout
It is a weak tornado that forms at sea in association with the storm
clouds of a tropical cyclone.
