How are Cyclones Formed? | Causes and Effects

What is a Cyclone?

In meteorology, it refers to a large-scale air mass that revolves around a strong low atmospheric pressure centre. We can characterize cyclones by spiralling inward winds rotating around a low-pressure zone. In this topic, we will explain how are cyclones formed and its causes and effects.

Polar vortices and extra-tropical cyclones of the biggest scale (the synoptic scale) are the biggest low-pressure systems. The synoptic-scale also includes warm-core cyclones such as tropical cyclones and subtropical cyclones.

How are Cyclones Formed

How are cyclones formed is a bigger question which we will learn after getting to know the formation of different cyclones.

Tropical Cyclones

Tropical cyclones are familiar to most people because they are cyclones that occur across tropical ocean regions. Hurricanes and typhoons are types of tropical cyclones in fact, but they have different names to make it clear where the storm occurs.

Generally, hurricanes occur in the  Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, while the typhoons occur in the Northwest Pacific. We can also define tropical cyclones on the basis of their wind rates. Cyclones are classified by wind speed and the harm they cause.

First category: Wind speeds ranging from 90 to 125 km / h, some noticeable harm to buildings and trees.
Second category: Wind rates ranging from 125 to 164 kilometres per hour, housing harm and important crop and forest harm.
Third category: Wind rates ranging from 165224 km / h, structural harm to houses, comprehensive damage to plants and uprooted trees, upgraded cars, and building devastation.
Fourth category: Wind rates ranging from 225 to 279 kilometres per hour, power failure and significant harm to towns and towns.
Fifth category: Wind speeds exceeding 280 km / h, extensive harm.

Polar Cyclones

Cyclones in polar regions such as Greenland, Siberia and Antarctica are cyclones. In winter months, polar cyclones are generally heavier than tropical cyclones. These storms, as you can see, really prefer the colder weather! In fields areas, they are not very common and happen very less often that’s why the harm they do is generally quite minimal.

Meso Cyclone

A mesocyclone is when the portion of a thunderstorm cloud begins to spin, eventually leading to a tornado. Meso’ implies’ centre,’ which we can regard as the midpoint between one weather form and the other. All tornadoes originate from the snow of the thunderstorm, but not all parts of the thunderstorm create tornadoes.

Part of that cloud has to spin in order for a tornado to occur, and while you can’t really see this happening, it’s the intermediate or ‘meso’ step from regular cloud to the dangerous spinning cloud running along the ground.

Causes and Effects of Cyclone in Points

• Tropical cyclones trigger serious rainfall and landslides. They cause serious damage to towns and villages. Also, they destroy coastal companies, such as shipyards and oil well.
• When these hurricanes blow far inland, human settlements are causing a lot of devastation.
• They trigger a lot of crop damage and destroy plenty of forests.
• They are disturbing the entire civic lives, particularly when they kill electricity and telephone lines.
• Torrential rains often accompany these cyclones, which trigger flooding.
• Not only do they cause a lot of damage to assets, but also to people’s lives. Civic installations are being dismantled.

Solved Question for You

Q. Which of the following is the source of the ‘ storm surge ‘ accompanying the landfall of the cyclone?

1. El Nino
2. La Nino
3. Intense rainfall
4. Winds pushing waves onshore

Ans. The correct answer is option D.