They are tropical storms so why can’t they traverse the entirety of the tropics?
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Because of the coriolis effect. Storms are driven by air rushing to fill low pressure regions. In the northern hemisphere, when something moves north, it has a bit of extra velocity to the east because the Earth spins faster at the equator than at the poles. So if you blow some air north, it will curve to the east. Similarly, if you blow air south, it curves to the west. Now when you have a low pressure region, the air tries to fill it back in, but ends up circling around in a clockwise direction and the low pressure region sticks around. Voila, you have a hurricane, which will always rotate clockwise in the northern hemisphere. The southern hemisphere is the same, but now the air will spin counter-clockwise. Right at the equator, there’s no coriolis effect, because as you move north/south, the Earth’s rotation speed doesn’t change. With no coriolis effect, there’s nothing to stop the air from going straight into the low pressure region. Fill in the low pressure region, and no storm.
They could, it is not impossible but since they don’t form near the equator it is extremely unlikely that they would ever get the chance to try.
When you stand on the north pole how fast are you moving relative to the earth’s core?
Zero, you just spin around in place once every 24 hours.
When you stand on the equator how fast are you moving?
1000mph, you have to circumnavigate the earth in a day.
This difference doesn’t matter much when you throw a baseball, but it absolutely matters when you’re a storm the size of a country. This disparity in relative speed rotates the storm since the equatorial side is moving faster than the polar side, and it provides the swirling structure of the hurricane.
But here’s the problem – storms in the north spin counter-clockwise and storms in the south spin clockwise.
That means to cross the equator you have to stop and reverse direction. That’s not happening, and hurricanes never track near the equator because neither the storm itself nor the prevailing winds that push it around can approach this reversal boundary.
Because of the coriolis effect. Storms are driven by air rushing to fill low pressure regions. In the northern hemisphere, when something moves north, it has a bit of extra velocity to the east because the Earth spins faster at the equator than at the poles. So if you blow some air north, it will curve to the east. Similarly, if you blow air south, it curves to the west. Now when you have a low pressure region, the air tries to fill it back in, but ends up circling around in a clockwise direction and the low pressure region sticks around. Voila, you have a hurricane, which will always rotate clockwise in the northern hemisphere. The southern hemisphere is the same, but now the air will spin counter-clockwise. Right at the equator, there’s no coriolis effect, because as you move north/south, the Earth’s rotation speed doesn’t change. With no coriolis effect, there’s nothing to stop the air from going straight into the low pressure region. Fill in the low pressure region, and no storm.
Typhoon Vamei formed just north of the equator, at 1.4°N latitude. This was estimated to be a one in 100-400 year storm.
For reference, major storms in the North Atlantic and northeast Pacific are called Hurricanes. In the northwest Pacific, they’re typhoons. Anywhere else, they’re tropical cyclones.
Typhoon Vamei formed just north of the equator, at 1.4°N latitude. This was estimated to be a one in 100-400 year storm.
For reference, major storms in the North Atlantic and northeast Pacific are called Hurricanes. In the northwest Pacific, they’re typhoons. Anywhere else, they’re tropical cyclones.
They could, it is not impossible but since they don’t form near the equator it is extremely unlikely that they would ever get the chance to try.
Typhoon Vamei formed just north of the equator, at 1.4°N latitude. This was estimated to be a one in 100-400 year storm.
For reference, major storms in the North Atlantic and northeast Pacific are called Hurricanes. In the northwest Pacific, they’re typhoons. Anywhere else, they’re tropical cyclones.
Hurricanes spin due to the coriolis effect. That is a force that deflects east or west depending on if you’re heading towards or away from the axis of rotation.
Since the Earth is curved, when you head towards the equator, you are heading away from the Earth’s axis. Once you cross the equator, you starting getting closer to the axis again. This means that while you’re at the equator, you can’t experience the coroilis force, and that means the hurricane would stop spinning, causing it to break up.
You may notice that tropical storms from the southern hemisphere spin the opposite direction as a hurricane. In order to cross the equator, the storm would essentially need to entirely reverse its spin. That reversal process would cause the storm to break up.
Hurricanes spin due to the coriolis effect. That is a force that deflects east or west depending on if you’re heading towards or away from the axis of rotation.
Since the Earth is curved, when you head towards the equator, you are heading away from the Earth’s axis. Once you cross the equator, you starting getting closer to the axis again. This means that while you’re at the equator, you can’t experience the coroilis force, and that means the hurricane would stop spinning, causing it to break up.
You may notice that tropical storms from the southern hemisphere spin the opposite direction as a hurricane. In order to cross the equator, the storm would essentially need to entirely reverse its spin. That reversal process would cause the storm to break up.
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