![Staring Down Hurricane Florence](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Staring_Down_Hurricane_Florence.jpg)
The eye is a region of mostly calm weather at the center of
tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depen ...
s. The eye of a storm is a roughly circular area, typically in diameter. It is surrounded by the ''eyewall'', a ring of towering
thunderstorms
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are somet ...
where the most severe weather and highest winds occur. The cyclone's lowest
barometric pressure
Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...
occurs in the eye and can be as much as 15 percent lower than the pressure outside the storm.
In strong tropical cyclones, the eye is characterized by light winds and clear skies, surrounded on all sides by a towering, symmetric eyewall. In weaker tropical cyclones, the eye is less well defined and can be covered by the
central dense overcast
The central dense overcast, or CDO, of a tropical cyclone or strong subtropical cyclone is the large central area of thunderstorms surrounding its circulation center, caused by the formation of its eyewall. It can be round, angular, oval, or irr ...
, an area of high, thick clouds that show up brightly on
satellite imagery. Weaker or disorganized storms may also feature an eyewall that does not completely encircle the eye or have an eye that features heavy rain. In all storms, however, the eye is the location of the storm's minimum
barometric pressure
Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...
—where the atmospheric pressure at sea level is the lowest.
Structure
![Hurricane-en](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Hurricane-en.svg)
A typical
tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depen ...
will have an eye of approximately 30–65 km (20–40 mi) across, usually situated at the geometric center of the storm. The eye may be clear or have spotty low clouds (a ''clear eye''), it may be filled with
low- and mid-level clouds (a ''filled eye''), or it may be obscured by the central dense overcast. There is, however, very little wind and rain, especially near the center. This is in stark contrast to conditions in the eyewall, which contains the storm's strongest winds.
Due to the
mechanics of a tropical cyclone, the eye and the air directly above it are warmer than their surroundings.
While normally quite symmetric, eyes can be oblong and irregular, especially in weakening storms. A large ''ragged eye'' is a non-circular eye which appears fragmented, and is an indicator of a weak or weakening tropical cyclone. An ''open eye'' is an eye which can be circular, but the eyewall does not completely encircle the eye, also indicating a weakening, moisture-deprived cyclone or a weak but strengthening one. Both of these observations are used to estimate the intensity of tropical cyclones via
Dvorak analysis.
Eyewalls are typically circular; however, distinctly polygonal shapes ranging from triangles to hexagons occasionally occur.
![HurricaneWilma20Oct2005](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/HurricaneWilma20Oct2005.jpg)
While typical mature storms have eyes that are a few dozen miles across,
rapidly intensifying storms can develop an extremely small, clear, and circular eye, sometimes referred to as a ''pinhole eye''. Storms with pinhole eyes are prone to large fluctuations in intensity, and provide difficulties and frustrations for forecasters.
![Fly00449 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Fly00449_-_Flickr_-_NOAA_Photo_Library.jpg)
Small/minuscule eyes—those less than 10
nmi (19 km, 12 mi) across—often trigger
eyewall replacement cycles, where a new eyewall begins to form outside the original eyewall. This can take place anywhere from fifteen to hundreds of kilometers (ten to a few hundred miles) outside the inner eye. The storm then develops two ''concentric eyewalls'', or an "eye within an eye". In most cases, the outer eyewall begins to contract soon after its formation, which chokes off the inner eye and leaves a much larger but more stable eye. While the replacement cycle tends to weaken storms as it occurs, the new eyewall can contract fairly quickly after the old eyewall dissipates, allowing the storm to re-strengthen. This may trigger another re-strengthen cycle of eyewall replacement.
Eyes can range in size from (
Typhoon Carmen) to a mere (
Hurricane Wilma
Hurricane Wilma was an extremely intense and destructive Atlantic hurricane which was the most intense storm of its kind and the second-most intense tropical cyclone recorded in the Western Hemisphere, after Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Part o ...
) across. While it is uncommon for storms with large eyes to become very intense, it does occur, especially in
annular hurricane
An annular tropical cyclone is a tropical cyclone that features a normal to large, symmetric eye surrounded by a thick and uniform ring of intense convection, often having a relative lack of discrete rainbands, and bearing a symmetric appearanc ...
s.
Hurricane Isabel
Hurricane Isabel was the strongest Atlantic hurricane since Mitch, and the deadliest, costliest, and most intense hurricane in the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season. Hurricane Isabel was also the strongest hurricane in the open waters of the Atlan ...
was the eleventh most powerful
North Atlantic hurricane
An Atlantic hurricane, also known as tropical storm or simply hurricane, is a tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean, primarily between the months of June and November. A hurricane differs from a cyclone or typhoon only on the basis of ...
in
recorded history
Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world his ...
, and sustained a large, 65–80 km (40–50 mi)-wide eye for a period of several days.
Formation and detection
Tropical cyclones typically form from large, disorganized areas of disturbed weather in tropical regions. As more thunderstorms form and gather, the storm develops
rainbands
A rainband is a cloud and precipitation structure associated with an area of rainfall which is significantly elongated. Rainbands can be stratiform or convective, and are generated by differences in temperature. When noted on weather radar imag ...
which start rotating around a common center. As the storm gains strength, a ring of stronger
convection
Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the conve ...
forms at a certain distance from the rotational center of the developing storm. Since stronger thunderstorms and heavier rain mark areas of stronger
updraft
In meteorology, an updraft is a small-scale current of rising air, often within a cloud.
Overview
Localized regions of warm or cool air will exhibit vertical movement. A mass of warm air will typically be less dense than the surrounding regi ...
s, the barometric pressure at the surface begins to drop, and air begins to build up in the upper levels of the cyclone.
This results in the formation of an upper level
anticyclone
An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon defined as a large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high atmospheric pressure, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from ...
, or an area of high atmospheric pressure above the central dense overcast. Consequently, most of this built up air flows outward anticyclonically above the tropical cyclone. Outside the forming eye, the anticyclone at the upper levels of the atmosphere enhances the flow towards the center of the cyclone, pushing air towards the eyewall and causing a
positive feedback loop
Positive feedback (exacerbating feedback, self-reinforcing feedback) is a process that occurs in a feedback loop which exacerbates the effects of a small disturbance. That is, the effects of a perturbation on a system include an increase in the ...
.
However, a small portion of the built-up air, instead of flowing outward, flows inward towards the center of the storm. This causes air pressure to build even further, to the point where the weight of the air counteracts the strength of the updrafts in the center of the storm. Air begins to descend in the center of the storm, creating a mostly rain-free area—a newly formed eye.
There are many aspects of this process which remain a mystery. Scientists do not know why a ring of convection forms around the center of circulation instead of on top of it, or why the upper-level anticyclone only ejects a portion of the excess air above the storm. Many theories exist as to the exact process by which the eye forms: all that is known for sure is that the eye is necessary for tropical cyclones to achieve high wind speeds.
The formation of an eye is almost always an indicator of increasing tropical cyclone organisation and strength. Because of this, forecasters watch developing storms closely for signs of eye formation.
For storms with a clear eye, detection of the eye is as simple as looking at pictures from a
weather satellite
A weather satellite or meteorological satellite is a type of Earth observation satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites can be polar orbiting (covering the entire Earth asynchronously), or ...
. However, for storms with a filled eye, or an eye completely covered by the central dense overcast, other detection methods must be used. Observations from ships and
Hurricane Hunters can pinpoint an eye visually, by looking for a drop in wind speed or lack of rainfall in the storm's center. In the United States, South Korea, and a few other countries, a network of
NEXRAD
NEXRAD or Nexrad (Next-Generation Radar) is a network of 160 high-resolution S-band Doppler weather radars operated by the National Weather Service (NWS), an agency of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) within the United S ...
Doppler weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern weather radars are mostly pulse- ...
stations can detect eyes near the coast. Weather satellites also carry equipment for measuring atmospheric
water vapor
(99.9839 °C)
, -
, Boiling point
,
, -
, specific gas constant
, 461.5 J/( kg·K)
, -
, Heat of vaporization
, 2.27 MJ/kg
, -
, Heat capacity
, 1.864 kJ/(kg·K)
Water vapor, water vapour or aqueous vapor is the gaseous p ...
and cloud temperatures, which can be used to spot a forming eye. In addition, scientists have recently discovered that the amount of ozone in the eye is much higher than the amount in the eyewall, due to air sinking from the ozone-rich stratosphere. Instruments sensitive to ozone perform measurements, which are used to observe rising and sinking columns of air, and provide indication of the formation of an eye, even before satellite imagery can determine its formation.
One satellite study found eyes detected on average for 30 hours per storm.
Associated phenomena
Eyewall replacement cycles
''Eyewall replacement cycles'', also called ''concentric eyewall cycles'', naturally occur in intense tropical cyclones, generally with winds greater than 185 km/h (115 mph), or
major hurricane
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
s (Category 3 or higher on the
Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale). When tropical cyclones reach this intensity, and the eyewall contracts or is already sufficiently small (see
above), some of the outer rainbands may strengthen and organize into a ring of thunderstorms—an outer eyewall—that slowly moves inward and robs the inner eyewall of its needed moisture and
angular momentum
In physics, angular momentum (rarely, moment of momentum or rotational momentum) is the rotational analog of linear momentum. It is an important physical quantity because it is a conserved quantity—the total angular momentum of a closed syst ...
. Since the strongest winds are located in a cyclone's eyewall, the tropical cyclone usually weakens during this phase, as the inner wall is "choked" by the outer wall. Eventually the outer eyewall replaces the inner one completely, and the storm can re-intensify.
The discovery of this process was partially responsible for the end of the U.S. government's hurricane modification experiment
Project Stormfury
Project Stormfury was an attempt to weaken tropical cyclones by flying aircraft into them and seeding with silver iodide. The project was run by the United States Government from 1962 to 1983. The hypothesis was that the silver iodide would cause ...
. This project set out to
seed clouds outside the eyewall, causing a new eyewall to form and weakening the storm. When it was discovered that this was a natural process due to hurricane dynamics, the project was quickly abandoned.
Research shows that 53 per cent of intense hurricanes undergo at least one of these cycles during its existence.
Hurricane Allen
Hurricane Allen was a rare and extremely powerful Cape Verde hurricane that affected the Caribbean, eastern and northern Mexico, and southern Texas in August 1980. The first named storm and second tropical cyclone of the 1980 Atlantic hurricane ...
in 1980 went through repeated eyewall replacement cycles, fluctuating between Category 5 and Category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson scale several times, while
Hurricane Juliette (2001)
Hurricane Juliette was a long-lasting Category 4 hurricane in the 2001 Pacific hurricane season. It caused 12 deaths and $400 million (2001 USD; $ USD) in damage when it hit Baja California in late September. Juliette developed f ...
is a documented case of triple eyewalls.
Moats
A ''moat'' in a tropical cyclone is a clear ring outside the eyewall, or between concentric eyewalls, characterized by
subsidence—slowly sinking air—and little or no precipitation. The air flow in the moat is dominated by the cumulative effects of
stretching
Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific muscle or tendon (or muscle group) is deliberately flexed or stretched in order to improve the muscle's felt elasticity and achieve comfortable muscle tone. The result is a feeling ...
and
shearing
Sheep shearing is the process by which the woollen fleece of a sheep is cut off. The person who removes the sheep's wool is called a '' shearer''. Typically each adult sheep is shorn once each year (a sheep may be said to have been "shorn" or ...
. The moat between eyewalls is an area in the storm where the rotational speed of the air changes greatly in proportion to the distance from the storm's center; these areas are also known as ''rapid filamentation zones''. Such areas can potentially be found near any
vortex
In fluid dynamics, a vortex ( : vortices or vortexes) is a region in a fluid in which the flow revolves around an axis line, which may be straight or curved. Vortices form in stirred fluids, and may be observed in smoke rings, whirlpools in ...
of sufficient strength, but are most pronounced in strong tropical cyclones.
Eyewall mesovortices
![Hurricane emilia (1994) eye close-up](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Hurricane_emilia_%281994%29_eye_close-up.jpg)
''Eyewall
mesovortices A mesovortex is a small-scale rotational feature found in a convective storm, such as a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS, i.e. squall line), a supercell, or the eyewall of a tropical cyclone. Mesovortices range in diameter from tens of miles to ...
'' are small scale rotational features found in the eyewalls of intense tropical cyclones. They are similar, in principle, to small "suction vortices" often observed in
multiple-vortex tornado
A multiple-vortex tornado is a tornado that contains several vortices (called subvortices or suction vortices) revolving around, ''inside'' of, and as part of the main vortex. The only times multiple vortices may be visible are when the tornado i ...
es.
In these vortices, wind speeds may be greater than anywhere else in the eyewall.
Eyewall mesovortices are most common during periods of intensification in tropical cyclones.
Eyewall mesovortices often exhibit unusual behavior in tropical cyclones. They usually revolve around the low pressure center, but sometimes they remain stationary. Eyewall mesovortices have even been documented to cross the eye of a storm. These phenomena have been documented observationally,
experimentally,
and theoretically.
Eyewall mesovortices are a significant factor in the formation of
tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
es after tropical cyclone landfall. Mesovortices can spawn rotation in individual convective cells or updrafts (a
mesocyclone
A mesocyclone is a meso-gamma mesoscale (or storm scale) region of rotation (vortex), typically around in diameter, most often noticed on radar within thunderstorms. In the northern hemisphere it is usually located in the right rear flank (back ...
), which leads to tornadic activity. At landfall, friction is generated between the circulation of the tropical cyclone and land. This can allow the mesovortices to descend to the surface, causing tornadoes.
These tornadic circulations in the boundary layer may be prevalent in the inner eyewalls of intense tropical cyclones but with short duration and small size they are not frequently observed.
Stadium effect
![Maysak seen from the ISS 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Maysak_seen_from_the_ISS_3.jpg)
The ''stadium effect'' is a phenomenon observed in strong tropical cyclones. It is a fairly common event, where the clouds of the eyewall curve outward from the surface with height. This gives the eye an appearance resembling an open dome from the air, akin to a
sports stadium. An eye is always larger at the top of the storm, and smallest at the bottom of the storm because the rising air in the eyewall follows
isolines
A contour line (also isoline, isopleth, or isarithm) of a function of two variables is a curve along which the function has a constant value, so that the curve joins points of equal value. It is a plane section of the three-dimensional grap ...
of equal
angular momentum
In physics, angular momentum (rarely, moment of momentum or rotational momentum) is the rotational analog of linear momentum. It is an important physical quantity because it is a conserved quantity—the total angular momentum of a closed syst ...
, which also slope outward with height.
Eye-like features
An eye-like structure is often found in intensifying tropical cyclones. Similar to the eye seen in hurricanes or typhoons, it is a circular area at the circulation center of the storm in which convection is absent. These eye-like features are most normally found in intensifying tropical storms and hurricanes of Category 1 strength on the Saffir-Simpson scale. For example, an eye-like feature was found in
Hurricane Beta
Hurricane Beta was a compact and intense tropical cyclone that impacted the southwestern Caribbean in late October 2005. Beta was the twenty-fourth tropical storm, fourteenth hurricane, and seventh and final major hurricane of the record- ...
when the storm had maximum wind speeds of only 80 km/h (50 mph), well below hurricane force. The features are typically not visible on
visible wavelengths or
infrared wavelengths from space, although they are easily seen on
microwave
Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from about one meter to one millimeter corresponding to frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz respectively. Different sources define different frequency ra ...
satellite imagery.
Their development at the middle levels of the atmosphere is similar to the formation of a complete eye, but the features might be horizontally displaced due to vertical wind shear.
Hazards
Though the eye is by far the calmest part of the storm, with no wind at the center and typically clear skies, on the ocean it is possibly the most hazardous area. In the eyewall, wind-driven waves all travel in the same direction. In the center of the eye, however, the waves converge from all directions, creating erratic crests that can build on each other to become
rogue wave
Rogue waves (also known as freak waves, monster waves, episodic waves, killer waves, extreme waves, and abnormal waves) are unusually large, unpredictable, and suddenly appearing surface waves that can be extremely dangerous to ships, even to lar ...
s. The maximum height of hurricane waves is unknown, but measurements during
Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlant ...
when it was a Category 4 hurricane estimated that waves near the eyewall exceeded 40 m (130 ft) from peak to trough.
A common mistake, especially in areas where hurricanes are uncommon, is for residents to exit their homes to inspect the damage while the calm eye passes over, only to be caught off guard by the violent winds in the opposite eyewall.
Other cyclones
Though only tropical cyclones have structures officially termed "eyes", there are other weather systems that can exhibit eye-like features.
[Glossary of Meteorology]
. American Meteorological Society
The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is the premier scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences. Its mission is to advance th ...
. Accessed 2008-10-10.
Polar lows
Polar low
A polar low is a mesoscale, short-lived atmospheric low pressure system (depression) that is found over the ocean areas poleward of the main polar front in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, as well as the Sea of Japan. The systems usua ...
s are
mesoscale weather systems, typically smaller than 1,000 km (600 mi) across, found near the
poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...
. Like tropical cyclones, they form over relatively warm water and can feature deep convection and winds of
gale force
The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale.
History
The scale was devised in 1805 by the Irish hydrographer Francis Beaufo ...
or greater. Unlike storms of tropical nature, however, they thrive in much colder temperatures and at much higher latitudes. They are also smaller and last for shorter durations, with few lasting longer than a day or so. Despite these differences, they can be very similar in structure to tropical cyclones, featuring a clear eye surrounded by an eyewall and bands of rain and snow.
Extratropical cyclones
Extratropical cyclones are areas of low pressure which exist at the boundary of different
air mass
In meteorology, an air mass is a volume of air defined by its temperature and humidity. Air masses cover many hundreds or thousands of square miles, and adapt to the characteristics of the surface below them. They are classified according to l ...
es. Almost all storms found at mid-latitudes are extratropical in nature, including classic North American
nor'easter
A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below), or an East Coast low is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. The original use ...
s and
European windstorms
European windstorms are powerful extratropical cyclones which form as cyclonic windstorms associated with areas of low atmospheric pressure. They can occur throughout the year, but are most frequent between October and March, with peak intensi ...
. The most severe of these can have a clear "eye" at the site of lowest barometric pressure, though it is usually surrounded by lower, non-convective clouds and is found near the back end of the storm.
Subtropical cyclones
Subtropical cyclone
A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of both tropical and an extratropical cyclone.
As early as the 1950s, meteorologists were uncertain whether they should be characterized as tropical or extratropical cyclon ...
s are low-pressure systems with some extratropical characteristics and some tropical characteristics. As such, they may have an eye while not being truly tropical in nature. Subtropical cyclones can be very hazardous, generating high winds and seas, and often evolve into fully tropical cyclones. For this reason, the
National Hurricane Center began including subtropical storms in its naming scheme in 2002.
Tornadoes
Tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...
es are destructive, small-scale storms, which produce the fastest winds on earth. There are two main types—single-vortex tornadoes, which consist of a single spinning column of air, and multiple-vortex tornadoes, which consist of small "suction vortices," resembling mini-tornadoes themselves, all rotating around a common center. Both of these types of tornadoes are theorized to have calm eyes. These theories are supported by doppler velocity observations by weather radar and eyewitness accounts.
Extraterrestrial vortices
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
reported in November 2006 that the
Cassini spacecraft Cassini may refer to:
People
* Cassini (surname)
* Oleg Cassini (1913-2006), American fashion designer
:Cassini family:
* Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625–1712), Italian mathematician, astronomer, engineer, and astrologer
* Jacques Cassini (1 ...
observed a "hurricane-like" storm locked to the south pole of
Saturn with a clearly defined eyewall. The observation was particularly notable as eyewall clouds had not previously been seen on any planet other than Earth (including a failure to observe an eyewall in the
Great Red Spot of Jupiter by the
Galileo spacecraft).
In 2007, very large vortices on both poles of
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...
were observed by the
Venus Express
''Venus Express'' (VEX) was the first Venus exploration mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). Launched in November 2005, it arrived at Venus in April 2006 and began continuously sending back science data from its polar orbit around Venus. ...
mission of the
European Space Agency to have a dipole eye structure.
See also
*
List of tropical cyclones
This is a list of tropical cyclones, subdivided by basin. See the list of tropical cyclone records for individual records set by individual tropical cyclones.
* Lists of Atlantic hurricanes – directory for Atlantic hurricanes north of the eq ...
*
Radius of maximum wind
The radius of maximum wind (RMW) is the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds. It is a parameter in atmospheric dynamics and tropical cyclone forecasting. The highest rainfall rates occur near the RMW of tropic ...
*
RAINEX
*
Storm surge
References
External links
Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eye (Cyclone)
Tropical cyclone meteorology
Vortices
Articles containing video clips