Typically, tropical cyclones form at least 5.0 degrees of latitude north and

south South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

of the

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

, or at least 300

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today ...

s (556 km, 345 mi) of the equator. Despite the presence of sufficiently warm sea surface temperatures and generally low wind shear, tropical cyclogenesis is uncommon at these latitudes, due to a lack of the

Coriolis force In physics, the Coriolis force is an inertial or fictitious force that acts on objects in motion within a frame of reference that rotates with respect to an inertial frame. In a reference frame with clockwise rotation, the force acts to the ...

, which causes cyclones to spin. On rare occasions, tropical cyclones can develop within 5º of the equator, though it is more prevalent in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

Background

Various factors converge to produce a tropical cyclone, including sufficiently warm sea surface temperatures, low wind shear, ample moisture, and enough atmospheric instability to produce thunderstorms. In addition, weather disturbances typically need to be far enough away from the equator to spin, known as vorticity. This is due to increasing

closer to the poles, and which is zero at the equator. One associated phenomenon often seen with low-latitude cyclones is the equatorial

westerly wind burst A westerly wind burst is a phenomenon commonly associated with El Niño events, whereby the typical east-to-west trade winds across the equatorial Pacific shift to west-to-east. A westerly wind burst is defined by Harrison and Vecchi (1997) as sus ...

, which allows for sufficient shear vorticity on both sides of the equator to support tropical cyclogenesis. Westerly wind bursts are typically the most common in the equatorial Western Pacific Ocean.

List

''Note: Only systems that were of tropical depression strength or higher within 5.0 degrees of the equator are included.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Tropical Cyclones

Equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

Equatorial tropical cyclones

Background

List

See also

References

External links