With India still recovering from the aftermath of Cyclone Amphan, merely two weeks later, the western coast prepares itself for a Tropical Cyclone- Nisarga.
A cyclone is defined as an inward rotation of winds towards a land with low atmospheric pressure. In the northern hemisphere the wind rotates in the counterclockwise direction and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. The average speed of a cyclone is 120 kmph.
Tropical cyclones have low atmospheric pressure, heavy wind and rains. They are classified as tropical depression, tropical storm, hurricane and major hurricane depending on the speed of the wind.
These weather patterns are known as cyclones and typhoons in the Indian Ocean and Southwest Pacific, and in the the Northeast Pacific and Atlantic, they are known as hurricanes. Therefore, the only real difference between hurricanes and cyclones is the location where they occur.
A storm, on the other hand, is a weather condition involving a period of strong winds, heavy rainfall or snowfall. The main difference between a cyclone and a storm is the absence of rotating winds. Accompanied by rapid winds, which travel at a speed of nearly 120 kmph, a storm is classified as a cyclone.
When evaporating sea water and cool air are combined with high and low air pressure, they cause clouds to move in spherical direction- which can be identified as the main characteristic of a cyclone.
Storms mostly occur when warm air causes sea water to evaporate and creates clouds and this process is continued over a prolonged period. As this process continues and the winds stronger, it develops into a tropical cyclone.
