CYCLONE IDAI

About: 

• Cyclones are known as typhoons in the China Sea and Pacific Ocean; hurricanes in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean; tornados in the Guinea lands of West Africa and southern USA; willy-willies in north-western Australia and tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean.  
  
  
• Cyclones are caused by atmospheric disturbances around a low-pressure area distinguished by swift and often destructive air circulation. Cyclones are usually accompanied by violent storms and bad weather. 
  
  
• The air circulates inward in an anticlockwise direction in the Northern hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern hemisphere. 
  
  

Types: 

• Cyclones are classified as: (i) extra tropical cyclones; and (ii) tropical cyclones. 
  
  
• According to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), ‘Tropical Cyclone’ covers weather systems in which winds exceed ‘Gale Force’ (minimum of 34 knots or 63 kph). 
  
  
• Extra tropical cyclones (also called temperate cyclones) occur in temperate zones and high latitude regions, though they are known to originate in the Polar Regions.