Typhoon2000 Information Articles

Tropical Cyclone motion results from a variety of causes:

  1. Environmental Steering - To a first approximation, Tropical Cyclones (TC's) go where the winds of the large-scale environment blow them (i.e., TC's are a "cork in the stream").

  2. Tropical Cyclone Propagation - The motion of TC's usually departs in a minor, but not insignificant way from the steering provided by the large scale environment.

  3. Tropical Cyclone Environment Interaction - In certain situations, the circulation of the TC interacts with the environment in such a way as to significantly alter the structure of the environment, thus modifying the environmental steering winds which are a primary source of TC motion.

  * - This article is taken from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center's (JTWC) 1996 Annual Tropical Cyclone Report
      (ATCR), pp. 7-8.

  Published: Sunday, 16 August 1998

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