Coriolis force?

Question

I was wondering if someone could find a basic explanation and what it has to do with tropical cyclones/typhoons/hurricanes.

Answer 1

I can try to be simple.  The coriolis force only exists because we are spinning.  You don't realize it because you're standing on the thing that's spinning.  However, that spin will cause things to veer to the right in the Northern Hemisphere.

That natural spin is a big ingredient in causing hurricanes to rotate.

Answer 2

Coriolis force is an apparent force brought about by the rotation of the earth.It varies with wind speed and with latitudes.It is maximum at the poles and zero at the equator.It only introduces the whirling motion(anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern hemisphere) to revolving storms like hurricanes,typhoons and cyclones.

As this force is very weak near the equatorial region,hurricanes,cyclones and typhoons do not generally form within 5 to 6 degrees latitudes(N and S) on both sides of the equator.

Answer 3

Assume u r standing at Equator and on the Greenwich meridian.

Assume wind is blowing from North pole directly towards u.

So the direction in which the wind is blowing is South. Let us say that the wind is expected to reach u in one hour.

But in one hour u would have moved east by 15 degrees becos ot the rotation of earth.

Thus the wind never reaches u but lands up on the longitude of 15 degrees west even though it travelled in a straight line.

so for u the wind appears to have deflected to your west.

this apparent deflection of the wind to the observers west when facing the origin of the wind is called coriollis force.

in southern hemisphere it gets deflected to east.

Answer 4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_ef...

This is how I undertand it:

A tropical storm forms where more solar radiation is received, near the ecuator.

The area (flat dish) of storm is parallel to earth axis.

as it displaces away from ecuator, by earth turn, that body is at an angle with axis, since it has several hundred miles in diameter, the atmosfere in the storm/cyclone receives different "pull" by gravity, more near the part away from ecuator, and less near same, that makes storm move in circle, ccw in northern hemisphere, and cw in southern.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriolis_ef...