Cyclone Alfred

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is intensifying as it approaches southern Queensland and northern New South Wales.

• It may reach Category 3 before landfall, bringing destructive winds, storm surges, and flooding.
• About Cyclone: It is a large-scale air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure.

o Cyclones form over warm ocean waters and are fuelled by moist air rising.

o Conditions for cyclone formation:

ü Latitude: 5 degrees of latitude away from the Equator and very few occur near the Equator. 

ü Temperature of the Sea Surface: 27 °C or warmer.

ü Pre-existing weak low-pressure area

ü Upper divergence above the sea level system

ü Presence of Coriolis Force:

ü Small Variation in the Vertical Wind Speed Etc.

• The Eye: A central region of clear skies, warm temperatures, and low atmospheric pressure.

Eyewall: Here winds are strongest, rainfall is heaviest, and deep convective clouds rise from close to Earth’s surface to a height 15,000 metres