Weather and Meteorology - Glossary
Included in this glossary you'll find terms related to our public forecasting program, weather observations and unique terminology that is of Environment Canada's hurricane centre and ice service products.
- Tropical Cyclone
The generic term for the class of tropical low pressure systems, including tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes.
These non-frontal cyclones originate over tropical or sub-tropical waters, and are identified by their organized showers and thundershowers, mixed with a cyclonic surface wind circulation. They are unlike extratropical cyclones in that they are generally symmetric in their temperature, rain and wind patterns.
The rainfall in tropical cyclones is not dependent on the intensity of the storm. The driving mechanism for a tropical cyclone is the release of latent heat.
Tropical cyclone systems typically last a week or more.
- Date modified: