UKC

After reading about the cyclone that hit Sardinia:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24996292

I was struck by this bit of info:

"Cyclone winds spin anti-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere"

Does this also apply to Typhoons and Hurricanes? if so, what happens when (if) one crosses the equator?

In reply to balmybaldwin:

They don't cross the equator.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Hurricanes/Images/hurricane_forma...

The spin of the earth deflects them from the equator. North in the northern hemisphere, south in the southern.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Hurricanes and typhoons act like cyclones because they are essentially evolutions of the same thing. They spin due to the Coriolis effect, the deflection of wind caused by the spinning of the earth on its axis. I'm not sure but I assume that if they cross the equator their momentum would keep them spinning in the same direction until the Coriolis effect could act to slow and eventually stop their action.

Incidentally I seem to remember that the only difference between them is that hurricanes form over the Atlantic and typhoons over the Pacific or Indian Oceans.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Right, that sort of makes sense.

So this Coriolis effect does it happen more the close you are to one of the poles? if so, I'm surprised that hurricanes are as strong as they are close to the equator (Cuba, Haiti etc) and that they don't strengthen significantly as they move further from the equator

Secondly, is an Anti-cyclone just a cyclone in the southern hemisphere, or is this something else entirely e.g. a high pressure region?

(Sorry, I know I should google these things really)

In reply to balmybaldwin: An anticyclone is high pressure.

In reply to balmybaldwin:
Hurricanes also require a sea surface temperature of approx 26 degrees C (or above) to form, and to strengthen. Once they move over land or colder water they start to diminish in strength.