Hurricane sense of rotation

[Zef]

Just curious...Why the hurricane is turning anti-clockwise...? Is it the same everywhere on the planet...?

[oldE]

Thats the way they turn in the Northern Hemisphere. Reverse the rotation south of the equator.

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

Les

[URY914]

Just like a toilet flushing.

[Moses]

Originally Posted by URY914

Just like a toilet flushing.

Urban legend. Rotation in a sink or toilet is determined by the very first tiny elements of rotation that gain momentum. The shape of the bowl can induce rotational direction.

If you gently induce clockwise or counterclockwise rotation in a sink, that rotation will continue and gain strength.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Coriollis force.

[URY914]

Originally Posted by Moses

Urban legend. Rotation in a sink or toilet is determined by the very first tiny elements of rotation that gain momentum. The shape of the bowl can induce rotational direction.

If you gently induce clockwise or counterclockwise rotation in a sink, that rotation will continue and gain strength.

My comment was meant as a joke.

[Tobra]

I thought it was funny, made me think of the Simpson's episode when they were in Oz

[rouxroux]

HIGH pressure area = clockwise

LOW pressure area = counter-clockwise

[tcar]

Fluid dynamics due to the earth's rotation.

[widgeon13]

You mean the earth isn't flat!

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Coriollis force.

+1

In the northern hemisphere, stuff deflects to the right. So in a low pressure area, with everything rushing to the center (stuff goes from higher pressure to lower pressure), as stuff approaches the center (imagine a bunch of arrows pointing inwards towards a common center), it deflects to the right (now imagine a bunch of tiny arrows pointing towards the right off of those main arrows). The net effect is that a counterclockwise rotation is induced.

[sammyg2]

The middle of the earth (near the equator) spins at the same rotation speed as the rest of the planet (1 rotation per day) but because the diameter of the planet is significantly larger near the equator the actual speed traveled in miles per hour is much higher near the equator than at a spot closer to the poles.
That difference in speed is responsible for the rotation of a hurricane or cyclone. Above the equator, CCW. Below the equator, CW.

[Normy]

A low pressure system such as a hurricane is air from the lower levels of the atmosphere being blown toward the upper levels. As a result, the air pressure at the ground is typically low. As Porsche-O-Phile correctly stated, the "coriolis effect" causes winds around these storms in the northern hemisphere to rotate counter-clockwise, and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.

In Florida, if the storm hits the eastern shore of the state south of you, you have a hell of a lot more to worry about since the winds will be from the east, pushing the ocean up the shore and potentially flooding your house.

N!

[URY914]

And when a storm comes up the west coast of Florida, we all worry about the storm surge filling Tampa Bay.

[masraum]

All of that aside. This type of sat photo of hurricanes is beautiful, isn't it?