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Subject: D6) Why are the strongest winds in a
hurricane typically on the right side of the storm?
Contributed by Chris Landsea
First, the "right side of the storm" is defined with respect
to the storm's motion: if the hurricane is moving to the west,
the right side would be to the north of the storm; if the
hurricane is moving to the north, the right side would be to the
east of the storm, etc.
In general, the strongest winds in a hurricane are found on
the right side of the storm because the motion of the hurricane
also contributes to its swirling winds. A hurricane with a 90
mph [145 km/hr] winds while stationary would have winds up to
100 mph [160 km/hr] on the right side and only 80 mph [130
km/hr] on the left side if it began moving (any direction) at 10
mph [16 km/hr].
Note that forecasting center advisories already take this asymmetry into
account and, in this case, would state that the highest winds were 100 mph
[160 km/hr].
For tropical cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere, these
differences are reversed: the strongest winds are on the left
side of the storm. This is because the winds swirl
clockwise south of the equator in tropical cyclones.
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