Eye of the cyclone
Also called: Eye · Topic: Air Masses, Fronts, Cyclones and Thunderstorms · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 3 "Climates of India"; Class 11, Ch 9 "Atmospheric Circulation and Weather Systems"
Meaning
The eye is the calm centre of a mature tropical cyclone. Air sinks here, so the sky is often clear and the winds are light. It has the lowest air pressure in the whole storm. The eye is usually 20–50 km across. NCERT's figure of 150–250 km is the size of the whole spinning system, not the eye. When the eye passes over a place, people may think the storm is over. Then the winds hit again from the opposite direction.
Example
When the eye of Cyclone Fani crossed the Odisha coast near Puri on 3 May 2019, there was a short calm. Violent winds followed from the other side of the storm.
Don't confuse with
- Eye wall: the ring of tall thunderclouds around the eye. The strongest winds and heaviest rain are in the eye wall, not in the eye.