Category 8 · Geography
Storms, Cyclones, Jet Streams and Air Masses
10 micro topics in Geography for UPSC Prelims, in book order: Thunderstorms, Lightning and Hailstorms; Tornadoes; and 8 more.
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8.1
Thunderstorms, Lightning and Hailstorms
A thunderstorm is a violent local storm produced by a cumulonimbus cloud, with lightning, thunder, heavy rain, gusty winds and sometimes hail. It needs moist unstable air, a lifting trigger and strong updrafts. Lightning is the…
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8.2
Tornadoes
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that extends from a cumulonimbus cloud to the ground, visible as a funnel when condensation and debris fill it. It is the most intense small-scale storm on…
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8.3
Tropical Cyclones – Formation and Conditions
A tropical cyclone is an intense, rotating low pressure storm that forms over warm tropical oceans, with a calm eye, a wall of towering clouds around it and spiral rainbands. It draws energy from latent heat…
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8.4
Path, Intensity Scale and Breeding Grounds of Tropical Cyclones
Tropical cyclones form in seven basins, with the northwestern Pacific the most active. They start in the tropics and move westward with the trade winds before recurving poleward and eastward. Their strength is graded by the…
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8.5
Naming, Warning and Effects of Tropical Cyclones
Tropical cyclones in the north Indian Ocean are named by the India Meteorological Department from a list agreed by 13 countries of the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones. The department, a Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre, issues…
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8.6
Jet Streams
Jet streams are narrow, fast-moving bands of westerly or easterly wind near the top of the troposphere, usually at 9 to 14 km above the surface, with speeds that exceed about 110 km per hour and…
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8.7
Air Masses and Fronts
An air mass is a very large body of air, hundreds to thousands of kilometres across, with nearly uniform temperature and humidity, which acquires these properties in a source region. When two air masses of different…
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8.8
Temperate Cyclones
A temperate cyclone, also called an extratropical or mid-latitude cyclone or wave cyclone, is a low pressure system that forms along the polar front between about 35 and 65 degrees latitude. It has a warm sector…
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8.9
Tropical Cyclones versus Temperate Cyclones
Tropical and temperate cyclones are both low pressure systems with winds spiralling inward, but they differ in origin, energy source, structure, size, movement and season. A tropical cyclone forms over warm tropical seas, has an eye…
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8.10
Polar Vortex
The polar vortex is a large area of low pressure and very cold air that spins anticlockwise around each pole in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern. It is strongest in the winter stratosphere.…
Frequently asked questions
Which topics are in Storms, Cyclones, Jet Streams and Air Masses?
Storms, Cyclones, Jet Streams and Air Masses has 10 micro topics in Geography: Thunderstorms, Lightning and Hailstorms; Tornadoes; Tropical Cyclones – Formation and Conditions; Path, Intensity Scale and Breeding Grounds of Tropical Cyclones; Naming, Warning and Effects of Tropical Cyclones; Jet Streams; Air Masses and Fronts; Temperate Cyclones; Tropical Cyclones versus Temperate Cyclones; Polar Vortex.
Is Storms, Cyclones, Jet Streams and Air Masses important for UPSC Prelims?
Storms, Cyclones, Jet Streams and Air Masses is a part of the UPSC Prelims Geography syllabus map on MaargX UPSC. Each of its 10 published topics has key terms, a Mains angle and practice questions.