Cyclone: Quick Facts

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The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Oct. 28, 2026

News •

The path of Cyclone Arnab went through India's plans for data centers and future growth • Oct. 28, 2026, 11:25 PM ET (AP)

Cyclone damages homes and farmland in eastern India and kills at least 3 people • Oct. 28, 2026, 9:10 PM ET (AP)

Facts

Also Known As	depression • low • low pressure

Photos and Videos

Cyclone Catarina

Diagram of the United States showing wind rotation patterns in a cyclone and an anticyclone. On the left, arrows circle counterclockwise around a low-pressure center labeled Low to illustrate a cyclone. On the right, arrows circle clockwise around a high-pressure center labeled High to illustrate an anticyclone. The map visually contrasts the opposite wind directions in these two weather systems.

Giant vortices in Jupiter's southern hemisphere, imaged by the Galileo spacecraft on May 7, 1997. The oval on the left is a cyclonic storm system, rotating in a clockwise direction. The oval on the right is an anticyclone, with a counterclockwise rotation.

Map tracing the path of Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 from the Caribbean to its landfall near Atlantic City, New Jersey. The storm's track is marked with points indicating its status and wind speeds at various dates, with colored areas showing regions of heavy rainfall and snowfall in the northeastern United States. An inset map illustrates Sandy's route in relation to a blocking high-pressure system and cold air over North America.

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Topics

warm-core low tropical cyclone 10 Deadliest Cyclones in History polar vortex Bomb cyclone tropical depression Asiatic low Mediterranean low cold-core low Extratropical cyclone tornado thunderstorm whirlwind tropical storm Windstorm Ice storm Haboob Blizzard Squall Atmospheric river

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