Tropical Weather

• Tropics - region between 23.5° N and S of the equator
• amount of solar radiation does not vary much from season to season, but is relatively intense
• winds:
  • are generally NE, E, or SE (easterly trades)
  • tend to be quite weak as well..... why?
  • wind flow is best visualized with streamlines instead of sea-level pressure
• types of weather systems found in tropics:
  • thunderstorms
  • tropical squall lines/clusters
  • non-squall clusters
  • tropical depressions/storms, and hurricanes
• baroclinic processes do not occur in the tropics..... why??

QUESTION FOR THOUGHT:

What if the average number of hurricanes tripled.  How would the heat and moisture transport by hurricanes change the global circulation, if at all?