The Eye of a Cyclone

weather · storms · cyclones

A circular calm zone. The eye of a cyclone is a roughly circular area at the storm's center, typically 30 to 65 kilometers across. It's a pocket of relatively peaceful weather right in the middle of the most violent storm on Earth.

Surrounded by fury. Around the eye sits the eyewall, a ring of massive thunderstorms that pack the strongest winds and heaviest rain of the entire cyclone. This is where all the chaos happens, just outside the calm center.

Pressure drops dramatically. The air pressure inside the eye is as much as 15 percent lower than the pressure outside the storm. This extreme pressure difference is what keeps the whole cyclone spinning and powerful.

Deceptively peaceful. People in the eye experience mostly calm weather with light winds, which can be misleading because the violent eyewall is right around them and the other side of the storm is still approaching.