While the North Atlantic is synonymous with high-stakes hurricane seasons, its southern counterpart remains an anomaly of relative calm. For over a century, the South Atlantic was widely considered a forbidden zone for tropical cyclones.
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Cooler Sea Surface Temperature and High Vertical Wind Shear
The Peru Current, active in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, brings cold water unusually far northward along the west coast, too cold for tropical storms and hurricanes to form.
Strong wind shear, which is a rapid change in wind speed and direction over a short distance, as well as a lack of weather disturbances disrupts the formation of cyclones.
Absence of the ITCZ
The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), a primary breeding ground for tropical disturbances, typically remains at or just north of the equator in the Atlantic. Because it rarely shifts far enough south, the regions lacks the Coriolis effect, a crucial factor for the formation of storms.
Some Exceptions
On average, South Atlantic records around 1 tropical cyclones yearly. Similar to most southern hemisphere cyclone seasons, most of the storms have formed between November and May.
References
- Why doesn’t the South Atlantic get many tropical storms?
- Hurricanes stop here. Where on Earth you won’t see tropical systems
- All About Hurricanes