Important Facts For Prelims
Typhoon Phanfone
- 26 Dec 2019
- 1 min read
Why in News
The Philippines was hit by typhoon Phanfone on 25th December 2019.
- Typhoon Phanfone is known as Ursula in the local language in the Philippines.
- It is the second typhoon after typhoon Kammuri which hit the Philippines recently.
- Phanfone is following a similar path as Super Typhoon Haiyan, which had hit the country in 2013.
- Typhoon is a region-specific name of the Tropical Cyclone (swirling system of clouds and thunderstorms that originates over tropical or subtropical oceans).
- The Philippines is the first major landmass facing the Pacific cyclone belt. It is hit by about 20 storms and typhoons each year.
Tropical Cyclone
- Cyclone is the formation of a very low-pressure system with very high-speed winds revolving around it. Factors like wind speed, wind direction, temperature and humidity contribute to the development of cyclones.
- Cyclones are called 'Hurricanes' in the North Atlantic and Eastern Pacific, 'Typhoons' in South-East Asia and China and ‘Tropical Cyclones’ in the South-West Pacific and Indian Ocean Region.
