What Are the Three Stages of a Tropical Cyclone?

There are four stages of tropical cyclones, which are tropical disturbance, tropical depression, tropical storm and hurricane or typhoon. In terms of the life cycle of a tropical cyclone, which on average lasts for nine days, it passes through four phases as well.

The first phase is the formation of the tropical cyclone, and numerous factors can lead to this, such as low pressure coinciding with convective clouds. Then, surface winds increase in strength, reaching gale force, and the tropical cyclone enters the prematurity stage. Only half of cyclones reach the next stage, which is full maturity where the cyclone develops a distinct eye. Lastly, tropical cyclones eventually decay, mostly due to the loss of an energy source, which is usually the ocean’s warm surface.