Hurricane Formation Simulator (2D)

Ocean & Rotation

Sea-surface temperature 29.0°C

Coriolis strength (latitude) 1.00×

Time

Simulation speed 1.5×

Warm water evaporating — watching for organization.

Live Readout

Category

Tropical wave

Central pressure

1010 hPa

Eye status

Not formed

Organization

Temp vs threshold

—

Coriolis

Active

How it works

Tropical cyclogenesis needs two ingredients at once: ocean water warmer than roughly 26.5°C down to some depth, so evaporation keeps feeding moist, buoyant air upward, and enough Coriolis force to turn that rising air into organized rotation instead of a disorganized cluster of thunderstorms. Right at the equator the Coriolis parameter is essentially zero, which is why hurricanes almost never form there even over very warm water.

As convection organizes, air spirals inward along logarithmic-spiral rainbands, converges near the center, and rises fastest in a ring called the eyewall — the storm's most intense winds and heaviest rain. Air sinking in the exact center, isolated from that convection by the spinning eyewall, creates the calm, often clear eye.

Central pressure falls as organization increases (surface pressure and storm intensity are tightly linked), which is why forecasters read minimum central pressure as a proxy for category. This model drives a simplified, real-physics analogue of that relationship: temperature above threshold plus rotation drives organization, organization drives pressure drop, eyewall formation, and eye clarity.

Warm ocean (above threshold) Cool ocean (below threshold) Spiral rainbands / eyewall