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A cyclone is a small portion of the atmosphere in which the pressure is lowest in the centre. It is a small low pressure system with winds blowing anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Sothern Hemisphere. In other words, the wind blows inwards in the opposite direction to the hands of a clock. In cyclones, the air close to the ground is forced inward toward the center of the cyclone, where pressure is lowest, and the swirling air begins to rise upward, expanding and cooling in the process. As the process of cooling increases, the humidity of the rising air increases, resulting in cloudiness and high humidity in the cyclone, followed by heavy rain accompanied by lightning and thunder. Generally, the Cyclones are generally indicators of rain, clouds, and other forms of bad weather, and can be the most intense storms on Earth. Cyclones generally cover smaller areas and are usually violent with wind speeds as high as 120-280 km/hr. Cyclones are always on the move and follows in the directions of the regular wind system in the particular area.
There are two types of cyclones, known as the middle latitude cyclones and the tropical cyclones. As the name suggests, Mid-latitude cyclones form in the mid-latitudes in winter and move eastward, along with the westerly winds. Typically, most winter storms in the middle latitudes are caused by mid-latitude cyclones, including most of the United States and Europe, when the warm air at the cold front rises and creates a low pressure cell. Contrarily, the cyclones that form over warm tropical or sub tropical oceans are called Tropical Cyclones. Also known as tropical storms or tropical depressions, they are violent and can create havoc by causing severe damage to life and property. In West Indies such storms are called Hurricanes, while the whirling dust-laden storms of the Sahara, of similar type, are termed Simooms. Apart from that, in the China Seas they are called Typhoons, and known as Cyclones in the Indian Ocean. Similar storms of Northern Australia are locally called Willy Willies.
Another type of cyclone is the Tornado, which often blows in the Mississippi in the United States. A tornado is a violently rotating column of air developed within a convective cloud in contact with the ground, ranging in width from a few yards to more than a mile and whirling at destructively high speeds. It has the power to causes unbelievable destruction and loss of life, mainly through injuries from flying debris and collapsing structures.
Commonly known as a high, an anticyclone is an area of high pressure where air moves apart and sinks, and typically indicates fair weather. It can be also said that an anticyclone is a portion of the atmosphere in which the pressure is highest in the centre. It is a system of winds that rotates around a center of high atmosphere pressure, which goes on diminishing outward from the centre. These winds blow clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and anticlockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. They are roughly circular or oval in shape.
In anticyclone as the air at the centre is forced out from the high pressure and is replaced in the centre by a downward force of air from higher altitudes. Due to the downward movement, the air becomes compressed and humidity is reduced. As a result, the weather associated with anticyclone is usually fine and dry in summer. However, sometimes it may be very cold and foggy, in winter.
