Eye (cyclone)
Tropical cyclones
Formation and naming
Development - Structure
Naming - Seasonal lists - Full list
Effects
Effects
Watches and warnings
Storm surge - Notable storms
Retired names (Atlantic - Eastern Pacific -
Western Pacific)
Climatology and tracking
Basins - RSMCs - TCWCs - Scales
Observation - Forecasting
Rainfall forecasting
Rainfall climatology
Part of the Nature series: Weather
The eye is a region of mostly calm weather
found at the center of strong tropical cyc-
lones. The eye of a storm is a roughly circular
area and typically 30–65 km (20–40 miles) in
diameter. It is surrounded by the eyewall, a
ring of towering thunderstorms where the
most severe weather of a cyclone occurs. The
cyclone’s lowest barometric pressure occurs
in the eye, and can be as much as 15% lower
than the atmospheric pressure outside the
storm.[1]
In strong tropical cyclones, the eye is
characterized by light winds and clear skies,
surrounded on all sides by a towering, sym-
metric eyewall. In weaker tropical cyclones,
the eye is less well-defined, and can be
covered by the central dense overcast, which
is an area of high, thick clouds which show
up brightly on satellite imagery. Weaker or
disorganized storms may also feature an eye-
wall which does not completely encircle the
eye, or have an eye which features heavy
rain. In all storms, however, the eye is the
location of the storm’s minimum barometric
pressure: the area where the atmospheric
pressure at sea level is the lowest.[1][2]
Structure
A cross section diagram of a mature tropical
cyclone, with arrows indicating air flow in
and around the eye
A typical tropical cyclone will have an eye ap-
proximately 30–65 km (20–40 mi) across,
usually situated at the geometric center of
the storm. The eye may be clear or have
spotty low clouds (a clear eye), it may be
filled with low- and mid-level clouds (a filled
eye), or it may be obscured by the central
dense overcast. There is, however, very little
wind and rain, especially near the center.
This is in stark contrast to con