Hurricane Motion

Determining the direction or track of a tropical cyclone is difficult and depends on understanding how the tropical cyclone will interact with the other atmospheric features around it. Generally, hurricanes will move in the direction of the mean atmospheric flow around them, while also drifting towards the poles and away from the equator. Near the equator are mostly trade winds moving from east to west, which steer tropical cyclones towards the west. However, the winds in the mid-latitudes are generally from west to east, and will steer tropical cyclones towards the east.

Generally, air rotates clockwise around high pressure systems and counter-clockwise around low pressure systems in the Northern Hemisphere (this is the opposite for the Southern Hemisphere). Typically when a tropical cyclone interacts with a high or low pressure system, it will move in the direction of the flow caused by the pressure system. For example, if a tropical cyclone is on the southern side of a high pressure system in the Northern Hemisphere, it will be steered towards the west with the clockwise flow created by the high pressure system. This influence on the direction and speed of movement of the hurricane depends on the intensity of the pressure system.