What is the ‘Dirty side’ of a tropical system?
All sides of a tropical system are dangerous, but one side receives worse impacts compared to the other
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A tropical system impacting the Carolinas will bring dry and warm weather to the Midstate.
Miles make a huge difference when referring to tropical systems. The side of the system you’re on determines if you have devastating impacts or dry sunny weather.
The ‘Dirty side’ of a tropical system is the right side of the storm with respect to the direction the storm is moving. This doesn’t mean the left side doesn’t see impacts, but the farther to the left of the center of the system you are, the impacts can change drastically.
On the right side of a tropical cyclone, and to the north, storm surge, flooding rain, strong winds, and even tornadoes are expected. On the left side, anti-surge can happen where water is pushed away from shore. Heavy rain is still a threat, but if the storm is quickly moving, flooding becomes less of a concern.
Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight is impacting the Carolinas and will bring rain to parts of the Mid-Atlantic later this week as well. Areas north of the storm, and to the right of the center, are receiving enormous amounts of rain with surges at the coast.
For Middle Tennessee, this storm is no concern to us. We’re displaced from the center of the storm, on the left side, by several hundred miles. Why does this matter? We will receive dry weather because of this system.
In the Northern Hemisphere, low pressure (tropical and non-tropical systems) spins counterclockwise. A dry air mass is in place over the Midwest. Since this tropical system is to our East, our winds will be out of the north this week. This brings us dry and sunny weather.
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