extratropical cyclone

[ek-struh-trop-i-kuhl sahy-klohn]

noun

Meteorology.

1. a cold-core storm system occurring over land or water and energized by the interaction of cold and warm air masses: the common frontal cyclones that produce much of the precipitation of the middle latitudes are examples of extratropical cyclones, as are blizzards and nor’easters.

extratropical cyclone

1. See under cyclone

Word History and Origins

Origin of extratropical cyclone¹

First recorded in 1920–25; extra- + tropical

Example Sentences

Melissa is not expected to make landfall in North America, but will still be a formidable extratropical cyclone when it nears St Johns, Newfoundland, in Canada on Friday night.

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The storm was expected to become a powerful extratropical cyclone by Thursday, according to the U.S.

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According to the Rio Grande do Sul government, heavy rains caused by the extratropical cyclone have affected 80 cities and left more than 2,300 people homeless and over 3,900 displaced.

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Rio Grande do Sul was hit by another extratropical cyclone in June, which killed 16 people and caused destruction in 40 cities, many of those around Porto Alegre.

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An extratropical cyclone has been battering southern Brazil, flooding homes, swelling rivers and claiming the lives of nearly two dozen people, state authorities said on Tuesday.

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