The Eye of a Tropical Cyclone

The eye is a region of mostly calm weather at the center of tropical cyclones.  The eye of a storm is a roughly circular area, typically 30–65 kilometers (19–40 miles) in diameter. It is surrounded by the eyewall, a ring of towering thunderstorms where the most severe weather and highest winds occur.  The cyclone's lowest barometric pressure occurs in the eye and can be as much as 15 percent lower than the pressure outside the storm.

In strong tropical cyclones, the eye is characterized by light winds and clear skies, surrounded on all sides by a towering, symmetric eyewall.  In weaker tropical cyclones, the eye is less well defined and can be covered by the central dense overcast, an area of high, thick clouds that show up brightly on satellite imagery.  Weaker or disorganized storms may also feature an eyewall that does not completely encircle the eye or have an eye that features heavy rain.  In all storms, however, the eye is the location of the storm's minimum barometric pressure—where the atmospheric pressure at sea level is the lowest.

Structure

A typical tropical cyclone will have an eye of approximately 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 conditions in the eyewall, which contains the storm's strongest winds.  Due to the mechanics of a tropical cyclone, the eye and the air directly above it are warmer than their surroundings.

While normally quite symmetric, eyes can be oblong and irregular, especially in weakening storms.  A large ragged eye is a non-circular eye which appears fragmented, and is an indicator of a weak or weakening tropical cyclone. An open eye is an eye which can be circular, but the eyewall does not completely encircle the eye, also indicating a weakening, moisture-deprived cyclone or a weak but strengthening one. Both of these observations are used to estimate the intensity of tropical cyclones via Dvorak analysis.  Eyewalls are typically circular; however, distinctly polygonal shapes ranging from triangles to hexagons occasionally occur.

While typical mature storms have eyes that are a few dozen miles across, rapidly intensifying storms can develop an extremely small, clear, and circular eye, sometimes referred to as a pinhole eye.  Storms with pinhole eyes are prone to large fluctuations in intensity, and provide difficulties and frustrations for forecasters.

Small/minuscule eyes—those less than 10 nmi (19 km, 12 mi) across—often trigger eyewall replacement cycles, where a new eyewall begins to form outside the original eyewall. This can take place anywhere from fifteen to hundreds of kilometers (ten to a few hundred miles) outside the inner eye.  The storm then develops two concentric eyewalls, or an "eye within an eye". In most cases, the outer eyewall begins to contract soon after its formation, which chokes off the inner eye and leaves a much larger but more stable eye. While the replacement cycle tends to weaken storms as it occurs, the new eyewall can contract fairly quickly after the old eyewall dissipates, allowing the storm to re-strengthen. This may trigger another re-strengthen cycle of eyewall replacement.

Eyes can range in size from 370 km (230 mi) (Typhoon Carmen) to a mere 3.7 km (2.3 mi) (Hurricane Wilma) across.  While it is uncommon for storms with large eyes to become very intense, it does occur, especially in annular hurricanes.  Hurricane Isabel was the eleventh most powerful North Atlantic hurricane in recorded history, and sustained a large, 65–80 km (40–50 mi)-wide eye for a period of several days.

Hazards

Though the eye is by far the calmest part of the storm, with no wind at the center and typically clear skies, on the ocean it is possibly the most hazardous area. In the eyewall, wind-driven waves all travel in the same direction. In the center of the eye, however, the waves converge from all directions, creating erratic crests that can build on each other to become rogue waves.  The maximum height of hurricane waves is unknown, but measurements during Hurricane Ivan when it was a Category 4 hurricane estimated that waves near the eyewall exceeded 40 m (130 ft) from peak to trough.

A common mistake, especially in areas where hurricanes are uncommon, is for residents to exit their homes to inspect the damage while the calm eye passes over, only to be caught off guard by the violent winds in the opposite eyewall.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_(cyclone)