Thousands of miles away, warm, moist air forms over the ocean and rises, leaving a lack of pressure below it, which is replaced by cooler air that quickly warms and also rises. Now it’s a party. Cue the clouds and rain and let the drinks flow. As the area becomes less stable, more air rushes in forming wind. Then the whole room starts to spin. The circulation creates an eye. The gusts play like beats on the dance floor, causing ripples to dance across the ocean.
Subscribe to keep reading
This story is from our archive. Get your SandPaper Annual Pass for access to our digital archive, plus everything else a pass includes. Details below.
Annual Pass — $18 Details
365-day access to:
- The complete SandPaper digital archive (stories date back to 2012).
- Full photo galleries from our photographers.
- The entire catalog of SandPaper games, puzzles and quizzes.
How it works
- Enter your email below and click to pay the one-time $18. Card details are entered on Stripe’s secure page.
- You’re in straight away — no password to create, and nothing to set up or manage.
- You stay signed in. If you’re ever signed out, or you read on a new phone or computer, we’ll email you a code to get you back in.
- Never auto-renews. Your pass is good for one year. We will email you when it expires so you can renew if you’d like.
See our site policies for more information.
Already a subscriber? We’ll email a code to get you back in.
















