Cape Verde Islands - A string of islands west of Africa in which meteorologists often look for tropical cyclone formation.

Doldrums - A.K.A. the equatorial trough. A region near the equator characterized by relatively light and variable winds.

Extratropical Storm - Any cyclonic storm that is not a tropical cyclone, usually referring only to the migratory frontal cyclones of middle and high latitudes. Tropical cyclones may undergo extratropical transition as they move poleward.

Eye -- The center of a severe tropical cyclone, typically an area of relatively light winds and fair weather.

Gulf of Tehuantepec -- The East Pacific version of the Cape Verde Islands region. An area off mainland Mexico and Central America in which meteorologists often look for the genesis of tropical cyclone formation.

Gulf Stream - A narrow, warm ocean current flowing northward just off the southeast coast of the United States. The Gulf Stream is an extensive source of latent heat fueling tropical cyclone intensification.

Hurricane - A tropical cyclone in the Atlantic, Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, or the Eastern North Pacific with sustained wind speeds of at least 74mph (64kt). In the Western Pacific, the same storm would be called a typhoon.

Hurricane watch -- Issued when a hurricane is within 36 hours of making landfall.

Hurricane warning -- Issued when a hurricane is within 24 hours of making landfall. The warning remains in effect as long as dangerously high surf or storm surge remains a concern, even though the winds may have subsided.

Intertropical Convergence Zone - A seasonally shifting zone of narrow, low latitude convection and thunderstorms due to the meeting of the trade winds of the north and south hemispheres. This zone generally runs parallel to the equator.

Latent heat -Heat that is realesed as water changes from vapor to liquid, providing fuel for a tropical cyclone.

Swell window - The available sea region for which each surf break may receive unimpeded swell.

Storm Surge - An unusual rise in sea level as a result of the low pressure and strong winds that accompany a tropical cyclone. Oncoming seawater precedes landfall of the storm and causes most of the damage.

Subtropical Jet Stream - A zone of unusually strong upper level winds located between the midlatitude tropopause and the tropical tropopause.

Swell Shadow - An obstruction, generally an island or a bend in the coastline, that prevents the full energy of a swell from making landfall.

Tropical depression - A tropical cyclone that contains a sustained (for one minute) surface wind of 38mph or 33kt. This is the first classification above a tropical wave.

Tropical storm - A tropical cyclone that contains a sustained surface wind of 39-74 mph or 34-63kt.

Tropical storm warning -- Issued when a tropical storm is expected to reach a specific area within 24 hours.

Tropical storm watch -- Issued when a tropical storm poses a possible threat to an area within 36 hours.

Trough - (AKA trof) Is described as an elongated area of relatively low atmospheric pressure at a certain level in the atmosphere. The wind field around a trof is cyclonic, or counter-clockwise. A trof is the opposite of a ridge.

Wind shear - Enemy number one against tropical storm development. Shear represents any local variation of any components of the wind vector and can be described by speed shear, directional shear - or both. It prevents a tropical cyclone from becoming vertically stacked, and thus prohibits intensification.