Which cyclonic system has characteristics of tropical and extra-tropical systems and typically moves East to West?

Master the Navigation, Seamanship, and Shiphandling (NSS) – Officer of the Deck (OOD) Phase 2 Exam with engaging flashcards and multiple choice questions, complete with hints and explanations. Prepare comprehensively for your test!

Subtropical cyclones are hybrids that show both tropical and extratropical features. They form in the subtropics and can have a partly warm core with convection that isn’t perfectly centralized, while also displaying some baroclinic, frontal characteristics in their outer bands. This mix of traits is what sets them apart from purely tropical systems (warm-core and symmetric convection) and purely extratropical systems (mid-latitude, frontal structure and cold core). They also tend to have a broad wind field and are steered by the subtropical ridge, so they generally move westward—east-to-west under those steering winds—before possible changes in structure or direction as they evolve. Anticyclones are high-pressure systems and are not cyclones, so they don’t fit the question’s criteria.