Asymmetry of the Intertropical Convergence Zone Asymmetry of the Intertropical Convergence Zone There are a number of explanations of the asymmetry of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), known by sailors as The Doldrums. The ITCZ would be expected to overlie the geographic equator according to symmetric solar radiation. However, the ITCZ is mostly perennial in the northern hemisphere and in the eastern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. It was originally explained by the asymmetrical distribution of continents. However, the distribution of land and ocean is severely asymmetric in the Indian Ocean, yet the ITCZ moves back and forth there between the southern and northern hemispheres. Continents surround
Tropical Storm Cristobal (2002) system over the Mid-Atlantic States produced rip currents and 4 foot (1.2 m) waves along the south shore of Long Island, New York; three people drowned from the rip currents. Two ships recorded tropical storm force winds in association with the storm; the vessel with the sign WUQL reported sustained winds of 47 mph (76 km/h) from the west-southwest on August 7. Tropical Storm Cristobal (2002) Tropical Storm Cristobal was a relatively weak tropical cyclone that meandered in the western Atlantic Ocean prior to being absorbed into a frontal zone. The third named storm of the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season,