Storm track

To put it simply, the relatively narrow zones in the Atlantic and Pacific along which most Atlantic or Pacific cyclones travel. The storm tracks begin in the westernmost parts of Atlantic and Pacific, where the large temperature contrasts cause cyclones to form. Surface friction cause these cyclones to decay as soon as they reach land, accounting for the easternmost edges of the strom tracks.

Another example of a storm track is the circumpolar storm track in the Antarctic, however land-sea contrasts play no role in its formation.

Given a grid point field of geopotential height, storm tracks can be visualized by contouring its average standard deviation, after the data has been band-pass filtered.