
This pinwheel of anticyclonic clouds was photographed by the STS
41-B crew over the southern hemisphere of the Pacific Ocean. The
ground winds at the center of this cyclonic system reach 80 kilometers
per second (50 miles an hour). Circular storms in the northern
hemisphere produce spiraling clouds with a clockwise pattern,
while southern latitude storms have a counterclockwise cloud motion.
(Courtesy LPI/NASA)