> "The coriolis force is what causes ocean currents, for instance, to flow clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counterclokwise down under. The coriolis force only works on very big things like oceans, though."
>
> Huh. This makes me wonder whether I'm picturing the direction of flow on hurricane vortices correctly. Is the direction of flow on a hurricane INWARDS, towards the middle of the funnel (i.e., around a low pressure center I believe), or OUTWARDS, towards the edges of the hurricane?

Inward. Hurricanes (cyclones) are an area of low pressure with the air flow spiralling inward in a clockwise direction. In the northern hemisphere, they spiral anticlockwise. I'd go into more detail, but we're moving house this weekend and the meteorology textbook from our coastal navigation course is at the bottom of some box someplace.

Brunnen-"just for the record, I now know I have enough books to fill 13 large banana boxes"G