When upper cold lows break off from their base, they tend to retrograde and force the development of, or enhance, surface troughs and tropical waves to their east.
In the South Atlantic, the TUTT extends from near the equator at the 75th meridian west east-southeast to 30°N 15°W / 30°N 15°W / 30; -15, offshore the western coast of southern Africa.
[3] However, there are cases in which TUTTs assist the genesis and intensification of tropical cyclones by providing additional forced ascent near the storm center and an efficient outflow channel in the upper troposphere.
These upper tropospheric cyclonic vortices usually move slowly from east-northeast to west-southwest, and generally do not extend below 20,000 feet in altitude.
A weak inverted wave in the easterlies is generally found underneath them, and they may also be associated with broad areas of high-level clouds.