Tropical thunderstorms occur frequently in the tropical regions close to the equator. Places like Singapore are located in such a region and are often subjected to the onslaught of severe tropical thunderstorms. Furthermore, Singapore is outside the typhoon (severe tropical cyclone) belt, which means that the area is not affected by the devastating effect of the extremely strong typhoon wind. The monsoon winds, which blow over Singapore twice a year, are also relatively mild. The implication of all these is that tropical thunderstorm winds play an important role in defining the strong wind characteristics of these places.