system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
If Earth had a huge equatorial ocean like it did in the past, would it be possible we'd observe persistent hurricanes lasting months or even years, like a mini-version of Jupiter's great red spot?

What about rocky planets larger than Earth or planets completely covered in ocean? Might permanent or semi-permanent weather-features exist there, or are such storms a rarity even among gas giants?
gpt
Not quite.

Global winds and ocean currents on planets are based off numerous factors.

- The tilt of the planet (not just seasons, but if influences the amount of sunlight at the equator and the poles)

- Positioning of continents (alters ocean currents)

- Positioning of continents (warm and cold air)

- Speed of the planet rotation (Coriolis effect)

- Size of Planet

- What 'substances' are being involved (we still don't know for sure what is in the Great Red Spot).

If earth contained only land at the poles, and was just ocean from 60S to 60N, you would see some systematic weather. Earth (with continents) has ocean currents surround our continents and impact our climates.

An example: Western Europe should be Taiga (as Taiga forests usually occur around 60N and 60S). However, the Gulf Stream which hits the Eastern United States Seaboard provides warm currents to Europe; Europe, as we know, contains deciduous forest.

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Now about Jupiter and other planets:

It is not uncommon for gas giants to have bizarre weather. There is little 'atmosphere', let alone friction from the surface of the planet. We still don't know what makes the Great Red Spot 'exist'. A theory is that hot gases rise to higher levels, eddies form, and ultimately fuel the Great Red Spot.


Anticyclonic storms, or storms which 'spin' in the wrong direction (like Great Red Spot), are not impacted by the Coriolis effect because they are so 'small' compared to the planet's size. We know this because tornados on Earth can sometimes spin backwards.