Portal:Tropical cyclones

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Atropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center, a closed low-level circulation and a spiral arrangement of numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rainfall. Tropical cyclones feed on the heat released when moist air rises, resulting in condensationofwater vapor contained in the moist air. They are fueled by a different heat mechanism than other cyclonic windstorms such as Nor'easters, European windstorms and polar lows, leading to their classification as "warm core" storm systems. Most tropical cyclones originate in the doldrums, approximately ten degrees from the Equator.

The term "tropical" refers to both the geographic origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively in tropical regions of the globe, as well as to their formation in maritime tropical air masses. The term "cyclone" refers to such storms' cyclonic nature, with anticlockwise rotation in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise rotation in the Southern Hemisphere. Depending on its location and intensity, a tropical cyclone may be referred to by names such as "hurricane", "typhoon", "tropical storm", "cyclonic storm", "tropical depression" or simply "cyclone".

Types of cyclone: 1. A "Typhoon" is a tropical cyclone located in the North-west Pacific Ocean which has the most cyclonic activity and storms occur year-round. 2. A "Hurricane" is also a tropical cyclone located at the North Atlantic Ocean or North-east Pacific Ocean which have an average storm activity and storms typically form between May 15 and November 30. 3. A "Cyclone" is a tropical cyclone that occurs in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans.

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Typhoon Rose on August 16 over the South China Sea, southwest of Hong Kong

Typhoon Rose, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Uring, was the most violent and intense tropical cyclone to strike Hong Kong since Typhoon Wandain1962. The 21st named storm of the 1971 Pacific typhoon season, Rose developed from an area of disturbed weather while west of Guam on August 9. Moving west-northwestward, the storm briefly became a typhoon on the following day. After weakening to a tropical storm on August 11, Rose re-intensified into a typhoon several hours later. The system then curved westward and reached a primary peak intensity with winds of 205 km/h (127 mph) on August 13. Later that day, the typhoon made landfall near Palanan, Isabela in the Philippines. Rose weakened significantly while crossing the island of Luzon and was a minimal typhoon upon reaching the South China Sea on August 14.

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Project Stormfury was an attempt to weaken tropical cyclones by flying aircraft into them and seeding with silver iodide. The project was run by the United States Government from 1962 to 1983. The hypothesis was that the silver iodide would cause supercooled water in the storm to freeze, disrupting the inner structure of the hurricane, and this led to seeding several Atlantic hurricanes. However, it was later shown that this hypothesis was incorrect. It was determined that most hurricanes do not contain enough supercooled water for cloud seeding to be effective. Additionally, researchers found that unseeded hurricanes often undergo the same structural changes that were expected from seeded hurricanes. This finding called Stormfury's successes into question, as the changes reported now had a natural explanation.

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Tropical Storm Zeta on January 4, 2006. At that time, Zeta still had sustained winds of around 100 kilometers per hour (63 miles per hour), a steady strength the storm had maintained for several days, with a very slight increase in power. After the previous record-holding storm season of 1933, which saw 21 named storms, weather forecasters established a convention of using just 21 letters of the alphabet (the last letter being W) to begin the names of Atlantic tropical storms. After Hurricane Wilma in October 2005, forecasters turned to the Greek alphabet. Zeta is the sixth letter of that alphabet, and this is the 27th named storm of 2005. One month after 2005’s record-breaking storm season officially ended, this storm appeared roughly 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the southwest of the Azores Islands.

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The 2016 Pacific hurricane season was tied as the fifth-most active Pacific hurricane season on record, alongside the 2014 season. Throughout the course of the year, a total of 22 named storms, 13 hurricanes and six major hurricanes were observed within the basin. Although the season was very active, it was considerably less active than the previous season, with large gaps of inactivity at the beginning and towards the end of the season. It officially started on May 15 in the Eastern Pacific (north of the Equator and east 140°W), and on June 1 in the Central Pacific (from 140°W to the International Date Line); they both ended on November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in these regions of the Pacific Ocean. However, tropical development is possible at any time of the year, as demonstrated by the formation of Hurricane Pali on January 7, the earliest Central Pacific tropical cyclone on record. After Pali, however, no tropical cyclones developed in either region until a short-lived depression on June 6. Also, there were no additional named storms until July 2, when Tropical Storm Agatha formed, becoming (at the time) the latest first-named Eastern Pacific tropical storm since Tropical Storm Ava in 1969, later was surpassed by Tropical Storm Aletta eight years later.

Hurricane Darby brushed the Hawaiian islands as a tropical storm causing only minor damage; while hurricanes Lester and Madeline also threatened to make landfall in Hawaii but weakened significantly before approaching the islands. Tropical Storm Javier and Hurricane Newton both made landfall in Mexico, with the latter being responsible for at least nine fatalities as it came ashore near Baja California Sur. Hurricane Ulika was a rare and erratic storm which zig-zagged across 140°W a total of three times. Hurricane Seymour became the strongest storm of the season, forming in late October. Finally, in late November, Hurricane Otto from the Atlantic made an unusual crossing over Central America, emerging into the East Pacific as a moderate tropical storm but dissipated shortly after. Damage across the basin reached $95 million (2016 USD), while 11 people were killed by Celia and Newton overall.

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Italicized basins are unofficial.

North Atlantic (2024)

No active systems

East and Central Pacific (2024)

No active systems

West Pacific (2024)

No active systems

North Indian Ocean (2024)

No active systems

Mediterranean (2024–25)

No active systems

South-West Indian Ocean (2024–25)

No active systems

Australian region (2024–25)

No active systems

South Pacific (2024–25)

No active systems

South Atlantic (2024–25)

No active systems

Last updated: 18:07, 9 July 2024 (UTC)

Tropical cyclone anniversaries

July 13,

• 1965 - Typhoon Freda made landfall on northern Luzon in the Philippines. Freda caused heavy flooding in the Philippines and southern China.
• 2006 - Hurricane Bud briefly reaches Category 3 major hurricane intensity.
• 2010 - Typhoon Conson (pictured) makes landfall and impacts Luzon, killing a total of 102 people and leaving about PhP380 million (US$8.3 million) worth of damages.

July 14,

• 1972 - Typhoon Tess attains its peak as a Category 4 typhoon with winds of 230 km/h (145 mph).
• 2006 - Tropical Storm Bilis (pictured) hit Fujian, China as a tropical storm. Bilis killed over 600 people and caused $4.4 billion of damage in southeastern part of China.

July 15,

• 1972 - Tropical Storm Phyllis, from a very strong typhoon, makes landfall over southern Japan as a weakening storm which caused three deaths, more than 100 landslides and flooded more than 6,000 homes.
• 2003 - Hurricane Claudette (pictured) made landfall near Port O'Connor, Texas as a minimal hurricane, causing nearly $200 million of damage.

Did you know…

• …that the Joint Typhoon Warning Center considers that Typhoon Vera (pictured)of1986 is actually two distinct systems, formed from two separated low-level circulations?
• …that Hurricane Agatha (pictured) was the strongest Pacific hurricane to make landfall in Mexico in May since records began in 1949?
• …that Cyclone Raquel (track pictured) travelled between the Australian and South Pacific basins between the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons, spanning both seasons in both basins?
• …that Cyclone Amphan (pictured) in 2020 was the first storm to be classified as a Super Cyclonic Storm in the Bay of Bengal since 1999?

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  Image 1Hurricane Catarina, a rare South Atlantic tropical cyclone viewed from the International Space Station on March 26, 2004 (from Cyclone)
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  Image 2

  South Pacific cyclone
  (from Cyclone)
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  Image 3

  Pacific typhoon
  (from Cyclone)
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  Image 4The dangerous semicircle is the upper-right corner, with the arrow marking the direction of motion of a Northern Hemisphere storm. Note that typhoons, etc. are asymmetrical, and semicircle is a convenient misnomer. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
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  Image 5The aftermath of Hurricane KatrinainGulfport, Mississippi. Katrina was the costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
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  Image 6An extratropical cyclone near Iceland (from Cyclone)
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  Image 7

  South-West Indian Ocean cyclone
  (from Cyclone)
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  Image 8Hurricane Isabel (2003)'s effect on the North Carolina Outer Banks (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
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  Image 9Cyclone on Mars, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (from Cyclone)
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  Image 10

  Atlantic hurricane
  (from Cyclone)
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  Image 11Flooding in Port Arthur, Texas caused by Hurricane Harvey. Harvey was the wettest and second-costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
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  Image 12Radar image of Hurricane Erika making landfall over Northeastern Mexico (from Tropical cyclone observation)
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  Image 13

  Pacific hurricane
  (from Cyclone)
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  Image 14Surface weather map of the 1935 Labor Day hurricane moving up the west coast of Florida (from Tropical cyclone observation)
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  Image 15A polar low over the Sea of Japan in December 2009 (from Cyclone)
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  Image 16Broken concrete utility pole in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017, which ranks fourth in costliest US tropical cyclones. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
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  Image 17The initial extratropical low-pressure area forms at the location of the red dot on the image. It is usually perpendicular (at a right angle to) the leaf-like cloud formation seen on satellite during the early stage of cyclogenesis. The location of the axis of the upper level jet stream is in light blue. (from Cyclone)
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  Image 18Chart with concurrent information for Hurricane Arlene and Tropical Storm Bret logged and plotted (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
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  Image 19

  North Indian Ocean cyclone
  (from Cyclone)
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  Image 20Percentages of hurricane deaths in the United States from 1970 to 1999. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
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  Image 21Comparison between extratropical and tropical cyclones on surface analysis (from Cyclone)
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  Image 22The number of $1 billion Atlantic hurricanes almost doubled from the 1980s to the 2010s, and inflation-adjusted costs have increased more than elevenfold. The increases have been attributed to climate change and to greater numbers of people moving to coastal areas. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
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  Image 23Personnel and equipment from the National Guard of the United States en route to Hurricane Florence response efforts in 2018
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  Image 24Hurricane response involves working in hazardous conditions, including contamination and electrocution hazards from floodwater.
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  Image 25Aerial image of destroyed houses in Tacloban, following Typhoon Haiyan (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
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  Image 262017 Atlantic hurricane season summary map (from Cyclone)
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  Image 27An example of a chart for Matthew showing its five-day forecast track (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
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  Image 28The aftermath of Hurricane KatrinainGulfport, Mississippi. (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
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  Image 29All but the most expensive bottles of water were sold out at this Publix supermarket before Hurricane Irma; in the week preceding the storm, water sold out soon after shipments arrived (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
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  Image 30Subtropical Storm Alex in the north Atlantic Ocean in January 2016 (from Cyclone)
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  Image 31Tropical cyclones form when the energy released by the condensation of moisture in rising air causes a positive feedback loop over warm ocean waters. (from Cyclone)
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  Image 32

  Australian region cyclone
  (from Cyclone)
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  Image 33A fictitious synoptic chart of an extratropical cyclone affecting the UK and Ireland. The blue arrows between isobars indicate the direction of the wind, while the "L" symbol denotes the centre of the "low". Note the occluded, cold and warm frontal boundaries. (from Cyclone)

The 1987 Atlantic hurricane season was an event in the annual Atlantic hurricane season in the north Atlantic Ocean. It was a below-average season, having fewer named storms than in a normal year, that resulted in little impact throughout the Atlantic basin; the United States recorded no hurricane-related fatalities, making the 1987 season the fourth to do so since 1976. The season officially began on June 1, 1987 and ended November 30, 1987. These dates, adopted by convention, historically describe the period in each year when most systems form. Even so, a pre-season storm, Tropical Depression One, led to the season's starting on May 25. Storm activity ended several weeks early; the final storm of the season, Tropical Depression Fourteen, dissipated on November 4.

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Related WikiProjects

WikiProject Weather is the main center point of coordination for Wikipedia's coverage of meteorology in general, and the parent project of WikiProject Tropical cyclones. Three other branches of WikiProject Weather in particular share significant overlaps with WikiProject Tropical cyclones:

• The Non-tropical storms task force coordinates most of Wikipedia's coverage on extratropical cyclones, which tropical cyclones often transition into near the end of their lifespan.
• The Floods task force takes on the scope of flooding events all over the world, with rainfall from tropical cyclones a significant factor in many of them.
• WikiProject Severe weather documents the effects of extreme weather such as tornadoes, which landfalling tropical cyclones can produce.

Things you can do

Here are some tasks awaiting attention: Article requests : WikiProject Tropical cyclones article requests Expand : Indianola Hurricane of 1886, Typhoon Nina (1975) Stubs : Expand Tropical cyclone stub articles Wikify : Make sure tropical cyclone lists, such as List of Texas hurricanes, have storm articles properly linked

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