Portal:Tropical cyclones

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The Tropical Cyclones Portal

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A tropical 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 condensation of water 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 Pongsona near peak intensity on December 8

Typhoon Pongsona was the last typhoon of the 2002 Pacific typhoon season, and was the second costliest United States disaster in 2002, only behind Hurricane Lili. The name "Pongsona" was contributed by North Korea for the Pacific tropical cyclone list and is the Korean name for the garden balsam. Pongsona developed out of an area of disturbed weather on December 2, and steadily intensified to reach typhoon status on December 5. On December 8 it passed through Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands while at peak intensity, with 10-minute sustained winds of 175 km/h (110 mph). It ultimately turned to the northeast, weakened, and became extratropical on December 11.

Typhoon Pongsona produced strong wind gusts peaking at 285 km/h (175 mph), which left the entire island of Guam without power and destroyed about 1,300 houses. With strong building standards and experience from repeated typhoon strikes, there were no fatalities directly related to Pongsona, although there was one indirect death from flying glass. Damage on the island totaled over $730 million (2002 USD, $1.24 billion 2024 USD), making Pongsona among the five costliest typhoons on the island. The typhoon also caused extreme damage on Rota and elsewhere in the Northern Mariana Islands, and as a result of its impact the name was retired. (Full article...)

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Tropical cyclone forecasting is the science of forecasting where a tropical cyclone's center, and its effects, are expected to be at some point in the future. There are several elements to tropical cyclone forecasting: track forecasting, intensity forecasting, rainfall forecasting, storm surge, tornado, and seasonal forecasting. While skill is increasing in regard to track forecasting, intensity forecasting skill remains unchanged over the past several years. Seasonal forecasting began in the 1980s in the Atlantic basin and has spread into other basins in the years since. (Full article...)

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Cyclone Zoe was near its record peak intensity on late December 27, 2002 when this image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite. Cyclone Zoe was one of the most intense tropical cyclones ever observed in the South West Pacific Ocean.

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The 2002 Pacific hurricane season was a near–average season which produced fifteen named storms. Eight hurricanes formed, including a record-equaling three Category 5 hurricanes, a record it shares with the 1994 and 2018 seasons. It was also a near-average season in terms of accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), having an ACE of 125. The season officially began on May 15, 2002 in the East Pacific Ocean, and on June 1, 2002 in the Central Pacific; both ended on November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclone formation occurs in these regions of the Pacific. The first system of the 2002 season, Hurricane Alma, formed on May 24, and the last, Tropical Depression Sixteen-E, dissipated on November 16.

The strongest hurricane of the season, Kenna, formed on October 22 and peaked as a Category 5 hurricane two days later. Land impact was relatively significant. Kenna made landfall near Puerto Vallarta, located in the Mexican state of Jalisco on October 25, killing four people. Kenna was, at the time, the second-most powerful hurricane to ever strike the western coast of Mexico, hitting with winds of 140 mph (220 km/h), as well as the strongest landfall in terms of windspeed until Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Elsewhere, Tropical Storm Julio made landfall in Mexico, and Tropical Storm Boris dumped torrential rain along the Mexican coast, despite remaining offshore. Hurricanes Elida and Hernan also reached Category 5 intensity, but neither caused any damage. Damage across the basin reached $101.23 million (2002 USD), while 7 people were killed by Julio and Kenna. (Full article...)

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Currently active tropical cyclones

Italicized basins are unofficial.

North Atlantic (2024): Hurricane Beryl

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: 20:17, 1 July 2024 (UTC)

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Tropical cyclone anniversaries

June 30, 2015 - Cyclone Raquel (pictured) enters the Australian basin and was recognized as the only known instance of a tropical cyclone during July in the region since the satellite era began and as a byproduct of becoming a tropical cyclone on the first day of the new cyclone year, it marked the earliest start to a season in the basin on record. The system subsequently became the first tropical cyclone in the South Pacific Ocean during the month of July since reliable records started as the storm exited the basin.

July 1,

1970 - Typhoon Olga reached its peak intensity with 260 km/h (160 mph) winds.
1985 - Hurricane Dolores (pictured) reached its maximum intensity as a Category 3 major hurricane.
2010 - Hurricane Alex makes landfall over Mexico, causing about $1.9 billion in damages.

July 2, 2002 - Typhoon Chataan (pictured) passed over Chuuk State, causing torrential rain that killed 37 people.

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Did you know…

…that the Joint Typhoon Warning Center considers that Typhoon Vera (pictured) of 1986 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?

Did you know archive

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The following are images from various tropical cyclone-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1
Pacific hurricane
(from Cyclone)
Image 2Comparison between extratropical and tropical cyclones on surface analysis (from Cyclone)
Image 3
Australian region cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 4
Atlantic hurricane
(from Cyclone)
Image 5Percentages of hurricane deaths in the United States from 1970 to 1999. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 6Chart with concurrent information for Hurricane Arlene and Tropical Storm Bret logged and plotted (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 7Cyclone on Mars, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (from Cyclone)
Image 8
North Indian Ocean cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 9Aerial image of destroyed houses in Tacloban, following Typhoon Haiyan (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 10A 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)
Image 11Tropical 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)
Image 12Surface weather map of the 1935 Labor Day hurricane moving up the west coast of Florida (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 13All 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)
Image 14Hurricane response involves working in hazardous conditions, including contamination and electrocution hazards from floodwater.
Image 15Hurricane Catarina, a rare South Atlantic tropical cyclone viewed from the International Space Station on March 26, 2004 (from Cyclone)
Image 16The 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)
Image 17
Pacific typhoon
(from Cyclone)
Image 18Broken concrete utility pole in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017, which ranks fourth in costliest US tropical cyclones. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 19The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. Katrina was the costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 20Hurricane Isabel (2003)'s effect on the North Carolina Outer Banks (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 21The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 22An extratropical cyclone near Iceland (from Cyclone)
Image 23
South-West Indian Ocean cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 24Radar image of Hurricane Erika making landfall over Northeastern Mexico (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 25Flooding 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)
Image 262017 Atlantic hurricane season summary map (from Cyclone)
Image 27The 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)
Image 28The 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)
Image 29A polar low over the Sea of Japan in December 2009 (from Cyclone)
Image 30Subtropical Storm Alex in the north Atlantic Ocean in January 2016 (from Cyclone)
Image 31
South Pacific cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 32Personnel and equipment from the National Guard of the United States en route to Hurricane Florence response efforts in 2018
Image 33An example of a chart for Matthew showing its five-day forecast track (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)

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This is a featured list, which represents some of the best list articles on English Wikipedia.

Since 1950, 144 known hurricanes, tropical storms and tropical depressions have affected the U.S. state of Maryland. Many of these storms also affect the country's capital, Washington, D.C., since the city is located on territory ceded by Maryland. Hurricanes are the most intense classification of these storms, while tropical storms and tropical depressions are generally weaker. The Delmarva Peninsula is often affected by cyclones that brush the East Coast. Central and Western Maryland, as well as Washington, D.C., commonly receive rainfall from the remnants of storms that make landfall elsewhere and track northward. On rare occasions, the area experiences the effects of Pacific storms; one such example of this is Hurricane Tico, which made landfall on Mexico and moved inland.

Hurricane Agnes of the 1972 season was the deadliest storm, killing 19 people as a result of heavy flooding. The most damaging storm was Hurricane Irene, which resulted in $151 million in damage. Hurricane Hazel caused sustained hurricane-force winds (winds of 75 mph (120 km/h) or greater) in the state, the only storm during the time period to do so. No storms made landfall in Maryland at hurricane intensity. Since 1950, thirteen tropical cyclones have collectively killed 64 people. (Full article...)

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Related WikiProjects

WikiProject Tropical cyclones is the central point of coordination for Wikipedia's coverage of tropical cyclones. Feel free to help!

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.

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