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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Cyclone Tauktae near peak intensity approaching Gujarat in India on May 17

Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Tauktae (Burmese pronunciation: [taʊʔtɛ̰]) was a powerful, deadly and damaging tropical cyclone in the Arabian Sea that became the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in the Indian state of Gujarat since the 1998 Gujarat cyclone and one of the strongest tropical cyclones to ever affect the west coast of India and above all It was the strongest storm of 2021 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. The second depression, first cyclonic storm, first severe cyclonic storm, first very severe cyclonic storm, and first extremely severe cyclonic storm of the 2021 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Tauktae originated from an area of low pressure in the Arabian Sea, which was first monitored by the India Meteorological Department on May 13. The low drifted eastward and organized into a deep depression by May 14. The storm soon took a northward turn, continuing to gradually intensify because of warm waters near the coast, and the system strengthened into a cyclonic storm and was named Tauktae later that same day. Tauktae continued intensifying into May 15, reaching severe cyclonic storm status later that day. Tauktae began to parallel the coast of the Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra, before rapidly intensifying into a very severe cyclonic storm, early on May 16. Early on May 17, Tauktae intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm, reaching its peak intensity soon afterward. Later that same day, Tauktae underwent an eyewall replacement cycle and weakened, before restrengthening as it neared the coast of Gujarat, making landfall soon afterward.

After making landfall, Tauktae gradually weakened as it slowly turned northeastward, moving further inland. On May 19, Tauktae weakened into a well-marked low-pressure area.

Tauktae brought heavy rainfall and flash floods to areas along the coast of Kerala and on Lakshadweep. There were reports of heavy rain in the states of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra as well. Tauktae resulted in at least 169 deaths in India, and left another 81 people missing. There were also 5 deaths reported in Pakistan. The storm displaced over 200,000 people in Gujarat. The cyclone also caused widespread infrastructure and agricultural damage to the western coast of India. Upwards of 40 fishermen were lost at sea when their boats were caught in the cyclone. Mumbai also experienced the impact of the storm, with airports being closed for safety reasons. (Full article...)

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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.

The last experimental flight was flown in 1971, due to a lack of candidate storms and a changeover in NOAA's fleet. Project Stormfury was officially canceled more than a decade after the last modification experiment. Although the project failed to achieve its goal of reducing the destructiveness of hurricanes, its observational data and storm lifecycle research helped improve meteorologists' ability to forecast the movement and intensity of hurricanes. (Full article...)

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Damage from Hurricane Andrew in August 1992, in South Florida.

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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 the latest first-named Eastern Pacific tropical storm since Tropical Storm Ava in 1969.

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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Currently active tropical cyclones

Italicized basins are unofficial.

North Atlantic (2024): No active systems

East and Central Pacific (2024): No active systems

West Pacific (2024): Tropical Storm Ewiniar (Aghon)

North Indian Ocean (2024): Cyclone Remal

Mediterranean (2023–24): No active systems

South-West Indian Ocean (2023–24): No active systems

Australian region (2023–24): No active systems

South Pacific (2023–24): No active systems

South Atlantic (2023–24): No active systems

Last updated: 18:32, 26 May 2024 (UTC)

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Tropical cyclone anniversaries

May 26

1953 - Tropical Storm Alice made landfall in Nicaragua as a minimal tropical storm.
2011 - Typhoon Songda (pictured) reaches peak intensity as a Category 5 super typhoon to the northeast of the Philippines. Songda mainly affected Japan, killing 17 people with damages of about ¥23.2 billion (US$287 million).

May 27

2003 - Tropical Storm Linfa (pictured) made landfall on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Linfa killed 41 people in total.
2020 - Tropical Storm Bertha rapidly forms and makes landfall in South Carolina. Only one person died form the storm and damages were only estimated at around US$130,000.

May 28

1960 - Tropical Storm Lucille and a non-tropical low merged just off Luzon in the Philippines. The non-tropical disturbance killed nearly 300 people in the Manila area.
2018 - Tropical Storm Alberto (pictured) makes landfall over Laguna Beach, Florida. Alberto becomes the most damaging pre-season Atlantic tropical cyclone, with estimated damages of US$125 million.

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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 1Comparison between extratropical and tropical cyclones on surface analysis (from Cyclone)
Image 2
Australian region cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 3An extratropical cyclone near Iceland (from Cyclone)
Image 4The 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 5
South Pacific cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 6Tropical 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 7Cyclone on Mars, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (from Cyclone)
Image 8An example of a chart for Matthew showing its five-day forecast track (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 9The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 10
Atlantic hurricane
(from Cyclone)
Image 11Aerial image of destroyed houses in Tacloban, following Typhoon Haiyan (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 12The 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 13Hurricane Catarina, a rare South Atlantic tropical cyclone viewed from the International Space Station on March 26, 2004 (from Cyclone)
Image 14Hurricane response involves working in hazardous conditions, including contamination and electrocution hazards from floodwater.
Image 15Radar image of Hurricane Erika making landfall over Northeastern Mexico (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 16The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. Katrina was the costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 17Broken 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 18Flooding 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 19Hurricane Isabel (2003)'s effect on the North Carolina Outer Banks (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 20
South-West Indian Ocean cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 21Subtropical Storm Alex in the north Atlantic Ocean in January 2016 (from Cyclone)
Image 22Personnel and equipment from the National Guard of the United States en route to Hurricane Florence response efforts in 2018
Image 23
Pacific typhoon
(from Cyclone)
Image 24A polar low over the Sea of Japan in December 2009 (from Cyclone)
Image 252017 Atlantic hurricane season summary map (from Cyclone)
Image 26
North Indian Ocean cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 27
Pacific hurricane
(from Cyclone)
Image 28Percentages of hurricane deaths in the United States from 1970 to 1999. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
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)
Image 30Chart with concurrent information for Hurricane Arlene and Tropical Storm Bret logged and plotted (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 31A 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 32The 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 33Surface weather map of the 1935 Labor Day hurricane moving up the west coast of Florida (from Tropical cyclone observation)

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

The 2002 Atlantic hurricane season was an average Atlantic hurricane season in which twelve named storms formed. Although Tropical Storm Arthur formed on July 14, the season officially began on June 1 and ended on November 30, dates that conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones develop in the Atlantic basin. The season's final storm, Tropical Depression Fourteen, dissipated on October 16.

The season produced fourteen tropical depressions, of which twelve intensified into tropical storms, four became hurricanes, and two became major hurricanes. The two most significant storms of the season, in terms of loss of life and damage, were hurricanes Isidore and Lili. Hurricane Isidore was an unusually large storm and attained maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (205 km/h), becoming one of only two major hurricanes during the season. Hurricane Lili was the strongest hurricane during the season, with winds reaching 145 mph (230 km/h) before moving ashore Louisiana as a much weaker system. (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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