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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Hurricane Pali at peak intensity, over the Central Pacific on January 13

Hurricane Pali was the earliest-forming Pacific hurricane on record, being the first Pacific hurricane to occur in January since Hurricane Ekeka of 1992. The first tropical cyclone of the 2016 Pacific hurricane season, Pali originated as an area of low pressure within a persistent trough, near the equator on January 6, 2016. Deep convection gradually built up around the center of the disturbance as the system curved northward, before it organized into a tropical depression on the next day, making the system the earliest recorded tropical cyclone in the Pacific hurricane basin. The system quickly intensified into a tropical storm, resulting in it being named Pali. During the next few days, Pali slowly moved northward while slowly curving towards the west, strengthening somewhat before weakening due to the presence of wind shear. On January 10, Pali slowly turned eastward and proceeded to re-strengthen as wind shear diminished.

On January 12, Pali strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale (SSWHS) while curving towards the south. The next day, Pali reached its peak intensity as a Category 2 hurricane, with 1-minute maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (155 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 978 mbar (hPa; 28.88 inHg). Afterward, Pali quickly began to weaken, as the storm encountered stronger wind shear, with the storm weakening into a Category 1 hurricane several hours later, before weakening into a tropical storm later that day. On January 14, Pali weakened into a tropical depression before degenerating into a remnant low the next day, since conditions became increasingly hostile. Later that day, Pali's remnants dissipated near the same location where they had formed roughly a week ago. Pali formed and tracked near the equator, forming at a latitude of 3.3°N and tracking as low as 2.6°N as a tropical depression. This made Pali the second-lowest latitude tropical cyclone on record in the Western Hemisphere at the time, which was extremely unusual, given the unfavorable conditions that are usually in place around the equator. (Full article...)

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The radius of maximum wind (RMW) is the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds. It is a parameter in atmospheric dynamics and tropical cyclone forecasting. The highest rainfall rates occur near the RMW of tropical cyclones. The extent of a cyclone's storm surge and its maximum potential intensity can be determined using the RMW. As maximum sustained winds increase, the RMW decreases. Recently, RMW has been used in descriptions of tornadoes. When designing buildings to prevent against failure from atmospheric pressure change, RMW can be used in the calculations. (Full article...)

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Typhoon Nida as a 150-mph typhoon. This image was taken by Jacques Descloitres from MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC on May 17, 2004, while the typhoon was making landfall on the Philippines.

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The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record, in terms of number of systems. It featured a total of 31 tropical or subtropical cyclones, with all but one cyclone becoming a named storm. Of the 30 named storms, 14 developed into hurricanes, and a record-tying seven further intensified into major hurricanes. It was the second and final season to use the Greek letter storm naming system, the first being 2005, the previous record. Of the 30 named storms, 11 of them made landfall in the contiguous United States, breaking the record of nine set in 1916. During the season, 27 tropical storms established a new record for earliest formation date by storm number. This season also featured a record ten tropical cyclones that underwent rapid intensification, tying it with 1995, as well as tying the record for most Category 4 hurricanes in a singular season in the Atlantic Basin. This unprecedented activity was fueled by a La Niña that developed in the summer months of 2020, continuing a stretch of above-average seasonal activity that began in 2016. Despite the record-high activity, this was the first season since 2015 in which no Category 5 hurricanes formed.

The season officially started on June 1 and officially ended on November 30. However, tropical cyclogenesis is possible at any time of the year, as demonstrated by the early formation of Tropical Storms Arthur and Bertha, on May 16 and 27, respectively. This was the sixth consecutive year with a pre-season system and the second of these seasons to have two, with the other being 2016. The first hurricane, Hurricane Hanna, made landfall in Texas on July 25. Hurricane Isaias formed on July 31, and made landfall in The Bahamas and North Carolina in early August, both times as a Category 1 hurricane; Isaias caused $4.8 billion in damage overall. In late August, Laura made landfall in Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane, becoming the strongest tropical cyclone on record in terms of wind speed to make landfall in the state, alongside the 1856 Last Island hurricane and Ida. Laura caused at least $19 billion in damage and 77 deaths. September was the most active month on record in the Atlantic, with ten named storms. Slow-moving Hurricane Sally impacted the United States Gulf Coast, causing severe flooding. The Greek alphabet was used for only the second time, starting on September 17 with Subtropical Storm Alpha, which made landfall in Portugal on the following day. (Full article...)

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Currently active tropical cyclones

Italicized basins are unofficial.

North Atlantic (2024): No active systems

East and Central Pacific (2024): Hurricane Gilma; Hurricane Hone; Tropical Storm Hector

West Pacific (2024): Typhoon Shanshan

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: 20:45, 25 August 2024 (UTC)

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Tropical cyclone anniversaries

August 25

1873 - The 1873 Nova Scotia hurricane moved away from the Nova Scotia coast towards Newfoundland, after killing about 500 people and causing $5.9 million of damage.
2017 - Hurricane Harvey (pictured) reached its peak strength as a Category 4 hurricane, shortly before making landfall over Texas, which killed 106 people in the US and caused around $125 billion (2017 USD) in damages, making Harvey the second-costliest tropical cyclone worldwide.

August 26

1931 - After a typhoon moved ashore China near Ningbo, heavy rainfall caused portions of the Grand Canal to collapse, leaving to a wall of water that killed 300,000 people during the country's worst floods on record.
2004 - Typhoon Aere made landfall near Xiamen as a weakening Category 1 typhoon. Overall, Aere killed a total of 107 people.
2011 - Typhoon Nanmadol (pictured) reached Category 5 super typhoon intensity as it made landfall over Gonzaga, Cagayan. In the Philippines, 38 people were killed by the storm, including $34.5 million in damages.

August 27,

1893 - The 1893 Sea Islands hurricane (track pictured) made landfall near Savannah, Georgia with winds of about 220 km/h (120 mph). The hurricane killed between 1,000 and 2,000 people on the Sea Islands off the Georgian and South Carolinan coastlines.
1989 - Hurricane Kiko (pictured) reaches peak intensity as a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 195 km/h (120 mph). In the same time, Kiko made landfall over in the southern tip of Baja California, though no fatalities and damages were reported.

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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 Cyclone Freddy (track pictured) in 2023 was the longest-lasting tropical cyclone worldwide?
…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 Hurricane Otis (pictured) in 2023 was the first Pacific hurricane to make landfall at Category 5 intensity and surpassed Hurricane Patricia as the strongest landfalling Pacific hurricane on record?

Did you know archive

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

Image 1
Australian region cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 2
South-West Indian Ocean cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 3The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. Katrina was the costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 4Percentages of hurricane deaths in the United States from 1970 to 1999. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 5Tropical 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 6An extratropical cyclone near Iceland (from Cyclone)
Image 7All 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 8Radar image of Hurricane Erika making landfall over Northeastern Mexico (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 9
Pacific hurricane
(from Cyclone)
Image 10Several cyclones on the dynamic north pole of Jupiter, imaged by Juno (from Cyclone)
Image 11
Pacific typhoon
(from Cyclone)
Image 12Chart with concurrent information for Hurricane Arlene and Tropical Storm Bret logged and plotted (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 13Flooding 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 14Broken 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 15An example of a chart for Matthew showing its five-day forecast track (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 16The 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 17A polar low over the Sea of Japan in December 2009 (from Cyclone)
Image 18A 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 19Cyclone on Mars, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (from Cyclone)
Image 202017 Atlantic hurricane season summary map (from Cyclone)
Image 21The 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 22The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 23Hurricane Catarina, a rare South Atlantic tropical cyclone viewed from the International Space Station on March 26, 2004 (from Cyclone)
Image 24Personnel and equipment from the National Guard of the United States en route to Hurricane Florence response efforts in 2018
Image 25Aerial image of destroyed houses in Tacloban, following Typhoon Haiyan (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 26Hurricane response involves working in hazardous conditions, including contamination and electrocution hazards from floodwater.
Image 27
South Pacific cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 28Subtropical Storm Alex in the north Atlantic Ocean in January 2016 (from Cyclone)
Image 29Surface weather map of the 1935 Labor Day hurricane moving up the west coast of Florida (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 30
Atlantic hurricane
(from Cyclone)
Image 31Comparison between extratropical and tropical cyclones on surface analysis (from Cyclone)
Image 32The 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 33Hurricane Isabel (2003)'s effect on the North Carolina Outer Banks (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 34
North Indian Ocean cyclone
(from Cyclone)

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

Arizona has been affected by hurricanes on numerous occasions. Usually, these storms originate in the eastern Pacific Ocean, make landfall in the Mexican states of Baja California or Sonora, and dissipate before crossing into the United States. Thus, in most cases, it is only the tropical cyclones' remnant moisture that produces heavy rainfall—and in some occasions, flooding—in portions of Arizona. However, approximately every five years, a tropical cyclone retains sufficient strength to enter the state as a tropical storm or a tropical depression. Arizonans can expect indirect flash floods caused by the remnants of tropical cyclones to occur about every two years.

Tropical cyclones in Arizona are not common, since the predominant wind pattern steers most storms that form in the Eastern Pacific either parallel or away from the Pacific coast of northwestern Mexico. As a result, most storms that could affect Arizona are carried away from the United States, with only 6% of all Pacific hurricanes entering US territory. Not all Arizona hurricanes originate from the Pacific Ocean, however; in July 2008 an Atlantic hurricane named Hurricane Dolly produced rainfall in the eastern portion of the state, and another Atlantic storm reached Arizona as a tropical depression. Many, but not all, of these systems also impacted California. (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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