The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006; it has been almost thirteen years since that time. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from August 1, 2019–March 17, 2020. This edition's editor and author is ♫ Hurricanehink (talk).
Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here.
An awards program for the project began on May 31. It involves 25 levels that may be gained by earning points for completing various actions such as getting good or featured articles. Additional awards will be added in the future.
There is ongoing featured article review for the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. The recent look at the article stemmed from a discussion about merging the List of storms in the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which was created in January 2006 in response to the large season article. The 2005 article was then more of a summary, covering economic costs, the record activity, and focusing on storms by month (and not sequentially). For several years, there were a few season articles that had both a primary article and a dedicated list of storms article; all were eventually re-incorporated back into the main season article, recently including 2005 AHS. On March 3, 2020 (hard to believe that was this month), the list article was merged, as well as 2005 Atlantic hurricane season statistics, and articles for Franklin and Philippe. A singular article for the 2005 season was prepared in draftspace, and was incorporated into the main 2005 article.
The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page.
More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue in May 2019. Sorted chronologically. Struckout users denote users who have left or have been banned.
To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions!
Latest WikiProject Alerts
The following are the latest article developments as updated by AAlertBot, as of the publishing of this issue. Due to the bot workings, some of these updates may seem out of place; nonetheless, they are included here.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for August
Typhoon Lekima became China's costliest typhoon ever recorded when it struck the country in early August, leaving 90 fatalities and over $9 billion in damage.
Atlantic - In August, there were two weak, short-lived tropical storms – Chantal and Erin, as well as Hurricane Dorian.
Western Pacific - in the beginning of August, Tropical Storm Wipha was active, which moved across southwestern China and Vietnam, killing 27 people in the latter country. In August and September, a series of three typhoons struck Japan, including Typhoon Francisco, Typhoon Krosa, and Typhoon Faxai. Toward the end of August, Tropical Storm Bailu struck Taiwan and China, killing three people, and Tropical Storm Podul moved through the Philippines.
North Indian Ocean - a deep depression killed three people when it struck Odisha in eastern India.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for September
Hurricane Dorian was the strongest hurricane on record to strike The Bahamas, and was regarded as the worst natural disaster in the country's history. Dorian formed on August 24, and moved through the Caribbean as an intensifying storm. On September 1, Dorian hit Great Abaco Island with sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h), and struck Grand Bahama Island at the same intensity a day later. Dorian killed 58 people and left $7 billion in damage to the island nation. The hurricane later struck North Carolina as a minimal hurricane, and Nova Scotia as a post-tropical cyclone.
Atlantic - The tropics were more active in September. Tropical Storm Fernand killed one person and caused damaging floods in northeastern Mexico. Tropical Storm Gabrielle moved across the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane Humberto affected the Bahamas weeks after Dorian devastated the island chain, and later brought hurricane-force winds to Bermuda. Tropical Storm Imelda formed rapidly near the coast of Texas and dropped torrential rainfall, killing five people and inundating parts of Texas affected by Hurricane Harvey two years earlier. Hurricane Jerry and Tropical Storm Karen moved near or over the eastern Caribbean. At the end of the month, Hurricane Lorenzo became the easternmost Category 5 Atlantic hurricane, reaching that intensity in the eastern Atlantic Ocean; the hurricane caused a shipwreck, killing at least three people, and also passed through the Azores in early October.
Western Pacific - In early September, Tropical Storm Kajiki brought heavy rainfall to northeastern Vietnam, killing six people. Typhoon Lingling moved through the East China Sea before striking North Korea, killing eight people. In the middle of September, short-lived Tropical Storm Peipah dissipated south of Japan, and Typhoon Tapah passed between Japan and South Korea. At the end of the month, Typhoon Mitag was moving across South Korea. There were also a series of nine non-developing depressions.
Eastern Pacific - There were two major hurricanes in September – Juliette and Kiko. Short-lived Tropical Storm Akoni was in the Central Pacific. Toward the end of the month, Tropical Storm Mario and Hurricane Lorena interacted with each other, and the latter hurricane struck Mexico twice, killing one person. At the end of the month, Tropical Storm Narda followed a similar path to Lorena, killing four people in southwestern Mexico.
North Indian Ocean - In September, Cyclonic Storm Hikaa struck eastern Oman, killing one person. At the end of the month, a land depression formed over western India.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for October
Typhoon Hagibis was considered the most devastating typhoon to hit the Kantō region of Japan since Ida in 1958. It struck near Tokyo on October 12, triggering heavy rainfall and landslides. Hagibis killed 95 people along its path and left about US$9 billion in damage.
Atlantic - a series of weaker storms formed in October, beginning with Melissa, which caused significant flooding along the east coast of the United States from its predecessor extratropical low. After a weak tropical depression formed near Cabo Verde, there were two tropical storms in the Gulf of Mexico – Nestor and Olga, which together left more than $250 million in damage and four fatalities to the United States gulf coast. Later in the month, Hurricane Pablo became the easternmost storm on record to attain hurricane status, having originated from a nontropical storm near the Azores. A few days later, Subtropical Storm Rebekah formed in the same region.
Eastern Pacific - there were three cyclones in the Eastern Pacific during the month, beginning with short-lived Ema in the Central Pacific. Later, Tropical Storm Octave lasted two days over open waters, and Tropical Storm Priscilla moved ashore near Manzanillo.
Western Pacific - in addition to Hagibis, two other storms formed in the western Pacific during October. Typhoon Neoguri and Typhoon Bualoi existed south of Japan. At the end of the month, Tropical Storm Matmo struck Vietnam, which later redeveloped in the North Indian Ocean as Cyclone Bulbul.
North Indian Ocean - there were two storms in the North Indian Ocean during October. The first was Super Cyclonic Storm Kyarr, which was the strongest storm on record in the Arabian Sea; the cyclone produced high waves throughout the basin, but didn't strike land. Later in the month, Cyclone Maha formed in the Arabian Sea, marking the first time on record there were two simultaneous storms in the body of water. Maha eventually struck Gujarat in western India as a depression.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for November
Cyclone Bulbul formed in the Bay of Bengal from the remnants of Tropical Storm Matmo, which struck Vietnam in late October. Bulbul intensified into the record-breaking sixth very intense tropical cyclone (the NIO equivalent to a hurricane). On November 9, Bulbul made landfall near the India/Bangladesh border, killing 38 people and leaving US$2.6 billion in damage.
Atlantic - Tropical Storm Sebastien formed northeast of the Lesser Antilles and moved across much of the Atlantic, becoming an extratropical cyclone near the Azores.
Western Pacific - Typhoon Halong was the strongest storm of the year worldwide, reaching winds of 215 km/h (130 mph) according to the JMA. The storm remained away from land. Also in the month, Typhoon Nakri struck Vietnam, killing six people. Typhoon Fengshen struck the northern Marianas Islands. Typhoon Kalmaegi and Tropical Storm Fung-wong affected the northern Philippines in short succession. Later in the month, Typhoon Kammuri formed, moving through the Philippines in early December, where it caused US$116 million in damage and 12 deaths.
South Pacific - Cyclone Rita passed through the Solomon Islands.
ChocolateTrain first joined Wikipedia in April 2017. An Australian native, he is already a prolific writer on the Australian basin, and is responsible for half the edits to the current Australian cyclone season. ChocolateTrain wrote good articles on Cyclone Lili (2019) and Cyclone Nora, plus several articles that are C-class. We thank ChocolateTrain for his edits, and hopes he keeps writing about southern hemisphere storms!
From the Main Page documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from August 1, 2019–March 17, 2020 in chronological order.
Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See here for the latest, most up to date statistics. As of this issue, there are 154 featured articles and 70 featured lists. There are 134 A-class articles, but that number is subject to change, depending if we mandate that all A-class articles have an A-class review first. There are 974 good articles. There are only 63 B-class articles, perhaps because because most articles of that quality already passed a GA review. There are 374 C-class articles, 733 start-class articles, and 150 stub-class articles, with 32 lists, and 9 current articles. These figures mean that slightly more than half of the project is rated a GA or better - including the lists/current/future articles, there are 1320 articles that are below GA status, versus 1334 that are GA or better.
There is a discussion about getting rid of redirect and list-class articles.
WPTC 15th Anniversary push: some goals for the 15th year of WPTC include the creation or improvement of many other articles listed in the first section on the WPTC talk page.
Collaborating - AKA the right kind of sharing, by User:Hurricanehink
As mentioned elsewhere in the newsletter, 2005 Atlantic hurricane season has changed recently. It was a collaborative effort of several users, making sure this top-importance vital article is still of featured-quality. (There is an ongoing discussion about removing its featured article status).
There are other kinds of collaborations. Recently, users Juliancolton and TropicalAnalystwx13 wrote Tropical Storm Kirk (2018) together. Each year, the season articles are written by many editors, by folks who add the latest satellite imagery or track. There are others who document the storm's journey, and what impacts they left. When a major storm is threatening a landmass (especially the United States), users edit from IP addresses far and wide to add the latest information. Unfortunately, some of these big storm articles languish, because they're written in real time without historical perspective, and the websites might no longer be up and running a few years later. Don't get me wrong, I know the excitement of being the first to write on Wikipedia when the NHC classifies something. However, there are lots of older articles that end up half-finished, or with broken weblinks. Thankfully we have the web archive.
We see the disruption that Covid-19 is causing in our world right now. Yea, it sucks to have everything canceled, for schools and bars and gyms and restaurants to be shut down. Some people experience that same feeling every few years when a hurricane/typhoon/cyclone strikes. It's easy writing/researching about these furious beasts of nature when we're in the comfort of our own home/office/library/school. And sometimes it's uncomfortable seeing how we rebuild. After every storm, there is help, often from the government. Politics have made my country turn fearful and hateful, and so I have to choose my words carefully. When nature is at its worst, my government is there after when people need it the most, providing financial assistance, logistical support, and a sense of national unity.
This pandemic is making a lot of people fearful of the unknown, how bad that unstoppable force will be. A lot of us may be stuck at home right now with a sense of fear and too much time on our hands. Consider, then, the spirit of collaboration, working together to document the world around us. If you're reading this, you are likely interested in meteorology. Go improve an article then. Now. Do it. :P Stop reading this and find an article you're interested in, and make it better. <3
Tropical cyclones by year
In 2019, there have been 143 tropical or subtropical cyclones. We (the thousands of editors who are writing the first draft of history in the middle of Earth's biggest climate crisis in many millennia) are writing the first draft of history. There might be edit wars, conflicts over whether a source is reliable, and maybe even a controversy surrounding a sharpie, Alabama, and a NWS weather map (see also Hurricane Dorian–Alabama controversy, AKA Sharpiegate). 2019 has featured several significant storms: Cyclone Idai, one of the deadliest tropical cyclones in the southern hemisphere. Cyclone Kenneth was the strongest cyclone to strike Mozambique. In February, Typhoon Wutip was the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the month of February.
The storms in 2019 represent about 0.116% of the known tropical cyclones on Wikipedia. We're aware of around 12,000 tropical cyclones; about one-third were in the Western Pacific, where storms have killed more than 1.4 million people. Storms in the western Pacific date back to the year 957, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. In the Atlantic, we know of 2,443 tropical cyclones, dating back to 1494, and Christopher Columbus's 2nd voyage to the New World; however, paleotempestological evidence] of storms date back to 1330 BC. In the eastern Pacific, storms date back to 1537, when a hurricane struck Mexico and was recorded by a missionary. Storms in the South Pacific Ocean date back to 1568, and in the South Indian Ocean to 1615. Wikipedia coverage in the North Indian Ocean goes back to 1721.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for December
Cyclone Ambali was the first very intense tropical cyclone in the South-west Indian Ocean since Cyclone Fantala in 2016. It formed on December 3 as part of a series of storms in the western Indian Ocean in both hemispheres. Ambali's winds increased by 185 km/h (115 mph) in 24 hours, marking the fastest 24-hour intensification recorded in the Southern Hemisphere. The storm rapidly weakened after its peak, degenerating into a remnant low by December 8.
Western Pacific - Typhoon Phanfone moved through the central Philippines on Christmas Day, killing 50 people. Damage was estimated at US$67.2 million, enough to warrant the retirement of its international name, as well its local Filipino name Ursula.
North Indian - Cyclonic Storm Pawan formed in early December in the western Arabian Sea. It struck Somalia, causing flooding rains that killed six people. Pawan existed simultaneously to a deep depression off India's west coast, which killed 25 people. The season ended on December 10 when another deep depression formed in the Arabian Sea, which dissipated near the Somalia coastline.
South-west Indian Ocean - Cyclone Belna developed west of Cyclone Ambali, and struck northwestern Madagascar on December 9. The storm killed nine people and left US$25 million in damage. Cyclone Calvinina formed at the end of the month, passing near Mauritius on December 31, causing power outages and flooding. The storm became extratropical the next day.
South Pacific - There were two December tropical cyclones – a tropical depression, and Tropical Cyclone Sarai. Sarai passed near Fiji on December 27, causing two deaths and US$2.3 million in damage.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for January
Cyclone Tino was part of a broader convergence zone that affected ten South Pacific countries. Tino formed on January 11, and passed near Fiji on January 17 with winds of 120 km/h (75 mph), where two people were left missing. Tino became extratropical two days later.
South Atlantic - Subtropical Storm Kurumí formed on January 23 south of São Paulo. It existed for two days, until it was absorbed by a larger weather system that killed three people in Brazil.
South-West Indian Ocean - A series of three systems formed in the second half of the month, beginning with a short-lived tropical depression. Tropical Storm Diane moved across Madagascar in its formative stages, killing 31 people. It later passed near Mauritius, and eventually became extratropical. Tropical Storm Esami formed east of Madagascar and followed Diane's path.
Australia - the Australian season began when Tropical Cyclone Blake formed on January 4. It later struck Western Australia on the Dampier Peninsula, causing localized flooding. Simultaneous to Blake's development, Cyclone Claudia moved across Australia's Top End, dropping heavy rainfall, and eventually reached its peak intensity off northwest Australia. There were also two tropical lows during the month, including one low in the extreme southeastern Gulf of Carpentaria, which dropped 475 mm (18.7 in) of rainfall in Queensland.
South Pacific - Toward the end of the month, there was a short-lived tropical disturbance near American Samoa.
Storm of the month and other tropical activity for February
Cyclone Damien struck Western Australia near Karratha on February 8, having originated from a monsoon trough five days later. Damien caused localized flooding and power outages.
South-west Indian - Tropical Storm Francisco lasted for nearly two weeks, beginning as a short-lived storm near the Chagos, and moving across much of the basin as a weak disturbance. Francisco regenerated into a tropical storm near eastern Madagascar, moving ashore near Mahanoro; it killed one person in the country. Also in the month, Cyclone Gabekile formed on February 13, and weakened after it stalled over open waters.
Australia - there were two other storms in the basin during the month, in addition to Damien. Cyclone Esther moved across the Northern Territory, reached the coastline of the Indian Ocean, and then moved back east inland. The storm caused flooding rains along its path. Occurring simultaneously to Esther, Cyclone Ferdinand developed, intensified, and weakened off Australia's northwest coast.
South Pacific - Cyclone Uesi passed west of New Caledonia on February 11, causing flooding and power outages. It later moved into the Australian basin, where it transitioned into a subtropical cyclone. High waves killed one person in Sydney. Over a one week span, four tropical cyclones developed in the basin in short-succession near American Samoa, including two tropical disturbances. Cyclone Vicky caused power outages and flooding, followed only days later by Cyclone Wasi.
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