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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Gordon near peak intensity off the coast of North Carolina on November 18

Hurricane Gordon was an erratic, long-lived, and catastrophic late-season hurricane of the 1994 Atlantic hurricane season. The twelfth and final tropical cyclone of the season, Gordon formed as a tropical depression in the southwestern Caribbean on November 8. Without strengthening, the depression made landfall on Nicaragua. Later on November 10, the system began to strengthen as it tracked further from land, and it quickly strengthened into Tropical Storm Gordon, the seventh named storm that season. Gordon also made landfalls in Jamaica and Cuba while a minimal tropical storm. It entered the southwestern Atlantic while resembling a subtropical cyclone. By the time it entered the Gulf of Mexico, the storm was fully tropical again. Tropical Storm Gordon later crossed the Florida Keys, and turning to the northeast it made landfall in Fort Myers, Florida. Gordon strengthened after it re-entered the Atlantic Ocean, becoming a hurricane on November 17. It briefly threatened North Carolina while turning to the northwest, although it turned to the south and weakened. Gordon deteriorated into a tropical depression and struck Florida again at that intensity on November 20. It turned to the north and dissipated the next day over South Carolina.

Gordon first caused flooding in northern Costa Rica that destroyed 700 houses and caused $30 million in damage. There were six deaths in the country and an additional two deaths in neighboring Panama. Upon affecting Jamaica, the storm was responsible $11.8 million in damage and four deaths. Damage was heaviest in Haiti, after a prolonged southwesterly flow dropped 14 in (360 mm) of rainfall in a 24‑hour period. The rains resulted in extensive mudslides and flooding that disrupted transportation and damaged 10,800 houses, with another 3,500 destroyed. There were 1,122 deaths in the country, partially due to deforested hills, and damage was estimated at $50 million. In the neighboring Dominican Republic, there were five additional deaths, as well as flooding near its capital. In Cuba, Gordon caused $100 million in damage, and 5,906 houses were damaged or destroyed. Due to large-scale evacuations, there were only two deaths in the country. In Florida, the storm caused $400 million in damage (1994 USD, equivalent to about $700 million in 2023), much of it agricultural, and there were eleven deaths, eight of them direct. Gordon later affected North Carolina with high waves, causing beach erosion and destroying five houses. Overall damage was $594 million due to Gordon (1994 USD, equivalent to about $900 million in 2023). (Full article...)

List of selected named cyclones

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Track of Cyclone Freddy, according to the Saffir-Simpson scale

Cyclone Freddy was the longest-lived tropical cyclone on record, beating the previous record of Hurricane John in 1994. It also has the highest accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) of any tropical cyclone on record worldwide, surpassing Hurricane Ioke in 2006. Additionally, Freddy is the only known tropical cyclone to achieve seven separate rapid intensification cycles. While in the Australian region cyclone basin, the storm quickly intensified and became a Category 4 severe tropical cyclone, before it moved into the South-West Indian Ocean basin. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) estimated Freddy's peak strength, equivalent to Category 5 strength on the Saffir–Simpson scale. The Météo-France (MFR) upgraded it to a very intense tropical cyclone. Freddy made its first landfall near Mananjary, Madagascar. Freddy rapidly weakened overland but re-strengthened in the Mozambique Channel. Soon afterward, Freddy made its second landfall just south of Vilankulos, Mozambique.

The remnant low of Freddy began to acquire tropical characteristics after re-emerging into the channel. Soon after, Freddy intensified, becoming a tropical cyclone. Then, Freddy made its final landfall in Quelimane, Zambezia Province, Mozambique, Freddy gradually deteriorated and last noted on 14 March. Catastrophic flooding and extensive wind damage ensued, resulting in 1,434 fatalities across Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi, Mauritius, and Zimbabwe, making it the third-deadliest tropical cyclone recorded in the Southern Hemisphere, only behind 2019's Cyclone Idai and the 1973 Flores cyclone. Total damages are estimated to reach $655 million, making it the second-costliest cyclone in the south-west Indian Ocean after Idai in 2019.

(Full article...)

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Remnants of Hurricane Agnes over the Northeastern United States. Agnes dropped torrential and record-breaking rainfall, causing over $2 billion in damage (1972 USD) and more than 100 deaths. The name was later retired.

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The 2020 North Indian Ocean cyclone season was the costliest North Indian Ocean cyclone season on record, mostly due to the devastating Cyclone Amphan. The North Indian Ocean cyclone season has no official bounds, but cyclones tend to form between April and November, with peaks in late April to May and October to November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northern Indian Ocean. The season began on May 16 with the designation of Depression BOB 01 in the Bay of Bengal, which later became Amphan. Cyclone Amphan was the strongest storm in the Bay of Bengal in 21 years and would break Nargis of 2008's record as the costliest storm in the North Indian Ocean. The season concluded with the dissipation of Cyclone Burevi on December 5. Overall, the season was slightly above average, seeing the development of five cyclonic storms.

The scope of the season is limited to the Indian Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere, east of the Horn of Africa and west of the Malay Peninsula. There are two main seas in the North Indian Ocean – the Arabian Sea to the west of the Indian subcontinent, abbreviated ARB by the India Meteorological Department (IMD); and the Bay of Bengal to the east, abbreviated BOB by the IMD. (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): 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 1Hurricane Isabel (2003)'s effect on the North Carolina Outer Banks (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 2The 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 3Broken 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 4Chart with concurrent information for Hurricane Arlene and Tropical Storm Bret logged and plotted (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 5The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 6
Pacific hurricane
(from Cyclone)
Image 7Personnel and equipment from the National Guard of the United States en route to Hurricane Florence response efforts in 2018
Image 8
South-West Indian Ocean cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 9Surface weather map of the 1935 Labor Day hurricane moving up the west coast of Florida (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 10An extratropical cyclone near Iceland (from Cyclone)
Image 11Hurricane Catarina, a rare South Atlantic tropical cyclone viewed from the International Space Station on March 26, 2004 (from Cyclone)
Image 12
Australian region cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 13
South Pacific cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 14The 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 15
Pacific typhoon
(from Cyclone)
Image 16Comparison between extratropical and tropical cyclones on surface analysis (from Cyclone)
Image 17Subtropical Storm Alex in the north Atlantic Ocean in January 2016 (from Cyclone)
Image 18Tropical 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 19Flooding 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 20Cyclone on Mars, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (from Cyclone)
Image 21
Atlantic hurricane
(from Cyclone)
Image 22A polar low over the Sea of Japan in December 2009 (from Cyclone)
Image 23Aerial image of destroyed houses in Tacloban, following Typhoon Haiyan (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 24
North Indian Ocean cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 25All 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 26Radar image of Hurricane Erika making landfall over Northeastern Mexico (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 272017 Atlantic hurricane season summary map (from Cyclone)
Image 28Hurricane response involves working in hazardous conditions, including contamination and electrocution hazards from floodwater.
Image 29An example of a chart for Matthew showing its five-day forecast track (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 30A 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 31The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. Katrina was the costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
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 33Percentages of hurricane deaths in the United States from 1970 to 1999. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)

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

Category 3 is the third-highest classification on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, and categorizes tropical cyclones with 1-minute maximum sustained winds between 96 and 112 knots (110 and 129 mph; 178 and 207 km/h; 49 and 58 m/s). Tropical cyclones that attain such winds and move over land while maintaining those winds are capable of causing severe damage to human lives and infrastructure. From 1949 to 2023, a total of 85 recorded Pacific hurricanes have peaked at Category 3 strength within the Northeast Pacific tropical cyclone basin, which is denoted as the part of the Pacific Ocean north of the equator and east of the International Date Line. This does not include storms that also attained Category 4 or 5 status on the scale.

The development of Category 3 hurricanes in the Northeast Pacific basin is influenced by many factors. During the Northern Hemisphere winter and spring months of December to April, sea surface temperatures in the tropics are usually too low to support tropical cyclogenesis. Furthermore, from January to April, the North Pacific High and Aleutian Low induce strong vertical wind shear and unfavorable conditions that serve to prevent the development of hurricanes. These effects are reduced or even disappear during hurricane season from May to November, when sea surface temperatures are also high enough to support tropical cyclogenesis; the bulk of recorded Category 3 hurricanes developed during June to October. Global weather patterns may also influence hurricane development in the Northeast Pacific. El Niño events result in increased numbers of powerful hurricanes through weaker wind shear and higher sea surface temperatures within the basin, while La Niña events reduce the number of such hurricanes through the opposite. (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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