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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Tropical Storm Vera on September 13, 1989 with winds of 60 mph and a pressure of 985 mbar

Tropical Storm Vera, known in the Philippines as Severe Tropical Storm Pining, originated from a system that began to develop within a monsoon trough several hundred kilometers north of Guam on September 10. The JTWC issued a TCFA early on September 11, and the system was classified as a tropical depression later that day. The depression moved slowly and erratically at first, but then it was steered west-northwest by a subtropical ridge. It strengthened into a tropical storm, being named Vera, and reached its peak intensity with winds of 95 km/h (60 mph). The storm then weakened due to increasing wind shear and made landfall in China. It weakened further and became an extratropical cyclone on September 16. The remnants of the storm moved east-northeast over South Korea and Japan before dissipating on September 19.

Vera caused widespread flooding throughout Eastern China, with the worst damage occurring in Zhejiang Province, which reached $351 million (1989 USD), and at least 162 people were killed in and 354 were missing. 882 people were injured, and 3.1 million homes were damaged or destroyed. Additionally, significant losses also occurred in nearby Jiangsu Province, where 34 people were killed and an estimated 2,000 more were injured. Throughout eastern China, approximately 5.86 million households (23 million people) were affected by flooding triggered by the storm. According to news estimates, a total of 500–700 people died as a result of Vera. (Full article...)

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The 1737 Calcutta cyclone, also known as the Hooghly River cyclone of 1737 or the Great Bengal cyclone of 1737, was the first super cyclone on record in North Indian Ocean and is regarded as one of the worst natural disasters in India. It hit the coast near Kolkata on the morning of 11 October 1737 and has been reported to have killed over 300,000 people inland and at sea, and caused widespread catastrophic damage. The cyclone hit land over the Ganges River Delta, just southwest of Calcutta. Most deaths resulted from the storm surge and happened on the sea: many ships sank in the Bay of Bengal and an unknown number of livestock and wild animals were killed from the effects of the cyclone. The damage was described as "extensive" but numerical statistics are unknown. (Full article...)

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Visual comparison of Hurricane Floyd and Hurricane Andrew. The two storms are at similar positions and nearly identical intensities (933 mbar), but Hurricane Floyd is remarkably larger. In 1999 at the time of Floyd, it was believed that the wind speeds of the hurricanes were nearly identical as well, at 120 knots (140 mph, 220 km/h). In 2002, however, hurricane re-analysis concluded that Andrew had stronger winds than had previously been thought, and in the picture the storm winds are actually close to 145 knots (165 mph, 270 km/h).

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The 2016 Atlantic hurricane season was the first above-average hurricane season since 2012, producing 15 named storms, 7 hurricanes and 4 major hurricanes. The season officially started on June 1 and ended on November 30, though the first storm, Hurricane Alex which formed in the Northeastern Atlantic, developed on January 12, being the first hurricane to develop in January since 1938. The final storm, Otto, crossed into the Eastern Pacific on November 25, a few days before the official end. Following Alex, Tropical Storm Bonnie brought flooding to South Carolina and portions of North Carolina. Tropical Storm Colin in early June brought minor flooding and wind damage to parts of the Southeastern United States, especially Florida. Hurricane Earl left 94 fatalities in the Dominican Republic and Mexico, 81 of which occurred in the latter. In early September, Hurricane Hermine, the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida since Hurricane Wilma in 2005, brought extensive coastal flooding damage especially to the Forgotten and Nature coasts of Florida. Hermine was responsible for five fatalities and about $550 million (2016 USD) in damage.

The strongest, costliest, and deadliest storm of the season was Hurricane Matthew, the southernmost Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record and the first to reach that intensity since Felix in 2007, ending the longest streak of seasons without a hurricane of such intensity in the Satellite Era. With at least 603 deaths attributed to it, Matthew was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Stan of 2005. Furthermore, damage from Matthew is estimated to be at least $16.5 billion, making it the ninth costliest Atlantic hurricane on record at the time. Hurricane Nicole became the first major hurricane to directly impact Bermuda since Hurricane Fabian in 2003, leaving widespread but relatively moderate damage on the island. The final tropical cyclone of the season – Hurricane Otto – brought severe flooding to Central America in November, particularly in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Otto left 23 deaths and about $190 million in damage. On November 25, the storm emerged into the Eastern Pacific basin, the first such occurrence since Hurricane Cesar–Douglas in 1996. Most of the season's tropical cyclones impacted land, and nine of those storms caused loss of life. Collectively, the storms left at least 736 fatalities and $17.49 billion in damage, making the season the costliest since 2012. (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): No active systems

North Indian Ocean (2024): No active systems

Mediterranean (2023–24): No active systems

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

Australian region (2023–24): Tropical Low 12U

South Pacific (2023–24): No active systems

South Atlantic (2023–24): No active systems

Last updated: 07:47, 13 April 2024 (UTC)

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Tropical cyclone anniversaries

April 18

2000 - Tropical Storm Innocente (pictured) reached its peak intensity with winds of 65 km/h (40 mph) in the central Indian Ocean. Innocente did not affect any land.
2000 - Cyclone Paul begins weakening after it attained peak strength as a Category 5 severe tropical cyclone by BoM.

April 19

1945 - Tropical Storm Ann, the first named tropical system in the Northwest Pacific, develops over in Micronesia.
1959 - Typhoon Tilda attains peak intensity with 1-minute sustained winds of 230 km/h (145 mph) as it was west of Guam.
2000 - Cyclone Rosita (pictured) reached its peak intensity with a central pressure of 930 hPa (mbar) to the north of Broome, Western Australia.

April 20

1997 - Typhoon Isa (pictured) reached its peak intensity with winds of 270 km/h (165 mph) to the west of the Mariana Islands. Isa passed south of Guam, where it caused beneficial rainfall.
2017 - Tropical Storm Arlene intensifies from a subtropical depression, making it one of only two systems in the Atlantic to form in the month of April.

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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

General images - load new batch

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

Image 1Flooding 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 2Surface weather map of the 1935 Labor Day hurricane moving up the west coast of Florida (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 3The 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 4
Atlantic hurricane
(from Cyclone)
Image 5Comparison between extratropical and tropical cyclones on surface analysis (from Cyclone)
Image 6Broken 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 7Aerial image of destroyed houses in Tacloban, following Typhoon Haiyan (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 8Hurricane Isabel (2003)'s effect on the North Carolina Outer Banks (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 9An example of a chart for Matthew showing its five-day forecast track (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 10
South-West Indian Ocean cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 11
Pacific typhoon
(from Cyclone)
Image 12A 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 13Percentages of hurricane deaths in the United States from 1970 to 1999. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
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 15Radar image of Hurricane Erika making landfall over Northeastern Mexico (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 16
Australian region cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 17
South Pacific cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 18The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 192017 Atlantic hurricane season summary map (from Cyclone)
Image 20A polar low over the Sea of Japan in December 2009 (from Cyclone)
Image 21The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. Katrina was the costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 22Personnel and equipment from the National Guard of the United States en route to Hurricane Florence response efforts in 2018
Image 23Tropical 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 24Hurricane response involves working in hazardous conditions, including contamination and electrocution hazards from floodwater.
Image 25The 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 26Subtropical Storm Alex in the north Atlantic Ocean in January 2016 (from Cyclone)
Image 27Chart with concurrent information for Hurricane Arlene and Tropical Storm Bret logged and plotted (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 28
North Indian Ocean cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 29Cyclone on Mars, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (from Cyclone)
Image 30All 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 31An extratropical cyclone near Iceland (from Cyclone)
Image 32Hurricane Catarina, a rare South Atlantic tropical cyclone viewed from the International Space Station on March 26, 2004 (from Cyclone)
Image 33
Pacific hurricane
(from Cyclone)

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

Category 5 hurricanes are tropical cyclones that reach Category 5 intensity on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale. They are by definition the strongest hurricanes that can form on planet Earth. Hurricanes of this intensity are infrequent in the northeastern Pacific Ocean; only 20 have formed since 1959, and they generally develop in clusters during the same year. Landfalls by such storms are rare due to the generally westward path of tropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere. (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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