[Index]
Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary February 2004
[Summaries and Track Data] [Prepared by Gary Padgett]
| Tropical
Cyclones
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Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary February 2004 [Summaries and Track Data] [Prepared by Gary Padgett] |
MONTHLY GLOBAL TROPICAL CYCLONE SUMMARY
FEBRUARY, 2004
(For general comments about the nature of these summaries, as well as
information on how to download the tabular cyclone track files, see
the Author's Note at the end of this summary.)
*************************************************************************
FEBRUARY HIGHLIGHTS
--> First Northwest Pacific tropical storm of the year develops
--> Severe tropical cyclone strikes northwestern Australia
--> South Pacific cyclone damages Vanuatu
*************************************************************************
***** Feature of the Month for February *****
TROPICAL CYCLONE CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA
for the AUSTRALIAN REGION
A. Introduction
---------------
This month's feature is the third of three highlighting tropical
cyclone climatological data for the Southern Hemisphere. The source
for the data was a set of tropical cyclone tracks sent to me by Mr.
Charles Neumann. These had been prepared in association with a
hurricane risk analysis (HURISK) study he was performing for the U. S.
Navy. Earlier studies had been accomplished for the Atlantic and North
Pacific basins. The tracks and intensities were based upon available
data sets for the various Southern Hemisphere basins from the regional
warning centers, and from 1980 onward, JTWC's Best Track files were
utilized as an additional source of data.
The data set begins with the 1960-61 Southern Hemisphere cyclone
season and extends through 2001-2002, and I have included the entire
period. While the annual number of intense tropical cyclones
(MSW < 100 kts) increases somewhat around 1970, the numbers of tropical
storms and hurricanes during the pre-1970 period are not significantly
different than for years following the advent of meteorological
satellites. No doubt in pre-satellite years many cyclones were not
detected, especially in the vast island-free South Indian Ocean. But
in some areas, such as northern Australia, where most storms form near
land and affect the coastline, and also in the island-rich South Pacific,
it is likely that most significant tropical cyclones were at least
detected (even if not tracked accurately) before operational satellite
coverage became complete in the late 1960s.
B. Definition of Parameters
---------------------------
The following definitions apply:
NS - a tropical cyclone with a peak 1-min avg MSW >= 34 kts
H - a tropical cyclone with a peak 1-min avg MSW >= 64 kts
IH - a tropical cyclone with a peak 1-min avg MSW >= 96 kts
NSD - four 6-hour periods in which a NS is operating
HD - four 6-hour periods in which a H is operating
IHD - four 6-hour periods in which an IH is operating
NTC - (((Total NS/Avg NS) + (Total H/Avg H) + (Total IH/Avg H) +
(Total NSD/Avg NSD) + (Total HD/Avg HD) +
(Total IHD/Avg IHD))/6) x 100%
I have included another seasonal measure of the overall tropical
cyclone level of activity which I developed--the Tropical Cyclone
Index (TCI). It is a summation of the MSW for each 6-hourly data
point, divided by 100 (kts) with the resultant quotient then squared.
Thus, it is identical to Dr. Bill Gray's Hurricane Destruction Potential
(HDP) except that I begin the TCI with 34 kts, whereas the HDP
calculation begins with 64 kts. It also very similar to the index
which NOAA uses in their Atlantic seasonal forecasts--a summation
of the square of the velocity--except that I've scaled the TCI
to a baseline of 100 kts in order to avoid huge numbers.
My reason for including the TCI is that it is independent of the
period of data covered. The NTC is a good indicator of overall
tropical cyclone activity, but it changes for all years whenever
a new baseline period is utilized, whether this is done on a yearly
basis or every 5 or 10 years. Thus, for example, 1950's NTC for
the 1950-1990 period is not the same as it was for the 1950-2000
period, etc. The TCI correlates very closely with the NTC, however.
I calculated correlation coefficients for the NTC vs TCI data sets
for several basins, and the two indices always correlated to around
97-98%. Thus, the TCI is an absolute index independent of any average
values of the various parameters, yet it correlates well with the NTC
as computed by Dr. Gray's rule.
C. Southern Hemisphere Basins
-----------------------------
Dividing up the Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclogenetical
regions is rather problematic. The Northern Hemisphere basins are
rather neatly divided geographically by landmasses and regions of
very infrequent tropical cyclone formation, but storms form in
the Southern Hemisphere in a rather continuous band from the
Mozambique Channel off the eastern coast of Africa eastward across
the South Indian Ocean, through the seas and gulfs north of
Australia, into the Coral Sea and across the South Pacific to the
region of French Polynesia well east of the International Dateline.
Several different schemes for dividing the Southern Hemisphere into
useful basins for statistical purposes have been proposed, but none
are completely satisfactory in all respects. For my purposes, I am
going to present statistics for various longitudinal regions, some
of which overlap.
This monthly feature focuses on the Australian Region of warning
responsibility between longitudes 90E and 160E. The November, 2003,
summary covered the entire Southern Hemisphere and several sub-regions
of the South Indian Ocean, while the December, 2003, summary featured
the South Pacific Ocean. Due to time constraints, I did not calculate
the full regime of parameters for the 2002-2003 season, but I did
glean the numbers of NS, H and IH for the various areas, and these
are summarized following each table. The four regions covered this
month are:
(1) Entire Australian Region from 90E to 160E
(2) Northwest Australia/Southeast Indian Ocean (90E to 135E)
(3) Northeast Australia/Coral Sea (135E to 160E)
(4) Gulf of Carpentaria/Arafura and Timor Seas (105E to 142E)
Region (1) encompasses the area for which Australia's three TCWCs
(Brisbane, Darwin, Perth) have warning responsibility, plus includes
the small area covered by the Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, warning
centre. Since longitude 135E rather neatly bisects Australia and
also lies just inland from the western shorline of the Gulf of
Carpentaria, and given that the frequency of tropical cyclone activity
is rather low in that region, the meridian serves as a convenient
dividing line between cyclones affecting primarily northeastern
Australia and those affecting northwestern Australia. Beginning with
the 2000-2001 cyclone season, I have treated the areas east and west
of 135E as separate sub-basins in the monthly summaries. Finally,
I have included statistics for the zone between 142E and 105E, which
covers the seas and gulfs along the northern Australian coastline
(Gulf of Carpentaria, Arafura Sea and Timor Sea).
D. Tables of Tropical Cyclone Data
----------------------------------
The tropical cyclone data in tabular format follows. The various
intensity categories are based on a MSW averaged over 1-minute. This
results in slightly higher numbers of cyclones than would be obtained
utilizing a 10-minute averaging period, as all the Southern Hemisphere
TCWCs do. The year listed in the leftmost column is the year in
which the season ends; e.g., 1961 represents the 12-month period from
1 July 1960 through 30 June 1961.
(1) ENTIRE AUSTRALIAN REGION (90E - 160E)
Year NS H IH NSD HD IHD NTC TCI
---------------------------------------------------------------
1961 9 4 2 52.00 16.25 2.50 95 69
1962 6 0 0 34.50 .00 .00 20 25
1963 15 2 1 40.25 2.25 .25 53 36
1964 11 6 0 43.75 8.50 .00 59 45
1965 9 2 0 37.75 3.00 .00 35 29
1966 9 2 0 28.25 3.00 .00 32 24
1967 13 4 1 50.00 9.50 1.75 78 54
1968 8 2 0 27.75 3.00 .00 30 26
1969 10 0 0 16.50 .00 .00 19 11
1970 8 3 0 29.25 4.00 .00 35 28
1971 13 4 1 54.00 6.50 1.50 74 58
1972 15 10 3 68.00 20.75 2.75 143 95
1973 12 9 1 40.50 17.25 .25 90 62
1974 19 9 0 77.75 15.75 .00 101 83
1975 17 3 3 57.50 10.75 4.75 120 81
1976 16 8 2 67.75 23.00 4.25 142 105
1977 13 5 1 36.25 8.50 .75 69 42
1978 9 4 2 39.50 15.00 3.25 94 65
1979 13 4 1 54.00 12.25 2.00 85 66
1980 12 9 6 66.25 26.50 8.25 201 129
1981 14 7 6 58.25 25.25 8.00 191 111
1982 17 6 2 64.00 8.75 .50 94 67
1983 7 4 1 38.75 12.75 2.25 73 61
1984 18 11 2 56.75 14.25 1.75 123 89
1985 19 11 5 78.50 26.00 3.50 183 120
1986 16 9 3 52.50 18.25 2.25 129 76
1987 9 4 2 35.00 5.25 1.50 69 39
1988 5 4 0 19.50 2.50 .00 29 19
1989 13 6 4 44.75 16.75 6.75 147 85
1990 14 8 1 57.25 15.75 3.50 113 75
1991 11 5 2 50.25 13.25 3.75 104 73
1992 11 9 5 48.75 26.00 8.50 186 110
1993 9 3 2 41.25 9.50 2.25 78 51
1994 14 6 3 46.75 22.00 5.75 142 87
1995 6 5 4 25.25 11.00 3.50 100 47
1996 15 8 3 56.00 16.00 3.50 131 79
1997 17 7 3 73.50 19.50 4.25 146 107
1998 11 6 2 55.75 14.25 2.00 100 75
1999 20 8 5 56.25 19.75 9.25 194 107
2000 13 7 4 54.75 20.00 7.75 164 98
2001 8 3 1 24.00 6.50 1.00 51 31
2002 11 3 1 25.50 5.25 1.75 58 31
Avg. 12.3 5.5 2.0 47.3 12.7 2.8
2002-2003 Season - NS: 10 H: 3 IH: 2
(2) NORTHWEST AUSTRALIA/SOUTHEAST INDIAN OCEAN (90E - 135E)
Year NS H IH NSD HD IHD NTC TCI
---------------------------------------------------------------
1961 5 4 2 38.25 16.25 2.50 123 60
1962 4 0 0 30.50 .00 .00 25 23
1963 8 1 1 28.25 1.50 .25 53 26
1964 5 3 0 19.25 4.50 .00 42 21
1965 7 2 0 22.25 3.00 .00 41 19
1966 8 2 0 24.75 3.00 .00 44 22
1967 5 2 0 17.50 3.75 .00 36 17
1968 5 2 0 20.25 3.00 .00 36 19
1969 6 0 0 10.00 .00 .00 18 6
1970 4 2 0 19.25 2.75 .00 33 19
1971 8 3 1 29.75 5.50 1.50 80 36
1972 5 3 1 21.75 6.50 .75 65 31
1973 9 7 1 32.00 15.75 .25 110 53
1974 11 7 0 54.25 10.50 .00 103 58
1975 14 3 3 51.00 10.75 4.75 165 75
1976 8 4 2 37.00 12.75 4.25 137 63
1977 6 4 0 23.75 6.25 .00 55 28
1978 5 4 2 29.75 15.00 3.25 122 58
1979 7 2 0 21.25 1.75 .00 38 19
1980 8 7 5 44.75 20.75 7.75 233 101
1981 12 7 6 49.25 25.25 8.00 266 103
1982 13 3 0 44.25 4.00 .00 72 41
1983 5 3 0 16.50 3.00 .00 38 18
1984 12 6 0 32.00 9.25 .00 86 42
1985 11 8 3 57.25 19.75 1.25 171 88
1986 11 6 3 40.00 13.75 2.25 150 59
1987 5 3 2 23.75 5.00 1.50 81 30
1988 3 2 0 7.25 1.75 .00 22 8
1989 9 4 2 32.50 10.75 2.75 120 54
1990 11 5 1 39.00 12.50 3.50 130 58
1991 8 3 1 30.50 6.75 1.75 85 42
1992 5 5 4 32.25 19.00 7.25 192 77
1993 4 0 0 14.25 .00 .00 16 10
1994 11 4 1 29.00 11.50 1.00 98 43
1995 3 3 3 14.00 7.50 2.50 96 30
1996 12 6 3 40.00 15.00 3.50 165 66
1997 11 4 2 45.75 11.50 2.50 131 62
1998 6 3 1 19.50 7.00 .75 67 30
1999 15 8 5 50.00 19.75 9.25 266 103
2000 11 7 4 47.25 20.00 7.75 228 93
2001 7 3 1 20.75 6.50 1.00 71 28
2002 7 2 1 20.00 4.25 1.75 68 27
Avg. 7.9 3.7 1.5 30.5 9.0 2.0
2002-2003 Season - NS: 6 H: 2 IH: 2
(3) NORTHEAST AUSTRALIA/CORAL SEA (135E - 160E)
Year NS H IH NSD HD IHD NTC TCI
---------------------------------------------------------------
1961 4 0 0 13.75 .00 .00 26 9
1962 2 0 0 4.00 .00 .00 10 2
1963 8 1 0 12.00 .75 .00 50 9
1964 7 3 0 24.50 4.00 .00 93 24
1965 4 0 0 16.00 .00 .00 28 10
1966 2 0 0 3.50 .00 .00 10 3
1967 8 2 1 32.50 5.75 1.75 170 37
1968 3 0 0 7.50 .00 .00 17 7
1969 5 0 0 6.75 .00 .00 23 5
1970 4 1 0 10.00 1.25 .00 38 9
1971 7 1 0 24.25 1.00 .00 60 22
1972 10 7 2 46.25 14.25 2.00 311 64
1973 4 2 0 8.50 1.50 .00 47 9
1974 8 2 0 23.50 5.25 .00 92 25
1975 4 0 0 6.50 .00 .00 19 6
1976 8 4 0 30.75 10.25 .00 140 43
1977 7 1 1 12.50 2.25 .75 100 14
1978 4 0 0 9.75 .00 .00 22 6
1979 7 2 1 32.75 10.50 2.00 194 47
1980 5 2 1 21.50 5.75 .50 122 29
1981 3 0 0 9.00 .00 .00 18 8
1982 7 3 2 19.75 4.75 .50 161 26
1983 2 1 1 22.25 9.75 2.25 159 42
1984 7 5 2 24.75 5.00 1.75 214 47
1985 9 3 2 21.50 6.25 2.25 214 33
1986 5 3 0 12.50 4.50 .00 77 17
1987 5 1 0 11.25 .25 .00 38 8
1988 2 2 0 12.25 .75 .00 41 11
1989 4 2 2 12.25 6.00 4.00 216 31
1990 4 3 0 18.25 3.25 .00 74 17
1991 3 2 1 19.75 6.50 2.00 150 31
1992 6 4 1 16.50 7.00 1.25 162 33
1993 6 3 2 27.00 9.50 2.25 225 41
1994 3 2 2 17.75 10.50 4.75 255 44
1995 3 2 1 11.25 3.50 1.00 106 17
1996 5 2 0 16.25 1.00 .00 56 13
1997 7 3 1 27.75 8.00 1.75 182 44
1998 7 3 1 36.50 7.25 1.25 176 45
1999 5 0 0 6.25 .00 .00 22 4
2000 3 0 0 7.50 .00 .00 17 5
2001 3 0 0 3.50 .00 .00 13 3
2002 4 1 0 5.50 1.00 .00 32 4
Avg. 5.1 1.7 0.6 16.8 3.7 0.8
2002-2003 Season - NS: 5 H: 1 IH: 0
(4) SEAS AND GULFS OFF NORTHERN AUSTRALIA (105E - 142E)
(Gulf of Carpentaria/Arafura Sea/Timor Sea)
Year NS H IH NSD HD IHD NTC TCI
---------------------------------------------------------------
1961 6 4 2 39.00 16.25 2.50 156 61
1962 5 0 0 30.75 .00 .00 33 23
1963 6 1 1 26.75 1.50 .25 58 25
1964 5 3 0 27.25 5.00 .00 59 29
1965 9 2 0 29.25 3.00 .00 60 23
1966 5 1 0 17.00 2.75 .00 36 16
1967 5 2 0 17.50 3.75 .00 44 17
1968 5 0 0 15.25 .00 .00 23 10
1969 5 0 0 10.50 .00 .00 19 6
1970 4 2 0 18.75 2.75 .00 40 19
1971 7 4 1 32.50 6.50 1.50 106 41
1972 6 3 1 18.25 6.25 .75 80 27
1973 10 8 1 26.50 12.00 .25 131 42
1974 9 6 0 39.00 9.25 .00 104 43
1975 9 3 3 33.25 10.75 4.75 178 60
1976 7 3 2 32.00 11.00 4.25 154 56
1977 6 5 1 22.75 8.50 .75 99 33
1978 6 2 1 22.50 8.25 2.75 104 38
1979 6 2 0 17.75 2.00 .00 42 17
1980 8 5 3 30.75 10.50 4.00 176 59
1981 9 5 5 34.00 19.75 6.50 256 77
1982 12 3 1 38.50 4.50 .25 99 37
1983 4 2 0 11.25 2.25 .00 34 13
1984 9 6 1 25.00 9.25 1.50 123 41
1985 12 8 4 42.25 18.50 2.50 226 75
1986 9 4 2 28.75 10.50 2.00 137 44
1987 6 4 2 28.00 5.25 1.50 110 34
1988 0 0 0 .00 .00 .00 0 0
1989 5 4 2 20.75 10.75 2.75 130 44
1990 6 5 1 21.00 8.50 .50 95 29
1991 5 1 0 20.00 3.50 .00 40 24
1992 3 2 2 15.75 8.50 4.75 127 39
1993 4 0 0 14.50 .00 .00 20 10
1994 9 4 1 21.75 7.00 1.00 100 29
1995 4 3 3 16.25 7.50 2.50 121 32
1996 9 5 3 36.75 13.25 3.50 184 61
1997 6 2 0 29.25 3.50 .00 54 29
1998 7 3 1 21.50 6.50 .75 85 31
1999 9 5 4 28.25 11.75 6.75 222 65
2000 9 6 4 29.00 9.50 3.00 182 49
2001 7 2 1 19.25 3.00 1.00 72 21
2002 4 1 1 10.25 3.00 1.75 61 18
Avg. 6.6 3.1 1.3 24.3 6.8 1.5
2002-2003 Season - NS: 7 H: 2 IH: 1
E. Monthly Tropical Cyclone Information
---------------------------------------
I did not have the time to attempt to ferret out monthly information
regarding tropical cyclone genesis. Patrick Hoareau has already
compiled much information on Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclones,
including monthly tropical cyclone frequencies, and this can be accessed
at the following link:
http://australiasevereweather.com/cyclones/stats.htm>
I would encourage those interested in detailed statistics of Southern
Hemisphere tropical cyclones to visit the above website. More infor-
mation describing Patrick's work can be found in the monthly feature
in the February, 2003, summary.
*************************************************************************
ACTIVITY BY BASINS
ATLANTIC (ATL) - North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico
Activity for February: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
NORTHEAST PACIFIC (NEP) - North Pacific Ocean East of Longitude 180
Activity for February: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
NORTHWEST PACIFIC (NWP) - North Pacific Ocean West of Longitude 180
Activity for February: 1 tropical storm **
** - classified as a tropical storm only by JTWC
Northwest Pacific Tropical Activity for February
------------------------------------------------
One tropical cyclone came to life in the Northwest Pacific basin
during February, the month of the year with the lowest average number
of tropical cyclone formations. JTWC was the only warning agency to
classify TC-01W as a tropical storm--all the Asian TCWCs treated it as
a tropical depression. (PAGASA assigned the name Ambo when the system
briefly entered the eastern extremity of their AOR.) A special thanks
to Kevin Boyle for writing the summary for Tropical Storm 01W/Ambo.
TROPICAL STORM
(TC-01W / AMBO)
11 - 16 February
------------------------------------
A. Storm Origins
----------------
At 2000 UTC on 9 February JTWC issued a STWO on an area of convection
located near 5.0N/153.0E, or approximately 250 nm west-southwest of
Pohnpei. This area eventually developed into Tropical Storm 01W and was
a twin to a disturbance in the Southern Hemisphere which became Tropical
Cyclone Fritz. Animated infrared satellite imagery indicated cycling
deep convection over a weak LLCC situated within the monsoon trough.
Upper-air analyses indicated that the suspect area was located in the
southwestern quadrant of the subtropical ridge with good divergence and
moderate wind shear conditions. The potential for development for the
next 24 hours was assessed as poor, and then upgraded to fair at 11/1300
UTC. At this time animated infrared satellite imagery indicated that
the deep convection had persisted and consolidated over the weak LLCC.
A TCFA was issued at 11/1500 UTC and soon followed by the first warning
on Tropical Depression 01W at 1800 UTC.
B. Storm History
----------------
At the time of the first warning, Tropical Depression 01W was located
approximately 150 nm south of Agana, Guam, and moving toward the north-
west at 12 kts . Deep convection continued to develop over the system
and animated satellite imagery showed low-level cloud lines wrapping in
from the southeast. After further intensification (and a turn to the
west-northwest) TC-01W was upgraded to a 35-kt tropical storm, but the
system was still being harassed by wind shear. Multi-spectral satellite
imagery revealed an exposed LLCC south of the deep convection which had
weakened by 12/1200 UTC, and as a result TS-01W was downgraded back to
tropical depression status. By 13/0000 UTC the appearance of TD-01W
looked worse for wear with only weak convection situated over a broad
LLCC.
At 0000 UTC on 13 February the partially-exposed centre of TD-01W
was moving west at 15 kts approximately 180 nm north-northwest of Yap.
Most of the deepest convection was in the northern quadrants at this
time. Things hadn't improved six hours later, but at 13/1200 UTC TD-01W
was rewarded for its efforts and persistence. Deep convection began to
increase once again and formed an impressive albeit sheared CDO as seen
in 13/1800 UTC satellite images. TD-01W was re-upgraded to a tropical
storm with the MSW increased to 40 kts. The system began to slow and
meander toward the north-northwest under the steering influence of the
low to mid-level ridge located to the northeast. (Note: Tropical Storm
01W was named Ambo by PAGASA, which issued only four warnings on this
system from the 13th to the 14th.)
At 0000 UTC on 14 February Tropical Storm 01W (Ambo) had slowed to
5 kts, still trekking toward the north-northwest approximately 380 nm
north-northwest of Yap. The system managed to strengthen a little more
and the MSW reached a peak intensity of 45 kts at 14/0600 UTC. This
was maintained for another six hours before TS-01W was abruptly down-
graded to a tropical depression at 14/1800 UTC. At this time upper-
level shearing had exposed the LLCC again with the nearest deep
convection located over 65 nm away. Pressures had been building across
the northern Philippines and this synoptic feature prevented the weak
tropical cyclone from making any further progress toward the north.
Instead, a very slow east-northeastward crawl had begun and this had
turned east-southeastward by 15/0000 UTC.
Satellite images at 0000 UTC 15 February continued to show deep
convection well-removed from the LLCC which, at this time, was located
some 325 nm north-northwest of Yap. The intensity of TD-01W was hovering
at 30 kts. Water vapour imagery at 0600 UTC showed a ball of deep
convection developing over the LLCC, but this soon waned. Movement was
slow throughout the day and toward the east or east-southeast, then
south-southwestward at 15/1800 UTC as the ridge began to pull the system
in toward the central Philippines.
By 16/0000 UTC TD-01W had finished its clockwise loop cycle and was
accelerating south-southwestward at around 13 kts with the limited areas
of deep convection mainly to the northwest of the exposed centre. JTWC
issued the final advisory at 06/0600 UTC on the understanding that the
system would continue to track through a poor sustenance environment,
and by 1800 UTC satellite images showed hardly any trace of the tropical
cyclone.
(Editor's Note: JTWC was the only warning agency to upgrade TD-01W/Ambo
to tropical storm status.)
C. Ambo's Afterlife?
--------------------
JTWC continued to monitor the remnants of TS-01W through STWOs, and
at 2330 UTC on 17 February considered the development potential to be
fair based on the increase of deep convection near the remnant LLCC,
which had drifted southwestward to a position approximately 395 nm east
of Mindanao, Philippines. This was downgraded to poor after the centre
once again became fully-exposed to the east of the cycling deep
convection. According to JMA's bulletins issued on the 17th the weak
LOW was at a virtual standstill and remained stationary until late on
the 18th when it began to drift slowly west. Further bursts of deep
convection occurred as the system continued its way west at a quicker
pace through the 19th, but at 20/0600 UTC JTWC ceased mentioning the
remnants of TC-01W in their STWOs as the appearance and organization of
the system deteriorated again.
What little convection remained in association with the wreckage of
TD-01W continued to drift west towards the Philippines, but generally
it came and went for several days. In fact, satellite images showed the
disturbance re-organizing on the 23rd (although it was still being
sheared) by which time it was moving northwestward and paralleling the
east coast of the Philippines. On the 24th the system became exposed
again. However, following another redevelopment phase early on the 25th,
several bursts of deep convection appeared forming a cold CDO. Embedded
within the overcast was a "pinhole" eye feature which appeared in
satellite images for two hours. Shortly afterwards, cloud top
temperatures warmed and the disturbance was completely stripped of
convection by upper-level shearing. Accelerating towards the northeast
the disturbance completely dissipated and had been absorbed into a
frontal system by 0000 UTC on 27 February. (In an e-mail, Roger Edson
noted that he'd carefully looked at satellite imagery of the pinhole eye
feature referenced above, but could not discern any rotation. Without
rotation of the cloud system, of course, the feature would not have been
a true eye.)
This disturbance may be at least partially related to the remnants
of TC-01W/Ambo, and satellite animations covering the period after
Ambo's dissipation certainly suggest that it was the rejuvenation of
Ambo. (Huang Chunliang pointed out that only CWB was following the
system as a LOW during the time that the "eye" was seen and that CPHC was
the only agency to classify the disturbance as a weak depression and to
mention the fact that it had intensified during the previous 12 hours.
(JMA at the time was following another LOW centre further to the south.)
D. Damage and Casualties
------------------------
There were no reports of damages or loss of life in association with
Tropical Storm 01W/Ambo.
(Report written by Kevin Boyle)
*************************************************************************
NORTH INDIAN OCEAN (NIO) - Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea
Activity for February: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
SOUTHWEST INDIAN OCEAN (SWI) - South Indian Ocean West of Longitude 90E
Activity for February: None
Southwest Indian Ocean Tropical Activity for February
-----------------------------------------------------
As the month of February opened, Severe Tropical Storm Elita was
gathering strength over the Mozambique Channel prior to its third
crossing of the island of Madagascar while intense Tropical Cyclone Frank
was slowly chugging southward over the central South Indian Ocean. The
complete reports on these two storms can be found in the January tropical
cyclone summary. After Elita and Frank had run their courses, the
remainder of the month of February lay unusually quiet across the South-
west Indian Ocean with no tropical disturbances entering warning status
from either MFR or JTWC.
*************************************************************************
NORTHWEST AUSTRALIA/SOUTHEAST INDIAN OCEAN (AUW) - From 90E to 135E
Activity for February: 1 tropical LOW
1 severe tropical cyclone (hurricane)
Northwest Australia/Southeast Indian Ocean
Tropical Activity for February
------------------------------------------
Two tropical weather systems traversed the waters of the Timor Sea
off Western Australia during February. An overland system began to show
signs of intensification near the Kimberley coast around 8 February.
The LOW moved westward and was over the Timor Sea by the next day.
Although forecast to develop into a tropical cyclone for several days,
the LOW remained fairly weak and eventually made landfall along the
Pilbara coastline east of Port Hedland around 0000 UTC on the 12th.
Late in the month another tropical LOW began strengthening off the
Kimberley coast. This one was destined to develop into Severe Tropical
Cyclone Monty, which reached intense tropical cyclone status with peak
winds estimated at 95 kts on the 29th (110 kts 1-min avg MSW per JTWC).
The storm turned southward toward the coast and made landfall on 1 March
near Mardie as a severe Category 3 cyclone on the Australian Cyclone
Severity Scale with peak gusts estimated near 110 kts at landfall. The
report below on Monty was written by Simon Clarke--a special thanks to
Simon for his assistance.
SEVERE TROPICAL CYCLONE MONTY
(TC-14S)
26 February - 2 March
-------------------------------------------------
A. Storm Origins
----------------
Monty was the fourth tropical cyclone of the 2003/2004 season to be
named by the Perth Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre. It was first
detected on 26 February 2004 over land in the western Kimberley region
approximately 140 kilometres east of Broome as a westward-moving
tropical disturbance.
Moving at 6 knots, the developing circulation moved seawards to the
south of Broome later in the day. In the ensuing 24-hour period, deep
convection associated with the LLCC increased under conditions of low
to moderate upper-level wind shear and enhanced upper-level outflow in
all quadrants. The developing storm was upgraded to tropical cyclone
status at 1800 UTC on 27 February near 19.2S/119.7 E, or about 90
nautical miles northeast of Port Hedland, and named Monty.
B. Storm History
----------------
Following naming, Monty travelled in a general westerly direction
approximately 50-75 nautical miles offshore along the Western
Australian coastline for the following 48 hours, initially moving
toward the west-northwest, and then west-southwest, along the
periphery of a mid-level steering ridge located to the south.
During this period and under favourable poleward and equatorial
outflow, Monty steadily intensified, and by 29/1000 UTC had reached
Category 4 status on the Australian scale with a central pressure of
935 hPa and maximum winds of 95 knots (10-min avg) near the centre.
JTWC's corresponding 1-min avg MSW estimate was 110 knots--in very
good agreement with Perth. The severe cyclone was located near 19.8S/
115.6E at the time, or 90 nautical miles northwest of Karratha and
115 nautical miles north-northeast of Onslow. Monty remained close
to this intensity for a further 12 hours as the cyclone moved to
near 20.2S/115.2E at 2200 UTC on 29 February. At this time, an
approaching short-wave trough weakened the mid-level steering ridge.
Monty commenced its poleward turn towards the Australian coastline
around the western periphery of a mid-level subtropical ridge now
located to the southeast of the system. Settling into a southerly,
and ultimately a southeasterly trajectory, Monty some lost strength,
but remained an intense Category 3 cyclone passing to the near north
of Barrow Island before crossing the coastline near Mardie during
the late evening hours of 1 March 2004 (local time). At the time of
landfall, Monty had estimated 10-min avg winds of 80 knots and a
central pressure of 955 hPa.
After crossing the coast, the cyclonic circulation decayed
considerably as Monty travelled inland to the southeast.
Approximately 24 hours after landfall, and after travelling some 300
kilometres inland, Monty was downgraded from tropical cyclone status
near 24.2S/118.0E. The remnant depression continued to track toward
the southeast prior to dissipation over land in the central part of
Western Australia.
C. Warnings
-----------
Monty remained within the Perth Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre's
AOR for its entire life. During this period, the Centre issued Tropical
Cyclone advices on 68 occasions, beginning at 0100 UTC on 27 February
and with the final one issued at 1900 UTC on 2 March.
D. Meteorological Observations
------------------------------
The Perth Bureau of Meteorology has issued a report on Monty that
can be found at:
http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/wa/cyclone/monty/index.shtml>
This report provides an excellent snapshot of interesting observations
relating to the cyclone, including wind gusts, lowest reported pressure
readings, a pictorial representation of Monty's track, radar images,
rainfall accumulations and pictures of flooding produced by the cyclone.
Some of the more notable observations include:
(1) Highest Wind Gusts
----------------------
113 kts North Rankin Platform 0600 UTC 29 Feb
95 kts Varanus Island 0717 UTC 01 Mar
91 kts Barrow Island 0940 UTC 01 Mar
83 kts Mardie Station 1110 UTC 01 Mar
(2) Lowest Pressures
--------------------
960.6 hPa Varanus Island 0600 UTC 01 Mar
963.7 hPa Barrow Island 0730 UTC 01 Mar
964.1 hPa Mardie Station 1620 UTC 01 Mar
(3) Accumulated Rainfall
------------------------
393 mm Mardie Station (under reported--rain gauge overflowed)
382 mm Yalleen
323 mm Roebourne
E. Damage and Casualties
------------------------
There were no casualties reported as a direct consequence of Monty.
In fact, little serious damage was recorded.
Prior to landfall, the cyclone forced 'resources giant' Rio Tinto
to shut one-third of its mines and one of its ports in the region. The
company's Dampier port, which normally operates 24 hours a day and
moves an estimated 203,000 tons of iron ore daily, was closed during
the event.
For large parts of Western Australia's pastoral country, Monty
produced the best rains in four years, if not a decade, particularly
in the central and western parts of the Pilbara and Gascoyne. The
Fortescue River rose to its highest level since 1975. There were
media reports of people being caught by rising waters. At Yaraloola
station, south of Karratha, two residents and their dogs were plucked
off their roof by a helicopter with flood waters reaching halfway up
the walls.
The flooding from Monty's rains cut major highways, including North
West Coastal Highway, for two weeks. Emergency services had to fly
fresh water and supplies into inland towns such as Pannawonica, where
all telephone landlines were down after the storm.
Further information, including satellite imagery, track details and
photographs of the event can be found at the following web-links:
http://www.redtailcanyon.com/items/34700.aspx>
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?
img_id=16474>
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_
v2.php3?img_id=11979>
http://www.eorc.nasda.go.jp/TRMM/typhoon/html/a/2004s/14S.MONTY_
2004s_e.htm>
(Report written by Simon Clarke)
*************************************************************************
NORTHEAST AUSTRALIA/CORAL SEA (AUE) - From 135E to 160E
Activity for February: 1 tropical cyclone
Northeast Australia/Coral Sea
Tropical Activity for February
------------------------------
One named tropical cyclone developed between longitudes 135E and
160E during the month of February. Tropical Cyclone Fritz developed
east of the Cape York Peninsula on the afternoon of 10 February and
moved inland near Bathhurst Bay during the morning of the 11th with
peak gusts estimated at 55 kts. The cyclone weakened over land but
later re-intensified into a cyclone over the Gulf of Carpentaria on
the morning of 12 February, making a second landfall during the night
of 12-13 February along the southern Gulf coastline. As the month of
February closed, another tropical LOW was slowly gaining strength in
the Gulf of Carpentaria. On 1 March this system developed into Tropical
Cyclone Evan shortly before making landfall in the Northern Territory.
Evan will be covered in next month's summary. A special thanks to Simon
Clarke for writing the following report on Tropical Cyclone Fritz.
TROPICAL CYCLONE FRITZ
(TC-12P)
8 - 12 February
------------------------------------------
A. Storm Origins
----------------
The first week of February, 2004, saw an active monsoon trough become
established through the northern Coral and Solomon Seas. Initially, a
slow-moving tropical LOW developed in the central Solomon Sea at
approximately 9.0S/154.0E on 8 February 2004. This location is about
350 nautical miles west of Honiara. Gale warnings were issued for
this LOW as it deepened to 1003 hPa. However, strong upper-level
northeasterly winds weakened this initial development within 24 hours
as a new LOW developed to its southwest in the northern Coral Sea.
This new LOW became Queensland's first named storm of the 2003/2004
season.
The new tropical LOW developed rapidly, and at 10/0600 UTC a gale
warning was issued for the northern Coral Sea adjacent to the LOW which
at the time was located near 13.7S/147.3E, or about 165 nautical miles
northeast of Cooktown. At 10/0900 UTC the tropical LOW was upgraded to
tropical cyclone status and named Fritz.
B. Storm History
----------------
At the time of naming, Tropical Cyclone Fritz was centred near
14.0S/146.6E (or about 125 nautical miles east of Cape Melville and
120 nautical miles northeast of Cooktown) with a central pressure of
998 hPa, moving to the west at 11 knots.
Fritz maintained a fast-paced track (between 11 and 16 knots),
generally toward the west, and crossed the far northern Queensland
coastline at 10/1540 UTC, just to the south of Cape Melville (14.5S/
144.7E). At the time of landfall, Fritz sported a 995 hPa central
pressure with peak 10-min avg winds estimated at 40 knots.
It was clear that Fritz would cross the Cape York Peninsula rapidly
with the opportunity for redevelopment in the southwestern Gulf of
Carpentaria. The Bureau of Meteorology, Brisbane, had anticipated
this event and was already issuing cyclone advisories for the south-
western Gulf communities. As predicted, Fritz quickly lost tropical
cyclone characteristics as it crossed the Cape York Peninsula, but
quickly regained them as it entered the Gulf of Carpentaria just
after 1400 UTC on 11 February. A microwave TRMM image at 1419 UTC
depicted a clear centre near 16.4S/141.1E, just off the coastline.
By 11/1545 UTC Fritz had been renamed and had commenced
re-intensification under favourable conditions of warm sea surface
temperatures, minimal wind shear and good upper-level outflow. Fritz
moved generally toward the west-southwest at 11 knots. As Fritz
approached Mornington Island, it nudged onto a westerly path and
deepened to 985 hPa (peak intensity) with winds gusting to 75 knots,
implying peak 10-min avg winds of around 50 knots. At the time radar
imagery clearly showed evidence of an eye, which passed over the
island between 12/0200 UTC and 12/0600 UTC. Fritz slowed as it
approached the Australian mainland near 16.8S/138.8E at 12/1200 UTC
and reverted to a west-southwesterly path.
Fritz rapidly degenerated after crossing the coast. Following
degeneration, ex-Tropical Cyclone Fritz maintained a clear satellite
signature as it travelled across inland Northern Territory and Western
Australia before interacting with a cold front south of Perth, where
a deep LOW resulted (eventually reaching the southern tip of New Zealand
as a 963 hPa LOW some days later).
C. Damage/Casualties/Observations
---------------------------------
Fritz crossed the coastline in relatively remote parts of Australia.
Jeff Callaghan from the Bureau of Meteorology Brisbane provides the
following (slightly edited) insight:
"Fallen trees caused water and power outages at the remote
communities of Wujal Wujal, Bloomfield and Ayton north of Cairns.
Landslides closed the Gillies Highway near Cairns, and a landslide
caused major damage to properties at Yorkeys Knob (northern beach
suburb of Cairns). Cape Flattery AWS (14.96S/145.3E) registered
10-minute mean winds SE/31 knots around 1122 UTC, 10 February 2004,
when Fritz was 80 km north of the AWS.
"Rainfalls in the 24 hours to 9 AM 11 February (2300 UTC 10 February
2004) include:
204 mm Weipa (Cape York Peninsula)
173 mm Saddle Mountain (near Cairns)
163 mm Cairns Airport Alert
"Heavy rains continued in the Cairns Townsville Mackay Region with
24-hour totals to 9 AM 12 February 2004:
309 mm Upper Murray
292 mm Paluma
193 mm South Johnstone
184 mm Innisfail
"There was flash flooding in the Innisfail/South Johnstone region
with falls of 74 mm in one hour.
"At Mornington Island trees were uprooted but there was no structural
damage. The island has withstood direct hits from severe Tropical
Cyclones Warren and Abigail over the last decade and buildings are
constructed to withstand severe tropical cyclones. The lowest
barometer reading at Mornington Island was 993.3 hPa at 0330 UTC, 12
February, when the winds around this time were ESE/21 knots, gusting
to 39 knots. Buildings and trees heavily surround the anemometer on
the island, and it is customary for forecasters at the Townsville
Meteorological Office to relate the 10-minute mean wind to the maximum
gust. Sweers Island (17.2S/139.6E) estimated 10-minute mean winds of
45 knots in a special report at 2330 UTC, 11 February 2004, when a
rainband south of the centre passed over the Island."
There were no casualties as a consequence of Tropical Cyclone Fritz.
D. Comparisons (BoM & JTWC)
---------------------------
Compared to the Bureau of Meterology (BoM), the Joint Typhoon
Warning Centre (JTWC) was slow to pick up Fritz. This could perhaps
be attributed to the time lapsing between warnings and the rapid
development of Fritz following initial identification. Similar
occurrences have also been observed in previous seasons in the Coral
Sea: Tropical Cyclones Rona, Tessi, Vaughan, Steve and Abigail (and
later Evan in the Gulf of Carpentaria), were small, minor to moderately
intense tropical cyclones that were significantly under-estimated in
their intensity.
(Report written by Simon Clarke with significant contributions by
Jeff Callaghan)
*************************************************************************
SOUTH PACIFIC (SPA) - South Pacific Ocean East of Longitude 160E
Activity for February: 1 intense tropical cyclone
South Pacific Tropical Activity for February
--------------------------------------------
Following the very intense and devastating Tropical Cyclone Heta in
early January, the South Pacific east of 160E lay rather quiet for
almost two months with no tropical cyclones or depressions tracked.
During the third week of February a system began developing to the
northwest of Fiji which would become intense Tropical Cyclone Ivy.
After moving westward, Ivy turned to the south on a course which would
take it over some of the islands of the Republic of Vanuatu, including
the capital city of Port Vila, near the time of its peak intensity of
90 kts (110 kts 1-min avg MSW per JTWC). Ivy then accelerated to the
southeast and narrowly missed New Zealand's North Island shortly after
it had made the transition into a still-potent extratropical cyclone.
The following report on Ivy was written by Simon Clarke--a special
thanks to Simon for his assistance.
TROPICAL CYCLONE IVY
(TD-05F / TC-13P)
21 - 29 February 2004
-----------------------------------------
A. Storm Origins
----------------
Ivy was the second tropical cyclone to form in RSMC Nadi's area of
responsibility during the 2003/2004 South Pacific tropical cyclone
season. A tropical disturbance was first identified about midway
between Nadi, Fiji, and Port Vila, Vanuatu, along an active monsoon
trough on 21 February 2004. The next day, the disturbance formed
into a depression, with the LLCC clearly exposed and displaced just
southeast of the deepest convection.
Around this time, the depression began to move slowly west-
northwestward while still significantly influenced by shear and diurnal
variations. On the 23rd convection about the LLCC gradually increased
with improved organization. Outflow was good to the north and
developing in all other quadrants. By 23/0000 UTC the LLCC had
slipped under the cooling deep convection. Situated under an upper-
level outflow region with minimal shear, TD-05F was then named
Tropical Cyclone Ivy at 23/0300 UTC as primary convective bands
increasingly wrapped tightly around the central features. At the time
of naming, Ivy was located approximately 275 nautical miles northeast
of Port Vila, Vanuatu, and moving slowly northwestward.
B. Storm History
----------------
Initially the system had intensified sporadically, but after being
named intensification was steady with Ivy attaining storm intensity
15 hours later while located some 250 nautical miles north-northeast of
Port Vila and still maintaining a northwesterly motion. By 24/0000 UTC,
the cyclone had shifted onto a southwesterly track, retreating around a
mid-level ridge on a path towards the central part of Vanuatu. Hurricane
intensity was reached at approximately 24/1200 UTC with the storm located
210 nautical miles due north of Port Vila as it continued trekking toward
the southwest.
Occasional warm air entrainment, together with the disruption from
frictional interference from the rugged terrain of the Vanuatu island
group, inhibited further intensification. Ivy peaked at approximately
26/0000 UTC at 90 knots maximum (10-minute average) winds. At its
peak Ivy possessed an estimated central pressure of 935 hPa and was
located about 30 nautical miles northwest of Port Vila under a
strengthening northwesterly steering field. The cyclone began to gather
speed and passed very close to Port Vila around 26/0600 UTC. Ivy
accelerated towards the south-southeast, keeping just west of the
southern islands of Vanuatu whilst weakening under increasingly
aggressive vertical wind shear. (Note: JTWC's peak estimated 1-min avg
MSW of 110 knots agrees very well with Nadi's peak 10-min avg MSW of
90 knots.)
The TCWC at Wellington assumed primary responsibility for further
warnings on Ivy after 27/1800 UTC. Ivy had become extratropical by
28/1200 UTC but remained rather potent as it passed close to the
east of East Cape, New Zealand, on 29 February as a vigorous extra-
tropical cyclone. Following its brush with New Zealand, ex-Tropical
Cyclone Ivy continued racing southeastward and had reached the 50th
parallel by 0000 UTC on 1 March.
C. Warnings
-----------
The following warning summary was provided by Alipate Waqaicelua,
Chief Forecaster at the Nadi TCWC (slightly edited):
"Twenty-five International Marine Warnings were issued on Tropical
Cyclone Ivy by RSMC Nadi. These warnings consisted of three Gale
Warnings, one Storm Warning and 21 Hurricane Warnings, all issued at
six-hourly intervals. In addition, twenty-two Tropical Disturbance
Advisories were issued. Specifically for Vanuatu, twenty Special
Advisories were released by RSMC Nadi."
The Wellington office also issued further warnings until Ivy had lost
its tropical cyclone characteristics soon after moving into their area
of responsibility. Regular marine warnings were issued for the resulting
extratropical storm until it had moved south of latitude 50S.
D. Meteorological Observations
------------------------------
A 70-knot surface wind was reported on Aneityum Island (Vanuatu) at
26/1800 UTC. This was the highest surface wind known to have been
reported at the time of writing this article. The lowest barometric
pressure known to have been recorded was 961.8 hPa at Bauerfield (Vila)
at 26/0600 UTC when the cyclone's eye passed directly over the airfield
(or close by). However, satellite imagery indicated (through Dvorak
analysis) that the minimum pressure could have been as low as 940 hPa
when the eye was over the open sea.
The highest recorded 24-hour rainfall reported from stations in the
path of Ivy was 254.4 mm at Bauerfield on 26 February.
E. Damage and Casualties
------------------------
Ivy was an intense tropical cyclone with maximum 10-minute average
winds of about 90 knots. Much of Vanuatu received moderate to severe
damage directly from the cyclone. The hardest hit areas were the
central islands where moderate to severe damage was experienced.
There was one fatality. Areas worst affected were the islands of
Paama, Epi, Ambrym, the eastern coast of Malekula and the northern
tips of Ambae (Aoba) and Maewo. More than 2,000 people had to be
evacuated from their homes in the Port Vila area as the eye of Ivy
passed directly over or close to the capital. Many of the 24,000
residents of Vanuatu's central islands lost their homes. Most, if
not all, of the mango and banana industries were severely damaged,
and around 75% of the coconut and cocoa crops were affected. A New
Zealand Air Force Orion reported moderate to severe damage to villages
in a 40-kilometre circle centred on the southwest of Ambrym Island.
Houses lost roofs, and trees and vegetation were flattened.
Imagery of Tropical Cyclone Ivy can be found at:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_
v2.php3?img_id=11965>
More specific damage reporting can be found at Relief Web as follows:
http://wwww.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/0/f89f4aba5f93dee1c1256e54004
f7b5b>
No reports of damage have been received, at the time of writing this
report, from New Caledonia or the outlying islands in the southeastern
Solomon Islands.
(Report written by Simon Clarke with significant contributions by
Alipate Waqaicelua)
*************************************************************************
EXTRA FEATURE
In order to shorten the amount of typing in preparing the narrative
material, I have been in the habit of freely using abbreviations and
acronyms. I have tried to define most of these with the first usage
in a given summary, but I may have missed one now and then. Most of
these are probably understood by a majority of readers but perhaps a
few aren't clear to some. To remedy this I developed a Glossary of
Abbreviations and Acronyms which I first included in the July, 1998
summary. I don't normally include the Glossary in most months in
order to help keep them from being too long. If anyone would like to
receive a copy of the Glossary, please e-mail me and I'll be happy
to send them a copy.
*************************************************************************
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This summary should be considered a very preliminary
overview of the tropical cyclones that occur in each month. The cyclone
tracks (provided separately) will generally be based upon operational
warnings issued by the various tropical cyclone warning centers. The
information contained therein may differ somewhat from the tracking and
intensity information obtained from a "best-track" file which is based
on a detailed post-seasonal analysis of all available data. Information
on where to find official "best-track" files from the various warning
centers will be passed along from time to time.
The track files are not being sent via e-mail. They can be retrieved
from the archive sites listed below. (Note: I do have a limited e-mail
distribution list for the track files. If anyone wishes to receive
these via e-mail, please send me a message.)
Both the summaries and the track files are standard text files
created in DOS editor. Download to disk and use a viewer such as
Notepad or DOS editor to view the files.
The first summary in this series covered the month of October,
1997. Back issues can be obtained from the following websites
(courtesy of Michael Bath, Michael V. Padua, Michael Pitt, and
Chris Landsea):
http://australiasevereweather.com/cyclones/>
http://www.typhoon2000.ph>
http://mpittweather.com>
ftp:// ftp.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/pub/landsea/padgett/>
Another website where much information about tropical cyclones may
be found is the website for the UK Meteorological Office. Their site
contains a lot of statistical information about tropical cyclones
globally on a monthly basis. The URL is:
http://www.met-office.gov.uk/sec2/sec2cyclone/sec2cyclone.html>
TROPICAL CYCLONE REPORTS AVAILABLE
JTWC now has available on its website the complete Annual Tropical
Cyclone Report (ATCR) for 2002 (2001-2002 season for the Southern
Hemisphere). ATCRs for earlier years are available also. The report
for the 2002-2003 Southern Hemisphere season has also recently been
added.
The URL is: http://199.10.200.33/jtwc.html>
Also, TPC/NHC has available on its webpage nice "technicolor"
tracking charts for the 2003 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific
tropical cyclones; also, storm reports for all the 2003 Atlantic
and Eastern North Pacific cyclones are now available, as well as
track charts and reports on storms from earlier years.
The URL is: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov>
A special thanks to Michael Bath of McLeans Ridges, New South Wales,
Australia, for assisting me with proofreading the summaries.
PREPARED BY
Gary Padgett
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 334-222-5327
Kevin Boyle (Eastern Atlantic, Western Northwest Pacific, South
China Sea)
E-mail: [email protected]
Huang Chunliang (Assistance with Western Northwest Pacific, South
China Sea)
E-mail: [email protected]
Simon Clarke (Northeast Australia/Coral Sea, South Pacific)
E-mail: [email protected]
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
|
Document: summ0402.htm
Updated: 26th October 2006 |
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