[Index]
Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary February 2008
[Summaries and Track Data] [Prepared by Gary Padgett]
| Tropical
Cyclones
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Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary February 2008 [Summaries and Track Data] [Prepared by Gary Padgett] |
MONTHLY GLOBAL TROPICAL CYCLONE SUMMARY
FEBRUARY, 2008
(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
--> Intense tropical cyclone makes destructive strike in Madagascar
--> Weakening cyclone makes landfall in Western Australia
*************************************************************************
WIKIPEDIA TROPICAL CYCLONE REPORTS
Short reports with satellite pictures and small-scale maps for all
tropical cyclones may be found at the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Atlantic_hurricane_season>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Pacific_hurricane_season>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Pacific_typhoon_season>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_North_Indian_cyclone_season>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007-08_Southern_Hemisphere_tropical_cyclone_season>
For some storms more detailed reports have been prepared. In those cases
I will include the specific links in the reports for the applicable
tropical cyclones.
*************************************************************************
!!!!!!!!!! EXTRA FEATURE !!!!!!!!!!
2008 TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMES
TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMES for the NORTHWEST PACIFIC BASIN
Beginning in 2000 tropical storms and typhoons forming in the North
Pacific west of the Dateline are assigned names by JMA taken from a
new list of Asian names contributed by fourteen nations and territories
from the western Pacific and eastern Asia. Names are not allocated
in alphabetical order and the majority are not personal names--instead
names of animals, plants, fictional characters, descriptive adjectives,
places--even foods--are utilized. The entire list consists of 140
names and all names will be used before any are repeated. The last
name assigned in 2007 was Hagibis in November.
The next 36 names on the list are (** indicates name has already
been assigned in 2008):
Neoguri ** Phanfone Maysak Molave
Rammasun ** Vongfong Haishen Goni
Matmo ** Nuri Noul Morakot
Halong ** Sinlaku Dolphin Etau
Nakri ** Hagupit Kujira Vamco
Fengshen Jangmi Chan-hom Krovanh
Kalmaegi Mekkhala Linfa Dujuan
Fung-wong Higos Nangka Mujigae
Kammuri Bavi Soudelor Choi-wan
Since 1963 PAGASA has independently named tropical cyclones forming
in the Philippines' AOR--from 115E to 135E and from 5N to 25N (except
for a portion of the northwestern corner of the above region). Even
though the Philippines contributed ten names to the international list
of typhoon names, PAGASA still continues to assign their own names for
local use within the Philippines. It is felt that familiar names are
more easily remembered in the rural areas and that having a PAGASA-
assigned name helps to underscore the fact that the cyclone is within
PAGASA's AOR and potentially a threat to the Philippines. Another
consideration may be PAGASA's desire to assign a name when a system is
first classified as a tropical depression. Since tropical and/or
monsoon depressions can bring very heavy rainfall to the nation which
often results in disastrous flooding, the weather service feels that
assigning a name helps to enhance public attention given to a system.
Beginning with 2001 PAGASA began using new sets of cyclone names.
These do not all end in "ng" as did the older names. Four sets of 25
names will be rotated annually; thus, the set for 2008 will be re-used
in 2012. In case more than 25 systems are named in one season, an
auxiliary set will be used. PAGASA names for 2008 are (** indicates
name has already been assigned in 2008):
Ambo ** Julian Rolly
Butchoy ** Karen Siony
Cosme ** Lawin Tonyo
Dindo ** Marce Ulysses
Enteng ** Nina Vicky
Frank Ofel Warren
Gener Pablo Yoyong
Helen Quinta Zosimo
Igme
In the unlikely event that the list is exhausted, the following
names would be allocated as needed: Alakdan, Baldo, Clara, Dencio,
Estong, Felipe, Gardo, Heling, Ismael, and Julio.
NORTH INDIAN OCEAN CYCLONE NAMES
After several years of planning and working out implementation
details, the RSMC for the North Indian Ocean basin--the Indian
Meteorological Department--began naming tropical cyclones in that
region on an experimental basis in the autumn of 2004.
The procedure for allocating names is similar to that used in the
Northwest Pacific basin. All the member nations--eight in this case--
submitted eight names each. The 64 names were arranged in eight
columns of eight names, ordered by the contributing nations in alpha-
betical order, just as is done in the Northwest Pacific. Potential
cyclonic storms for 2008 include (** indicates name has already been
assigned):
Nargis ** Bijli Laila
Abe Aila Bandu
Khai Muk Phyan Phet
Nisha Ward Giri
EXTRA FEATURE - INDEX TO EXTRA FEATURES FOR 2007
Beginning in May, 2000, I began including with each monthly summary
an extra feature which I called the Feature of the Month. Beginning
with July, 2005, I suspended these as a regular monthly item, but have
since included some extra features as time permits. Following is an
index to the Extra Features for 2007.
JAN - INDEX TO EXTRA FEATURES FOR 2006
FEB - 2007 TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMES for the Northwest Pacific
and North Indian Ocean Basins
MAR - none
APR - WESTERN HEMISPHERE TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMES for 2007
MAY - GLOSSARY of ABBREVIATIONS and ACRONYMS
JUN - A REVIEW OF THE 2006-2007 TROPICAL CYCLONE SEASON
FOR THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
JUL - HISTORY OF THE NAMING OF ATLANTIC TROPICAL CYCLONES
PART 1 - THE FABULOUS FIFTIES
AUG - HISTORY OF THE NAMING OF ATLANTIC TROPICAL CYCLONES
PART 2 - THE SENSATIONAL SIXTIES
SEP - SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMES
2007 - 2008 SEASON
OCT - HISTORY OF THE NAMING OF ATLANTIC TROPICAL CYCLONES
PART 3 - THE SUBDUED SEVENTIES
NOV - HISTORY OF THE NAMING OF EASTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH PACIFIC
TROPICAL CYCLONES
DEC - A REVIEW OF THE 2007 TROPICAL CYCLONE SEASON
FOR THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
NOTE!!! - The October, November and December summaries have not yet
been released, but I do plan to include the extra features
that I had previously planned.
***************************************************************************
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: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
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: 1 intense tropical cyclone
1 very intense tropical cyclone
Sources of Information
----------------------
The primary sources of tracking and intensity information for
Southwest Indian Ocean tropical cyclones are the warnings issued by
the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre on La Reunion Island, part of
Meteo France (MFR), and the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre
for the basin. However, tropical cyclones in this region are named
by the Sub-regional Tropical Cyclone Advisory Centres in Mauritius and
Madagascar with longitude 55E being the demarcation line between their
respective areas of naming responsibility. The La Reunion centre only
advises these agencies regarding the intensity of tropical systems.
References to sustained winds imply a 10-minute averaging period unless
otherwise stated.
In the companion tropical cyclone tracks file, I occasionally
annotate positions from warnings issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning
Center (JTWC) of the U. S. Air Force and Navy, located at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, when they differ from MFR's coordinates by usually
40-50 nm or more. The JTWC warnings are also the source of the
1-minute average maximum sustained wind values included in the
tracks file. Additionally, information describing details of
satellite imagery and atmospheric circulation features included in
the narratives is often gleaned from the JTWC warnings.
Southwest Indian Ocean Tropical Activity for February
-----------------------------------------------------
As the month opened, Tropical Cyclone Gula was weakening and becoming
extratropical well to the east of southern Madagascar. Two tropical
cyclones formed during early February with both becoming intense storms.
Hondo reached the "very intense" stage with 10-min avg winds estimated
at 120 kts, but remained in the eastern portion of the basin. After
weakening, the remnants drifted westward for many days and flared up
again to tropical depression status near the Mascarene Islands. Tropical
Cyclone Ivan formed northeast of Madagascar, moved southeastward and
described a large loop, then moved westward and intensified, eventually
striking northeastern Madagascar as an intense cyclone. A report on
Tropical Cyclone Hondo follows--for Ivan, I've deferred to the excellent
online report available on the Wikipedia website.
TROPICAL CYCLONE HONDO
(MFR-10 / TC-16S)
4 � 25 February
------------------------------------------
Hondo: contributed by Zimbabwe
A. Synoptic History
-------------------
Tropical Cyclone Hondo was a slow-moving cyclone which reached the
�very intense tropical cyclone� stage per MFR�s nomenclature, meaning
peak 10-min avg winds 120 kts or higher. The storm was also notable for
having two lives. Warnings were discontinued on the system on
12 February, but nine days later and about 1500 nm to the west, the
system began to regenerate, warranting the issuance of another round of
warnings.
The first MFR bulletin on Tropical Disturbance 10 was issued at 0600
UTC on 4 February with the center located about 550 nm east-southeast of
Diego Garcia. After some wobbles, the center began to pursue a
southeasterly track as it rather quickly intensified. JTWC initiated
warnings on TC-16S at 04/1200 UTC, and Tropical Storm Hondo was
christened by the Meteorological Service of Mauritius at 05/0600 UTC
with the center then located about 625 nm southeast of Diego Garcia.
The storm quickly intensified, reaching cyclone (i.e., hurricane)
intensity six hours later. The intensity remained steady for about
24 hours, after which Hondo underwent a fairly rapid intensification
episode. The storm reached its peak intensity of 120 kts at 1800 UTC
7 February while located approximately 860 nm west-southwest of the
Cocos Islands. The minimum CP estimated by MFR was 906 hPa, and JTWC�s
peak 1-min avg MSW was 125 kts. Based on MFR�s warnings, gales extended
outward from 70-90 nm from the center while JTWC�s gale radii were
somewhat larger.
After peaking in intensity Hondo slowly began to weaken, although the
winds remained pegged at 105 kts for about 30 hours on 8-9 February.
The cyclone, which had been moving on a slow southeasterly course, began
to turn to a more southerly track as it weakened. Winds had dropped
below cyclone intensity (per both warning agencies) by 11/0000 UTC, and
the system was reduced to tropical disturbance status at 12/1200 UTC
while centered about 1250 nm east-southeast of Rodrigues Island. (JTWC
had issued their final warning on Hondo at 12/0600 UTC.)
Over the next nine days ex-Hondo degenerated into a very weak low
pressure area with essentially no convection. Initially drifting west-
northwestward, the system turned to more of a westward track around the
17th. The disturbance gradually began to show signs of life on the
20th, and MFR began issuing bulletins once more at 21/0000 UTC with the
center located about 180 nm northeast of Mauritius. MFR upgraded
ex-Hondo to a 30-kt tropical depression at 21/1800 UTC, but that
represented the peak intensity during Hondo�s second round (per MFR).
JTWC, however, estimated that the system reached a peak 1-min avg MSW of
45 kts at 23/1200 UTC while located only about 50 nm north-northeast of
Reunion Island. During this second phase of Hondo�s life, the system
drifted west-southwestward, passing very near the northern end of
Mauritius, thence bending a little more to the southwest and crossing
Reunion Island. After that the system accelerated to the southwest and
weakened. The final MFR bulletin placed the center about 525 nm south-
southwest of Reunion at 0600 UTC 25 February.
B. Synoptic Observations
------------------------
The following information was sent to the author by Derrick Herndon:
Buoy 53948 was located 30 nm southwest of the developing center at
2200 UTC on the 4th and reported 999.5 mb, suggesting that the pressure
was around 996 mb at the time. Hondo passed close to other buoys over
the next few days but with no direct hits. It was not until the system
was devoid of convection that it passed over another buoy on the 19th at
1100 UTC which reported 1005.8 mb. The environmental pressure was about
1010 mb and the swirl appeared to be producing winds of 30-35 kts.
Rodrigues to the south of the buoy reported winds of 29G41 kts at 1600
UTC on the 19th. Hondo then passed over Mauritius on the 23rd when
Plaisance (FIMP) reported winds of 130@27G41 kts at 0100 UTC and a
lowest pressure of 1003 mb at 0200 UTC. The center then passed over
La Reunion Island where St Pierre (FMEP) reported winds 120@30G44 kts
at 1000 UTC and a lowest pressure of 1002 mb at 1300 UTC.
C. Damage and Casualties
------------------------
No damage or casualties have been reported in association with
Tropical Cyclone Hondo.
(Report written by Gary Padgett with contributions by Derrick Herndon)
TROPICAL CYCLONE IVAN
(MFR-11 / TC-18S)
7 - 22 February
-------------------------------------------------
Ivan: contributed by Tanzania
Tropical Cyclone Ivan was an intense tropical cyclone which made a
very destructive and deadly strike in northeastern Madagascar with at
least 93 persons killed. The cyclone reached a peak intensity of
100 kts on 16 February (115 kts per JTWC--in good agreement with MFR)
and weakened only slightly prior to making landfall.
An excellent and detailed report covering Ivan is available on
Wikipedia at the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Ivan>
My original report on Ivan, which was lost due to a hard drive
crash, contained some observations collected by Derrick Herndon. If
I am successful in getting Derrick to resend those, I will include them
in a later summary.
(Report written by Gary Padgett)
*************************************************************************
NORTHWEST AUSTRALIA/SOUTHEAST INDIAN OCEAN (AUW) - From 90E to 135E
Activity for February: 1 tropical LOW **
1 overland tropical LOW ++
1 severe tropical cyclone
** - classified as a minimal tropical cyclone by JTWC
++ - became a tropical cyclone in March (TC Ophelia)
Sources of Information
----------------------
The primary sources of tracking and intensity information for
Northwest Australia/Southeast Indian Ocean tropical cyclones are
the warnings and advices issued by the Tropical Cyclone Warning
Centres at Perth, Western Australia, and Darwin, Northern Territory.
References to sustained winds imply a 10-minute averaging period
unless otherwise stated.
In the companion tropical cyclone tracks file, I occasionally
annotate positions from warnings issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning
Center (JTWC) of the U. S. Air Force and Navy, located at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, when they differ from the Australian centres' coor-
dinates by usually 40-50 nm or more. The JTWC warnings are also the
source of the 1-minute average maximum sustained wind values included
in the tracks file. Additionally, information describing details of
satellite imagery and atmospheric circulation features included in
the narratives is often gleaned from the JTWC warnings.
TROPICAL LOW
(TC-17S)
4 - 10 February
-----------------------------------
TC-17S was a tropical LOW which was treated as a minimal tropical
storm by JTWC but was not upgraded to tropical cyclone status by BoM
Perth. The Perth TCWC initiated gale warnings on the LOW at 0000 UTC
4 February with the center located about 375 nm southwest of Christmas
Island. It was anticipated that the LOW might develop into a tropical
cyclone, but later on the 4th the system began to weaken and the final
shipping warning was issued at 2200 UTC with the center approximately
450 nm southwest of Christmas Island. Over the next couple of days
the system drifted eastward, and late on the 6th began to exhibit signs
of intensification. JTWC issued their first warning on TC-17S at 0000
UTC 7 February, placing the center 350 nm south of Christmas Island. The
1-min avg MSW was estimated at 35 kts. Six hours later BoM Perth
re-initiated gale warnings on the LOW, estimating the mean central winds
at 30 kts with peripheral gales in the western quadrant.
Over the next three days TC-17S drifted slowly east-southeastward as
it was steered by a near-equatorial ridge, reaching a point approximately
450 nm south-southeast of Christmas Island by 09/0000 UTC. Thereafter,
the system turned to the north-northeast and began to weaken. The gale
warning was cancelled and the final warnings by both Perth and JTWC were
issued at 0000 UTC 10 February. The peak mean winds near the center were
estimated at 30 kts by Perth, while JTWC's peak 1-min avg MSW reached
40 kts at 1200 UTC 8 February. TC-17S formed and existed in an
environment of moderate to high vertical shear which inhibited
significant development.
According to some information sent by Derrick Herndon, ship P3PB9 was
located about 100 nm northwest of the center at 08/1800 UTC and reported
winds 260@37 kts and a pressure of 1001 hPa. (It is unknown if this
represents a 1-min or 10-min avg--likely the latter.) Dvorak ratings
from SAB peaked at T3.0/3.0 from 07/0830 and 07/1430 UTC and also at
08/1430 UTC. The lack of naming of this system is probably due to the
particulars of BoM's basic definition of a tropical cyclone, namely that
gales surround more than 50% of the center for at least six hours. This
criterion was created to provide a somewhat objective method of
distinguishing gale-bearing monsoon depressions from systems exhibiting
a more normal tropical cyclone structure. During the previous season,
two operationally-named systems, Isobel and Odette, were later downgraded
due to not having met this requirement.
No damage or casualties are known to have resulted from TC-17S.
(Report written by Gary Padgett)
SEVERE TROPICAL CYCLONE NICHOLAS
(TC-19S)
12 - 20 February
----------------------------------------------------
Severe Tropical Cyclone Nicholas formed in mid-February from a
tropical LOW off the Kimberley coast. During the time that the system
was strengthening into a tropical cyclone it described a clockwise loop
well to the northwest of Broome. Nicholas moved somewhat erratically
on a general southwesterly track which later became southerly and
carried the cyclone inland approximately 30 nm south-southwest of Coral
Bay. Nicholas' peak intensity of 80 kts--Category 4 on the Australian
Cyclone Severity Scale--was reached at 1800 UTC on 16 February while the
cyclone was centered approximately 190 nm northwest of Port Hedland,
Western Australia. JTWC's estimated peak 1-min avg MSW was also 80 kts,
although occurring slightly earlier than BoM Perth's peak. The minimum
CP was estimated at 944 hPa.
A report with a track graphic for Cyclone Nicholas may be found on
BoM's website at the following URL:
http://www.bom.gov.au/announcements/sevwx/wa/watc20080210.shtml>
(Report written by Gary Padgett)
*************************************************************************
NORTHEAST AUSTRALIA/CORAL SEA (AUE) - From 135E to 160E
Activity for February: Several monsoon LOWs **
** - one of these was briefly classified as a minimal tropical cyclone
by JTWC
Sources of Information
----------------------
The primary sources of tracking and intensity information for
Northeast Australia/Coral Sea tropical cyclones are the warnings
and advices issued by the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres at
Brisbane, Queensland, and Darwin, Northern Territory, and on very
infrequent occasions, by the centre at Port Moresby, Papua New
Guinea. References to sustained winds imply a 10-minute averaging
period unless otherwise stated.
In the companion tropical cyclone tracks file, I occasionally
annotate positions from warnings issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning
Center (JTWC) of the U. S. Air Force and Navy, located at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, when they differ from the Australian centres' coor-
dinates by usually 40-50 nm or more. The JTWC warnings are also the
source of the 1-minute average maximum sustained wind values included
in the tracks file. Additionally, information describing details of
satellite imagery and atmospheric circulation features included in
the narratives is often gleaned from the JTWC warnings.
MONSOON LOWs
11 - 20 February
------------------------------------
Stormy weather associated with an active monsoon trough prevailed
over much of the Coral Sea and eastern Australia for the middle third
of the month of February. BoM Brisbane issued gale warnings for almost
a continuous 10-day period from the 11th to the 20th, excepting only
the 14th. At 1200 UTC on 11 February a monsoon LOW was located inland
about 185 km south-southwest of Townsville, Queensland, producing gales
to 40 kts over the eastern semicircle. The LOW moved southeastward,
moving out over the Pacific at a point about 275 km north of Brisbane
around 12/1200 UTC. Winds increased to storm force for a time after
the LOW had entered the Pacific, but the system began to weaken on
the 13th as it sped away toward the southeast. It was last mentioned
at 13/0600 UTC when located about 375 nm east of Brisbane near 28S/160E.
The Brisbane TCWC issued gale warnings non-stop from 0000 UTC on
15 February through 1800 UTC on the 20th for various LOWs associated
with the monsoon trough. None of these gave much indication of tropical
cyclone development. Michael Bath, of McLeans Ridges, New South Wales,
writes that one of the systems brought extraordinary rainfall to Mackay
on the morning of the 15th with some locations receiving 600 mm in four
hours. Localized flooding was extreme with homes and businesses
inundated even though the main river was not the cause--it was purely
from the volume of rain falling and unable to drain away. Additional
information may be found at the following link:
http://www.australiasevereweather.com/forum/index.php?topic=751.0>
TROPICAL LOW
(TC-20P)
28 February - 1 March
-----------------------------------------
Yet another tropical LOW formed at the end of the month, being
located at 0600 UTC 28 February about 100 nm northeast of Townsville.
This LOW moved in an east-southeasterly direction, entering Wellington's
AOR on 1 March. At 01/0600 UTC the system was located near 26.1S/162.4E,
or about 525 nm east-northeast of Brisbane. The LOW was referred to in
the warnings as a 'tropical' LOW, suggesting that it perhaps had some
potential to develop into a tropical cyclone, but this never happened.
Peripheral gales occurred at various times from the northeastern to
southwestern quadrants. JTWC issued two warnings on this system as
TC-20P. Following is a short table highlighting the two JTWC warnings
on TC-20P:
Date Time JTWC Position MSW (1-min) Brisbane Position
---------------------------------------------------------------------
29 Feb 0600Z 21.2 S 154.3 E 30 kts 20.5 S 152.5 E
29 Feb 1800Z 25.0 S 159.7 E 35 kts 23.8 S 157.6 E
As can easily be seen, the JTWC coordinates were significantly
different from BoM's. It seems likely that JTWC was following another
LOW center within a larger area of disturbed weather.
(Reports written by Gary Padgett)
*************************************************************************
SOUTH PACIFIC (SPA) - South Pacific Ocean East of Longitude 160E
Activity for February: 1 tropical depression
1 tropical cyclone **
** - system formed in January and was treated as a January cyclone
Sources of Information
----------------------
The primary sources of tracking and intensity information for
South Pacific tropical cyclones are the warnings and advisories
issued by the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres at Nadi, Fiji (for
waters north of latitude 25S), and Wellington, New Zealand (for
waters south of latitude 25S). References to sustained winds imply
a 10-minute averaging period unless otherwise stated.
In the companion tropical cyclone tracks file, I occasionally
annotate positions from warnings issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning
Center (JTWC) of the U. S. Air Force and Navy, located at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, when they differ from the Southern Hemisphere
centres' coordinates by usually 40-50 nm or more. The JTWC warnings
are also the source of the 1-minute average maximum sustained wind
values included in the tracks file. Additionally, information
describing details of satellite imagery and atmospheric circulation
features included in the narratives is often gleaned from the JTWC
warnings.
South Pacific Tropical Activity for February
--------------------------------------------
As the month began, Tropical Cyclone Gene was at its peak intensity
southeast of Vanuatu. This tropical cyclone was unusual in that it
maintained tropical cyclone status for several days after it had crossed
25S into Wellington's AOR. A report on Tropical Cyclone Gene may be
found in the January summary. One other system was designated a tropical
depression by RSMC Nadi. This system formed near the border with
Brisbane's AOR on the 17th and was numbered as TD-13F by Nadi. The
depression subsequently moved southward and crossed into Wellington's
AOR the next day without developing.
*************************************************************************
SPECIAL FEATURE - SOURCES OF TROPICAL CYCLONE INFORMATION
The purpose of this section is to list some websites where many and
varied types of tropical cyclone information are archived. Many readers
will know about these already, but for the benefit of those who don't,
I wanted to include them.
(1) Aircraft Reconnaissance Information
---------------------------------------
Various types of messages from reconnaissance aircraft may be
retrieved from the following FTP site:
ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/pub/products/nhc/recon/>
Information regarding how to interpret the coded reconnaissance
messages may be found at the following URL:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/reconlist.shtml>
Links are also included to websites with further information about the
U. S. Air Force 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and the NOAA Air-
craft Operations Center.
(2) Archived Advisories
-----------------------
All the advisory products (public advisories, forecast/advisories,
strike probabilities, discussions, various graphics) issued by TPC/NHC
are archived on TPC's website. For the current year (using 2004 as an
example), the archived products can be found at:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2004/index.shtml>
Links to tropical products archives for earlier years are available at
the following URL:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastall.shtml>
JTWC warnings for past storms are archived on the NRL Monterrey website:
http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/tc_home.html>
On the NRL site, the link to past years can be found in the upper left
corner of the screen.
I am not aware at the moment of any other TCWC which archives all
its tropical cyclone warning/advisory products for public access, but
if I learn of any, I will add them to this list.
(3) Satellite Imagery
---------------------
Satellite images of tropical cyclones in various sensor bands are
available on the NRL Monterrey and University of Wisconsin websites,
courtesy of Jeff Hawkins and Chris Velden and their associates. The
links are:
http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/tc_home.html>
http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/tropic.html>
On the NRL site, the link to past years can be found in the upper left
corner of the screen. For the CIMSS site, a link to data archives is
located in the lower left portion of the screen.
Additional tropical satellite imagery, along with looping ability for
composite microwave imagery for the Western Hemisphere north of the
equator, can be found at:
(1) For the Eastern North Pacific:
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/trop-epac.html>
(2) For the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea:
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/trop-atl.html>
(4) Cyclone Tracking Information
--------------------------------
There is a U. S. Navy site that tracks tropical cyclones at 6-hourly
intervals which often includes pre and post-advisory positions. The
link to the site is:
http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/atcf_web/doc_archives/>
Steve Young has compiled many of these tracks onto a single webpage
which is very user-friendly:
http://home.earthlink.net/~shy9/tc1.htm>
I'm sure there are other sites with available imagery available, and
as I learn of them, I will add the links to this list.
*************************************************************************
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 August, 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.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/tropicalcyclone>
TROPICAL CYCLONE REPORTS AVAILABLE
JTWC now has available on its website the Annual Tropical Cyclone
Report (ATCR) for 2006 (2005-2006 season for the Southern Hemisphere).
ATCRs for earlier years are available also.
The URL is: http://metocph.nmci.navy.mil/jtwc.php>
Also, TPC/NHC has available on its webpage nice "technicolor"
tracking charts for the 2007 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific
tropical cyclones; also, storm reports for all the 2007 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 (Northwest Pacific)
E-mail: [email protected]
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Document: summ0802.htm
Updated: 11th June 2008 |
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