[Index]
Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary May 2008
[Summaries and Track Data] [Prepared by Gary Padgett]
| Tropical
Cyclones
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Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Summary May 2008 [Summaries and Track Data] [Prepared by Gary Padgett] |
MONTHLY GLOBAL TROPICAL CYCLONE SUMMARY
MAY, 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.)
*************************************************************************
MAY HIGHLIGHTS
--> First Eastern Pacific cyclone on record to strike Nicaragua
--> Western Pacific very active with four storms--three typhoons
*************************************************************************
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 !!!!!!!!!!
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMES
2008 - 2009 SEASON
TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMES for the AUSTRALIAN REGION
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology maintains three Tropical
Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs) at Perth, Western Australia; Darwin,
Northern Territory; and Brisbane, Queensland. Formerly each centre
was allotted a separate list of tropical cyclone names, but beginning
with the 2008-2009 season, one single alphabetical list will be used
for the entire Australian region. In addition, TCWCs at Port Moresby,
Papua New Guinea, and Jakarta, Indonesia, maintain lists of native
names to assign to the rare tropical cyclones which form within their
respective AORs.
The AORs of the respective centres are:
(1) Perth - 125E westward to 90E and south of 10S.
(2) Darwin - 125E eastward to 138E and extending northward to the
equator. There is a little irregularity with the eastern border
in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Darwin TCWC issues High Seas
Warnings for the entire Gulf of Carpentaria, but Brisbane issues
Tropical Cyclone Advices and names cyclones in the eastern portion
of the Gulf.
(3) Brisbane - 138E eastward to 160E and generally south of 10S. The
northern border with the Port Moresby AOR is somewhat irregular.
(4) Port Moresby - immediate vicinity of the island of New Guinea and
eastward to 160E generally north of 10S, although the southern
border is somewhat irregular.
(5) Jakarta - 125E westward to 90E and north of 10S to the equator.
Names for the 2008-2009 season (** indicates name has already been
assigned):
Australian Region Port Moresby Jakarta
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Anika Kirrily Alu Anggrek
Billy Laurence Buri Bakung
Cathy Magda Dodo Cempaka
Dominic Neville Emau Dahlia
Ellie Olga Fere Flamboyan
Freddy Paul Hibu Kenanga
Gabrielle Robyn Ila Lili
Hamish Sean Kama Mawar
Ilsa Tasha Lobu Seroja
Jasper Vince Maila Teratai
TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMES for the SOUTHWEST INDIAN OCEAN
and the SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN
The Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre (TCWC) at Nadi, Fiji, has
tropical cyclone warning responsibility for the South Pacific east of
160E and from the equator to 25S. The Meteorological Service of New
Zealand at Wellington has warning responsibility for waters south of
25S, but almost all tropical cyclones in this basin form north of 25S.
When a rare cyclone forms in the Wellington area of responsibility
(AOR), it usually will be assigned a name from the Fiji list (such as
was done for Tropical Cyclone Gita in February, 1999.)
Tropical cyclone warning responsibility for South Indian waters west
of 90E are shared by several TCWCs. The Regional Specialty
Meteorological Centre (RSMC) for the region is the office of Meteo
France on the island of La Reunion. However, following a long-standing
practice, the Sub-regional Tropical Cyclone Advisory Centres at Mauritius
and Madagascar share the responsibility for actually naming tropical
storms with Mauritius naming systems east of 55E and Madagascar covering
the area west of 55E. RSMC La Reunion issues warnings for the basin
independently of Mauritius and Madagascar, but only advises regarding when
or when not to assign a name to a developing cyclone.
Names for the 2008-2009 season (** indicates name has already been
assigned):
Southwest Indian South Pacific
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Asma Newa Hettie Sarah
Bernard Owami Innis Tomas
Cinda Pulane Joni Vania
Dongo Qoli Ken Wilma
Eric Rute Lin Yasi
Fanele Sama Mick Zaka
Gael Tsholo Nisha Atu
Hina Uzale Oli Bune
Izilda Vimbai Pat Cyril
Jade Wada Rene Daphne
Kago Xylo
Lisebo Yamba
Magoma Zita
***********************************************************************
ACTIVITY BY BASINS
ATLANTIC (ATL) - North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico
Activity for May: 1 tropical storm
Sources of Information
----------------------
Most of the information presented below was obtained from the
various tropical cyclone products issued by the Tropical Prediction
Center/National Hurricane Center (TPC/NHC) in Miami, Florida:
discussions, public advisories, forecast/advisories, tropical weather
outlooks, special tropical disturbance statements, etc. Some
additional information may have been gleaned from the monthly
summaries prepared by the hurricane specialists and available on
TPC/NHC's website. All references to sustained winds imply a
1-minute averaging period unless otherwise noted.
NOTE: Most of the information following was taken from the TPC/NHC's
monthly summary for June.
TROPICAL STORM ARTHUR
(TC-01)
31 May - 2 June
-----------------------------------------
Tropical Storm Arthur, named on 31 May, became the second storm in as
many years to be named in the month of May, following Subtropical Storm
Andrea last year. However, Arthur was the first purely tropical storm
to form in May since Tropical Storm Arlene formed early in May, 1981.
The development of Arthur appeared to be the result of a combination
of the low to mid-level remnants of Eastern Pacific Tropical Storm Alma
and a westward-moving tropical wave in the Caribbean Sea. The cyclone
was upgraded to a tropical storm on the first advisory at 1700 UTC on
31 May with the center already inland in Belize about 75 km north-
northwest of Belize City. The initial intensity was 35 kts, which would
turn out to be Arthur's peak operational intensity.
The center of the storm moved slowly west-northwestward and farther
inland over the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, but winds of tropical storm
force continued over portions of the northwestern Caribbean Sea until
early on 1 June. Arthur was downgraded to a tropical depression at
1500 UTC on 1 June. The weakening cyclone turned toward the west and
eventually west-southwestward, dissipating near the northern border
between Guatemala and Mexico by very early the next day.
According to the Wikipedia report, there were five direct and four
indirect fatalities attributed to Arthur. Heavy rains led to serious
flooding in portions of Belize. The total estimated damage to the
nation was US$78 million.
The Wikipedia report may be accessed at the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Arthur_(2008)>
A post-storm analysis of Arthur has determined that the system was
likely a tropical storm as early as 0000 UTC on 31 May. The development
of the tropical storm from a broad low-pressure area appeared to happen
very quickly. A ship reported winds of 44 kts about 60 nm northeast of
the center around 31/0300 UTC; however, based on the ship's history,
these winds were believed to be slightly inflated. A maximum intensity
of 40 kts has been assigned at 31/0600 UTC.
The official TPC/NHC storm report on Arthur, authored by Eric Blake,
may be accessed at the following link:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2008atlan.shtml>
(Report written by Gary Padgett)
*************************************************************************
NORTHEAST PACIFIC (NEP) - North Pacific Ocean East of Longitude 180
Activity for May: 1 tropical storm
Sources of Information
----------------------
Most of the information presented below was obtained from the
various tropical cyclone products issued by the Tropical Prediction
Center/National Hurricane Center (TPC/NHC) in Miami, Florida (or the
Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) in Honolulu, Hawaii, for
locations west of longitude 140W): discussions, public advisories,
forecast/advisories, tropical weather outlooks, special tropical
disturbance statements, etc. Some additional information may have
been gleaned from the monthly summaries prepared by the hurricane
specialists and available on TPC/NHC's website. All references to
sustained winds imply a 1-minute averaging period unless otherwise
noted.
NOTE: Most of the information following was taken from the TPC/NHC's
monthly summary for May.
TROPICAL STORM ALMA
(TC-01E)
29 - 30 May
---------------------------------------
Tropical Storm Alma originated from a broad area of low pressure that
formed early on 27 May about 220 nm southwest of the coast of Nicaragua.
The system subsequently moved eastward with associated shower and
thunderstorm activity gradually becoming better organized. Early on
29 May a tropical depression formed about 85 nm west-northwest of Cabo
Blanco, Costa Rica. TD-01E turned northward and was upgraded to Tropical
Storm Alma at 1500 UTC. Alma reached its peak intensity of 55 kts while
centered about 40 nm southwest of Managua, Nicaragua. A few hours later,
Alma made landfall at peak intensity along the northwestern Pacific coast
of Nicaragua near Leon. The cyclone continued northward and weakened to
a tropical depression over Honduras. The LLCC of Alma had dissipated
over the mountains of western Honduras by 30 May, but the mid-level
remnants continued northward into the Gulf of Honduras and were partially
responsible for the formation of Atlantic Tropical Storm Arthur on
31 May. (See report on Arthur above.) The last time that the remnants
of a Pacific storm contributed to the formation of an Atlantic cyclone
was in 1989, when the remnants of Hurricane Cosme were instrumental in
the formation of Tropical Storm Allison.
Alma was the first tropical storm to make landfall along the Pacific
coast of Central America since prior to 1949. Tropical Storm Simone of
1968 moved along the coast of Guatemala, and Tropical Storms Miriam of
1988 and Andres of 1997 passed a short distance offshore of the coast-
lines of Guatemala and El Salvador. In May, 2005, former Hurricane
Adrian was a tropical storm almost up to landfall with the weakening
depression moving inland near the El Salvador/Nicaragua border.
According to the Wikipedia report, there were two direct fatalities
and seven indirect fatalities attributed to Alma with total damage
estimated at US$33 million. A significant amount of the damage occurred
in Costa Rica due to heavy rainfall which caused river flooding and
widespread mudslides.
The Wikipedia report on Alma is available at the following URL:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Alma_(2008)>
The official TPC/NHC storm report on Alma, written by Daniel Brown,
may be accessed at the following link:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2008epac.shtml>
(Report written by Gary Padgett)
*************************************************************************
NORTHWEST PACIFIC (NWP) - North Pacific Ocean West of Longitude 180
Activity for May: 1 tropical storm
2 typhoons **
1 super typhoon
** - one of these not classified as typhoon by JMA
Sources of Information
----------------------
Most of the information presented below is based upon tropical
cyclone warnings and significant tropical weather outlooks issued
by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center of the U. S. Air Force and
Navy (JTWC), located at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In the companion
tropical cyclone tracks file, I normally annotate track coordinates
from some of the various Asian warning centers when their center
positions differ from JTWC's by usually 40-50 nm or more. All
references to sustained winds imply a 1-minute averaging period
unless otherwise noted.
Michael V. Padua of Naga City in the Philippines, owner of the
Typhoon 2000 website, normally sends me cyclone tracks based upon
warnings issued by the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) and the
Philippines' Atmospheric, Geophysical & Astronomical Services
Administration (PAGASA). A very special thanks to Michael for the
assistance he so reliably provides.
In the title line for each storm I have referenced all the cyclone
names/numbers I have available: JTWC's depression number, the
JMA-assigned name (if any), JMA's tropical storm numeric designator,
and PAGASA's name for systems forming in or passing through their
area of warning responsibility.
Northwest Pacific Tropical Activity for May
-------------------------------------------
The month of May was an active one in the Northwest Pacific basin.
Four named tropical cyclones formed with three reaching typhoon strength
(per JTWC's assessment--Halong/Cosme was not upgraded to typhoon status
by JMA nor PAGASA). One of the typhoons reached super typhoon intensity
of 130 kts (again per JTWC's estimate). All the storms but one formed
in the Philippine Sea east of the Philippines and moved northward and/or
northeastward with minimal effects on populated areas. Typhoon Halong
(known as Cosme in the Philippines) formed in the South China Sea and
followed a steady northeasterly track across the northern part of Luzon.
Reports on all the cyclones follow.
SUPER TYPHOON RAMMASUN
(TC-03W / TY 0802 / BUTCHOY)
6 - 13 May
------------------------------------------------
Rammasun: contributed by Thailand, means 'God of thunder'
Early in May a disturbed area of weather well east of the southernmost
Philippine island of Mindanao began to show signs of development. JMA
classified the system as a weak tropical depression at 1800 UTC on 6 May
when it was located about 100 nm south-southeast of Palau. The next day
PAGASA named the system Tropical Depression Butchoy, and JTWC initiated
warnings on Tropical Depression 03W. The system steadily intensified and
both JTWC and JMA upgraded the system to tropical status at 07/1800 UTC
with JMA assigning the name Rammasun. The depression had been drifting
west-northwestward and at the time of its upgrade was located about
175 nm west-northwest of Palau. Immediately after being named Rammasun
turned to a rather straight northward trajectory which it was to follow
for several days until recurvature into the westerlies south of Japan.
Intensification proceeded slowly at first, but became more steady on
the 8th. JTWC upgraded Rammasun to a typhoon at 0000 UTC 9 May with the
center located approximately 375 nm west-northwest of Yap. JMA likewise
upgraded the storm to typhoon status six hours later. After reaching
typhoon intensity the storm strengthened more rapidly, reaching a peak
intensity of 135 kts at 10/1200 UTC while centered about 625 nm south-
southeast of Okinawa. JMA's peak 10-min avg MSW estimate was 105 kts
with a CP of 915 hPa. JTWC maintained Rammasun at super typhoon
intensity for 18 hours, after which the system began to weaken rapidly
as it encountered increasing shear and cooler SSTs. JTWC downgraded
Rammasun to a tropical storm and issued their final warning at 1800 UTC
on 12 May with the storm centered about 325 nm south of Tokyo. JMA
carried Rammasun as a tropical cyclone for one more warning cycle and
then declared the system extratropical at 13/0600 UTC near 33N/144E.
(Note: Normally I track the extratropical remnants of tropical cyclones
for several days at least, but I was unable to do this for Rammasun.
I lost my original track for Rammasun when my computer suffered a disk
crash in mid-May. I recreated the track from Michael Padua's logs on
his Typhoon2000 website, but Michael does not continue the logs past
extratropical transition, so I was unable to follow the extratropical
stage of former Super Typhoon Rammasun.)
A somewhat detailed report on Rammasun is available on Wikipedia at
the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Rammasun_(2008)>
According to this report there were no known fatalities resulting from
the typhoon, and only relatively minor damage in the Philippines and
in Japan.
(Report written by Gary Padgett)
TROPICAL STORM MATMO
(TC-04W / TS 0803 / DINDO)
14 - 17 May
----------------------------------------------
Matmo: contributed by the United States, means 'heavy rain' in the
Chamorro language
At 0000 UTC on 14 May JMA classified a tropical disturbance east of
Luzon as a weak tropical depression located about 250 nm east-northeast
of Manila. Six hours later JTWC initiated warnings on Tropical
Depression 04W while at the same time JMA upped the winds to 30 kts.
The tropical depression moved slowly west-northwestward toward north-
eastern Luzon for a day or so while slowly consolidating. By 15/0000
UTC TD-04W had begun to track northeastward. JMA upgraded the depression
to Tropical Storm Matmo at 15/1200 UTC while located about 365 nm south-
southwest of Okinawa. At the same time PAGASA initiated warnings on the
system, naming it Tropical Depression Dindo. At 1800 UTC both PAGASA
and JTWC upgraded the system to tropical storm status.
Matmo intensified a little more as it accelerated northeastward.
JTWC's peak 1-min avg MSW reached only 40 kts, and that agency issued
its final warning at 16/0600 UTC and declared Matmo to be extratropical.
However, JMA maintained Matmo as a tropical cyclone until 17/0000 UTC
when it was declared extratropical near 27N/141E. The JMA High Seas
Warning at 17/0600 UTC did not contain a reference to any LOW which
could have been ex-Matmo. It seems likely that the former tropical
cyclone was absorbed into a developing LOW which at 17/0600 UTC was
located near 30N/149E.
RSMC Tokyo's peak operational intensity for Matmo was 45 kts, reached
at 16/0000 UTC when the storm was centered approximately 365 nm south-
southwest of Okinawa. However, according to the Wikipedia report, during
a post-storm analysis JMA revised Matmo's intensity up to 50 kts, making
the cyclone a 'severe tropical storm' per the nomenclature used by the
agency. A 10-min avg wind of 50 kts would equate to a 1-min avg MSW of
around 55-60 kts--a significantly stronger system than assessed by JTWC.
There have been no reports of casualties or damage resulting from
Tropical Storm Matmo/Dindo.
(Report written by Gary Padgett)
TYPHOON HALONG
(TC 05W / STS 0804 / COSME)
13 - 23 May
-----------------------------------------------
Halong: contributed by Viet Nam, is a famous picturesque place in Viet
Nam which lies in the Bacbo Gulf and consists of more than
1000 isles, most of which are limestone islands
At 1800 UTC on 13 May JMA upgraded a low-pressure area in the South
China Sea about 250 nm southwest of Manila to weak tropical depression
status. The system remained quasi-stationary for a couple of days while
slowly organizing. PAGASA initiated warnings at 0600 UTC 14 May,
classifying the system as a 30-kt depression and naming it Cosme. JTWC
initiated warnings on Tropical Depression 05W at 1200 UTC 15 May. PAGASA
upgraded Cosme to a tropical storm at 15/1800 UTC located about 225 nm
west-southwest of Manila. Both JMA and JTWC followed suit twelve hours
later with JMA assigning the international name Halong.
Tropical Storm Halong/Cosme began to intensify somewhat quickly on
16 May as it headed northeastward for northwestern Luzon. JTWC upgraded
Halong/Cosme to typhoon status at 17/0600 UTC with a peak intensity of
70 kts occurring six hours later. The storm was located at the time
about 100 nm north-northeast of Manila. JMA did not upgrade the storm
to typhoon status--their peak 10-min avg MSW was 60 kts with an estimated
minimum CP of 975 hPa. Halong/Cosme made landfall in the province of
Pangasinan and moved northeastward across the island, exiting into the
Philippine Sea by 18/0600 UTC. The MSW decreased to 45 kts while
crossing Luzon, but Halong re-intensified to 55 kts (per both JTWC and
JMA) on the 19th while accelerating northeastward. However, extra-
tropical transition was looming on the horizon. JTWC issued their final
warning at 20/0000 UTC, and JMA declared Halong extratropical at 1200 UTC
while located about 300 nm south-southeast of Tokyo, still headed north-
eastward. The remnants of Halong intensified slightly to 50 kts as an
extratropical storm on 21 May, but began to slowly weaken thereafter.
By 23/0600 UTC the former tropical cyclone had weakened to a 30-kt LOW
in the North Pacific near 50N/161E.
According to the Wikipedia report, in Luzon Halong/Cosme caused
58 deaths with an estimated damage total of US$94 million. The storm
destroyed 43,365 houses and damaged 188,830 more. Also, the islands of
Mindoro and Panay were affected as the storm-induced southwest monsoon
brought heavy rain and attendant flooding to those areas.
The complete Wikipedia report on Halong/Cosme may be accessed at the
following URL:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_Storm_Halong_(2008)>
(Report written by Gary Padgett)
TYPHOON NAKRI
(TC-06W / TY 0805 / ENTENG)
26 May - 9 June
-----------------------------------------------
Nakri: contributed by Cambodia, is a kind of flower
A developing tropical disturbance southwest of Guam had become
sufficiently organized so that JMA classified the system as a weak
tropical depression at 26/0000 UTC located about 350 nm southwest of the
island. By 1200 UTC convection had continued to organize and the winds
were raised to 30 kts. JTWC issued their first warning on Tropical
Depression 06W at 0000 UTC 27 May with the MSW estimated at 25 kts, but
six hours later both JTWC and JMA upgraded the depression to tropical
storm status with JMA assigning the name Nakri. The system had moved
northwestward and by this time was located approximately 425 nm west of
Guam. Intensification proceeded at a steady pace with Nakri reaching
typhoon intensity at 28/1200 UTC while centered about 475 nm west-
northwest of Guam. Nakri was moving slowly at this time, but once having
reached typhoon intensity, rapid intensification set in and the cyclone
reached a peak intensity of 125 kts (105 kts per JMA) at 1200 UTC 29 May.
The estimated CP was 930 hPa. At the time of its peak intensity Typhoon
Nakri was located about 750 nm south-southeast of Okinawa.
Based on JTWC's warnings, Nakri retained its peak intensity for a
period of 24 hours. The storm had been moving slowly west-northwestward,
but as it began to weaken the track began to curve to the northwest,
north and eventually north-northeast. (While at its peak intensity,
Nakri entered PAGASA's AOR, thereby receiving the name Enteng.) The
storm had begun to weaken by 30/1200 UTC, and thereafter weakening was
almost as rapid as its earlier intensification. Nakri had weakened
to minimal typhoon intensity by 31/1200 UTC but underwent a modest
re-strengthening to 80 kts at 0000 UTC on 2 June. This secondary peak
in intensity occurred with the storm centered about 350 nm east-southeast
of Okinawa. JMA's peak 10-min avg wind during Nakri's "second wind" was
70 kts. The storm began to weaken and take on extratropical features
later on 2 June. JTWC issued its final warning on the storm at 0000 UTC
on 3 June, and JMA classified Nakri extratropical six hours later while
located about 225 nm southwest of Tokyo. The extratropical remnants of
Nakri sped eastward and later east-southeastward across the North
Pacific while slowly weakening. After crossing the Dateline ex-Nakri
turned more to the northeast, weakening to a 25-kt LOW near 47N/155W by
0000 UTC on 9 June.
Typhoon Nakri remained far from populated shores and there are no
reports of damage or casualties resulting from the storm.
(Report written by Gary Padgett)
*************************************************************************
NORTH INDIAN OCEAN (NIO) - Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea
Activity for May: No tropical cyclones
North Indian Ocean Tropical Activity for May
--------------------------------------------
No tropical cyclones formed in the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea
during May. As the month opened, the intense Cyclonic Storm Nargis was
closing in for its horrifically deadly rendezvous with southern Myanmar.
The report on Nargis may be found in the April summary.
*************************************************************************
SOUTHWEST INDIAN OCEAN (SWI) - South Indian Ocean West of Longitude 90E
Activity for May: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
NORTHWEST AUSTRALIA/SOUTHEAST INDIAN OCEAN (AUW) - From 90E to 135E
Activity for May: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
NORTHEAST AUSTRALIA/CORAL SEA (AUE) - From 135E to 160E
Activity for May: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
SOUTH PACIFIC (SPA) - South Pacific Ocean East of Longitude 160E
Activity for May: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
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: summ0805.htm
Updated: 18th September 2008 |
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