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DEFINATION
A cyclone is a low pressure area surrounded by high pressure
area form all sides . It is a circular or elliptical in shape .
Winds move from all sides to central low . They assume
anticlockwise direction in the northern hemisphere and
clockwise in the southern hemisphere due to cariolis effect.
ITS OF TWO TYPES
TEMPARERATE C YCLONE
TROPICAL CYCLONE
CHARACTERSTICS OF CYCLONES
To make the most efficient analysis of available data in the vicinity of typhoon, you must
be familiar with the normal wind, pressure, temperature, clouds and weather pattern
associated with these storms.
1.SURFACE WINDS The surface winds blow inward in a counterclockwise
direction toward the center. The winds in the left-rear quadrant have the
greatest angle of inflow (in the Northern Hemisphere). The diameter of
the area affected by hurricane or typhoon force winds may be in excess of
100 miles in large storms or as small as 25 to 35 miles. Gale-force winds
sometimes cover an area 500 to 800 miles or more. The maximum extent
of strong winds is usually in the direction of the major subtropical high-
pressure center, which is most frequently found to the right of the storm’s
path in the Northern Hemisphere. Surface wind speeds of 140 knots have
been successfully recorded, but accurate measurements of peak wind
speeds in large mature storms have not been possible with any reliable
degree of accuracy.
CHARACTERSTICS OF CYCLONES
• SURFACE PRESSURE.— The sea-level isobars are
an excellent tool with which to analyze these
storms. The isobars take on a nearly symmetrical
or elliptical shape, although deformations in the
isobaric pattern are not uncommon. For instance,
the tightest isobaric spacing (strongest pressure
gradient) is found to the right of a storm’s line of
movement, and a trough often extends
southward from these storms. The central
pressures of mature storms are well below
average. Central pressures of 890 to 930 millibars
are not uncommon.
CHARACTERSTICS OF CYCLONES
• SURFACECE TEMPERATURE.— In contrast to extratropical cyclones,
the tropical cyclone may show no cooling, or very little, toward the
storm center. This indicates that the horizontal adiabatic cooling
caused by lower pressures is largely offset by the heat added
through the condensation process. Upper-air temperatures have
been found warmer by 5 ‘C or more.
• CLOUDS.— The cloud patterns of tropical cyclones also differ from
those of extratropical cyclones. In mature tropical cyclones, almost
all the cloud forms are present, but by and large the most
significant clouds are the heavy cumulus and cumulonimbus which
spiral inward toward the outer edge of the eye. These spiral bands,
especially the leading ones, are also referred to as BARS. Cirrus and
Cirrostratus occupy the largest portion of the sky over these storms.
In fact, cirrus, becoming more dense, then changing to cirrostratus
and lowering somewhat is more often than not a mariner’s first
indication of an approaching distant storm or the development of
one in the near vicinity. The appearance of the sky is very similar to
that of an approaching warm front. A typical cloud distribution
chart for a tropical cyclone is found in figure 9-3-7.
CHARACTERSTICS OF CYCLONES
THE EYE.— The eye of a storm is one of the oddest
phenomena known in meteorology. Precipitation
ceases abruptly at the boundary of a well-developed
eye; the sky partly clears; the sun or stars become
visible; the wind subsides to less than 15 knots, and at
times there is a dead calm. In mature storms, the eye’s
diameter averages about 15 miles, but it may attain 40
miles in large typhoons. The eye is not always circular;
sometimes it becomes elongated and even diffuse
with a double structure appearance. The eye is
constantly undergoing transformation and does not
stay in a steady state.
INTENSITY CLASSIFICATION
• A tropical depression is the lowest category that the Japan Meteorological Agency
uses and is the term used for a tropical system that has wind speeds not exceeding
33 knots (38 mph; 61 km/h).[7] A tropical depression is upgraded to a tropical
storm should its sustained wind speeds exceed 34 knots (39 mph; 63 km/h).
Tropical storms also receive official names from RSMC Tokyo.[7] Should the storm
intensify further and reach sustained wind speeds of 48 knots (55 mph; 89 km/h)
then it will be classified as a severe tropical storm.[7] Once the system's maximum
sustained winds reach wind speeds of 64 knots (74 mph; 119 km/h), the JMA will
designate the tropical cyclone as a typhoon—the highest category on its scale.[7]
• From 2009 the Hong Kong Observatory started to further divide typhoons into
three different classifications: typhoon, severe typhoon and super typhoon.[8] A
typhoon has wind speed of 64-79 knots (73-91 mph; 118-149 km/h), a severe
typhoon has winds of at least 80 knots (92 mph; 150 km/h), and a super typhoon
has winds of at least 100 knots (120 mph; 190 km/h).[8] The United States' Joint
Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) unofficially classifies typhoons with wind speeds
of at least 130 knots (67 m/s; 150 mph; 241 km/h)—the equivalent of a strong
Category 4 storm in the Saffir-Simpson scale—as super typhoons.[9] However, the
maximum sustained wind speed measurements that the JTWC uses are based on a
1-minute averaging period, akin to the U.S.' National Hurricane Center and Central
Pacific Hurricane Center. As a result, the JTWC's wind reports are higher than
JMA's measurements, as the latter are based on a 10-minute averaging
interval.[10]
INTENSITY CLASSIFICATION
CATEGORY SUBSTAINED WINDS
TYPHOON 64 – 84 KNOTS
118 - 156 KM/H
SEVERE TROPICAL 48 - 63 KNOTS
STORM 89 - 117 KM/H
TROPICAL STORM 34 -47 KNOTS
62 - 88 KM/H
TROPICAL < 33 KNOTS
DISPERSION < 61 KM/H
FORMATION OF CYCLONES
• In tropical oceans, the water in the oceans' surface layer heated by the direct solar
radiation. As a result, the air above the tropical oceans is characterized by high
temperature and humidity, resulting in air inflation that easily leads to low density per
unit volume of air. Weak wind near the equator causes the lighter air to soar and incur
convection that further attracts inflow of surrounding cooler air. The intake air then
warms up and soars again, creating a positive feedback cycle that eventually forms an air
column with high temperature, light weight and low density. This is how the tropical
depression forms.
• The air flows from high pressure towards low pressure as if the water flows from high to
low elevation. The surrounding air with higher pressure will flow towards where the
pressure is lower, creating the "wind." As the area for direct solar radiation moves
northward away from the equator in summer, the southeasterly trade wind in the
Southern Hemisphere crosses the equator and penetrates into the Northern Hemisphere
in the form of southwest monsoon, which has heads-on encounter with the
northeasterly trade wind in the Northern Hemisphere and forces the air in this area to
soar, creating more convection. Furthermore, the wind convergence resulting from the
southwesterly and the northeasterly trade winds often cause air turbulence and
whirlpool. These convergence effects, when continually enhanced by the convection
activity, further deepens the existing low-pressure vortex, resulting in more and faster
ambient air flow been drawing into the vortex center. Faster inflow corresponds to higher
wind speed which, when the near-ground maximum speed reaches or exceeds 62 km per
hour or 17.2 meter per second, is characteristic of a typhoon.
FORMATION OF CYCLONES
NAMING OF CYCLONES
• Tropical cyclones have officially been named since 1945 and are named for
a variety of reasons, which include to facilitate communications between
forecasters and the public when forecasts, watches, and warnings are
issued. Names also reduce confusion about what storm is being described,
as more than one can occur in the same region at the same time.[1] The
official practice of naming tropical cyclones started in 1945 within the
Western Pacific and was gradually extended out until 2004, when the
Indian Meteorological Department started to name cyclonic storms within
the North Indian ocean. Names were first given to storms by Australian
meteorologist Clement Wragge from 1887, Before the official practice of
naming of tropical cyclones began, significant tropical cyclones were
named after annoying politicians, mythological creatures, saints and place
names. Names are drawn in order from predetermined lists (see Lists of
tropical cyclone names) and are usually assigned to tropical cyclones with
one-, three-, or ten-minute sustained wind speeds of more than 65 km/h
(40 mph) depending on which area it originates. However, standards vary
from basin to basin with some tropical depressions named in the Western
Pacific, while within the Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclones have to
have a significant amount of gale-force winds occurring around the center
before they are named.
EFFECTS OF CYCLONES
• The main effects of tropical cyclones include heavy rain, strong
wind, large storm surges at landfall, and tornadoes. The destruction
from a tropical cyclone depends mainly on its intensity, its size, and
its location. Tropical cyclones act to remove forest canopy as well as
change the landscape near coastal areas, by moving and reshaping
sand dunes and causing extensive erosion along the coast. Even
well inland, heavy rainfall can lead to mudslides and landslides in
mountainous areas. Their effects can be sensed over time by
studying the concentration of the Oxygen-18 isotope within caves
within the vicinity of cyclones' paths.
• The official practice of naming tropical cyclones started in 1945 within the Western
Pacific. Naming continued through the next few years before in 1950, names also
started to be assigned to tropical storms forming in the North Atlantic ocean. In
the Atlantic, names were originally taken from the world war two version of the
Phonetic Alphabet but this was changed in 1953 to use lists of women names
which were drawn up yearly. Around this time naming of tropical cyclones also
began within the Southern and Central parts of the Pacific. However naming didn't
begin the Eastern Pacific until 1960 with the original naming lists designed to be
used year after year in sequence. In 1960, naming also began in the Southwest
Indian Ocean before in 1963 the Philippine Meteorological Service, started
assigning names to tropical cyclones that moved into or formed in their area of
responsibility. Later in 1963 warning centers within the Australian region also
commenced naming tropical cyclones.
HISTORIC LIST
• NORTH ATLANTIC
• By 1950 tropical cyclones that were judged by the US Weather Bureau to have intensified into a
tropical storm, started to be assigned names.[1][2] Storms were originally named in alphabetical
order using the World War II version of the Phonetic Alphabet.[1] By 1952 a new phonetic alphabet
had been developed and this led to confusion as some parties wanted to use the newer phonetic
alphabet.[1] In 1953, to alleviate any confusion, forecasters decided to use a set of 23 feminine
names.[1][2] After the 1953 Atlantic hurricane season, public reception to the idea seemed
favorable, so the same list was adopted for the next year with one change; Gilda for Gail.[1]
However after storms like Carol and Hazel got a lot of publicity during the 1953 season, forecasters
agreed to develop a new set of names for 1955.[1] However before this could happen, a tropical
storm was declared significant on January 2, 1955 and was named as Alice.[1] The new set of
names were developed and used in 1955 beginning with Brenda continuing through the alphabet
to Zelda.[1] For each season before 1960, a new set of names were developed.[1] In 1960
forecasters decided to begin rotating names in a regular sequence and thus four alphabetical lists
were established to be repeated every four years.[3] The sets followed the example of the western
Pacific typhoon naming lists and excluded names beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z.[3]
These four lists were used until 1972 when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), replaced them with 9 lists designed to be used from 1972.[3] In 1977, NOAA made the
decision to relinquish control over the name selection by allowing a regional committee of the
World Meteorological Organization to select the new sets of names which would contain male
names and some Spanish and French names in order to reflect all the cultures and languages within
the Atlantic Ocean.[2][3] The World Meteorological Organization decided that the new lists of
hurricane name would start to be used in 1979.[2][3] Since 1979 the same lists have been used,
with names of significant tropical cyclones removed from the lists and replaced with new names.[2]
In 2002 Subtropical Cyclones started to be assigned names from the main list of names set up for
that year. In 2005 as all the names preselected for the season were exhausted, the contingency plan
of using Greek letters for names had to be used.[4] Since then there have been a few attempts to
get rid of the Greek names, as they are seen to be inconsistent with the standard naming
convention used for tropical cyclones and are considered generally unknown and confusing to the
public.[5] However the lists of preselected names for the year, are not expected to be used up
frequently enough to warrant any change in the existing naming procedure and thus the Greek
Alphabet will be used if the list of pre selected names should ever be used up again.[5][6][7]
HISTORIC LIST
• EASTERN PACIFIC
• Within the Eastern Pacific basin between the western coasts of the Americas and 140°W the
naming of tropical cyclones started in 1960, with four lists of female names initially designed to be
used consecutively before being repeated.[31][32] In 1965 after two lists of names had been used,
it was decided to return to the top of the second list and to start recycling the sets of names on an
annual basis.[32][33]
• In 1977, after protests by various women's rights groups, NOAA made the decision to relinquish
control over the name selection by allowing a regional committee of the World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) to select new sets of names.[3] The WMO selected six lists of names which
contained male names and rotated every six years.[3] They also decided that the new lists of
hurricane name would start to be used in 1978 which was a year earlier than the Atlantic.[34] Since
1978 the same lists of names have been used, with names of significant tropical cyclones removed
from the lists and replaced with new names.[32] As in the Atlantic basin should the names
preselected for the season be exhausted, the contingency plan of using Greek letters for names
would be used.[32][35] However unlike in the Atlantic basin the contingency plan has never had to
be used, although in 1985 to avoid using the contingency plan, the letters X, Y, and Z were added to
the lists.[35] Since the contingency plan had to be used in the North Atlantic during 2005 there
have been a few attempts to get rid of the Greek names as they are seen to be inconsistent with
the standard naming convention used for tropical cyclones and are generally unknown and
confusing to the public.[5][6] However none of the attempts have succeeded and thus the Greek
letters will be used should the lists be used up.[5][6]
HISTORIC LIST
WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC
• In the Western North Pacific ocean, there are two sets of names
generally used. The first are the international names assigned to a
tropical cyclone by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) or the
Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC). The second set of names are
local names assigned to a tropical cyclone by the Philippine
Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services
Administration. This system often ends up with a tropical cyclone
being assigned two names, should a tropical storm threaten the
Philippines.