A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land.

[1] The EU Floods

directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by
water.[2] In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide.
Flooding may result from the volume of water within a body of water, such as a river or lake,
which overflows or breaks levees, with the result that some of the water escapes its usual
boundaries.[3]

While the size of a lake or other body of water will vary with seasonal changes in precipitation
and snow melt, it is not a significant flood unless such escapes of water endanger land areas
used by man like a village, city or other inhabited area.

Floods can also occur in rivers, when flow exceeds the capacity of the river channel, particularly
at bends or meanders. Floods often cause damage to homes and businesses if they are placed
in natural flood plains of rivers. While flood damage can be virtually eliminated by moving away
from rivers and other bodies of water, since time out of mind, people have lived and worked by
the water to seek sustenance and capitalize on the gains of cheap and easy travel and
commerce by being near water. That humans continue to inhabit areas threatened by flood
damage is evidence that the perceived value of living near the water exceeds the cost of
repeated periodic flooding.

The word "flood" comes from the Old English flod, a word common to Germanic languages
(compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float; also compare
with Latin fluctus, flumen). Deluge myths are mythical stories of a great flood sent by a deity or
deities to destroy civilization as an act of divine retribution, and are featured in the mythology of
many cultures.

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land.[1] The EU Floods

directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by
water.[2] In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide.
Flooding may result from the volume of water within a body of water, such as a river or lake,
which overflows or breaks levees, with the result that some of the water escapes its usual
boundaries.[3]

While the size of a lake or other body of water will vary with seasonal changes in precipitation
and snow melt, it is not a significant flood unless such escapes of water endanger land areas
used by man like a village, city or other inhabited area.

Floods can also occur in rivers, when flow exceeds the capacity of the river channel, particularly
at bends or meanders. Floods often cause damage to homes and businesses if they are placed
in natural flood plains of rivers. While flood damage can be virtually eliminated by moving away
from rivers and other bodies of water, since time out of mind, people have lived and worked by
the water to seek sustenance and capitalize on the gains of cheap and easy travel and
commerce by being near water. That humans continue to inhabit areas threatened by flood
damage is evidence that the perceived value of living near the water exceeds the cost of
repeated periodic flooding.

The word "flood" comes from the Old English flod, a word common to Germanic languages
(compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float; also compare
with Latin fluctus, flumen). Deluge myths are mythical stories of a great flood sent by a deity or
deities to destroy civilization as an act of divine retribution, and are featured in the mythology of
many cultures.

[edit]Principal types and causes

[edit]Riverine

 Slow kinds: Runoff from sustained rainfall or rapid snow melt exceeding the capacity of
a river's channel. Causes include heavy rains frommonsoons, hurricanes and tropical
depressions, foreign winds and warm rain affecting snow pack. Unexpected drainage
obstructions such as landslides, ice, or debris can cause slow flooding upstream of the
obstruction.
 Fast kinds: include flash floods resulting from convective precipitation
(intense thunderstorms) or sudden release from an upstream impoundment created behind
a dam, landslide, orglacier.

[edit]Estuarine

 Commonly caused by a combination of sea tidal surges caused by storm-force winds.

A storm surge, from either a tropical cyclone or an extratropical cyclone, falls within this
category.

[edit]Coastal

 Caused by severe sea storms, or as a result of another hazard (e.g. tsunami or

hurricane). A storm surge, from either a tropical cyclone or an extratropical cyclone, falls
within this category.

[edit]Catastrophic
  Caused by a significant and unexpected event e.g. dam breakage, or as a result of
another hazard (e.g. earthquake or volcanic eruption).

[edit]Muddy

 A muddy flood is generated by run off on crop land.

A muddy flood is produced by an accumulation of runoff generated on cropland. Sediments are

then detached by runoff and carried as suspended matter or bed load. Muddy runoff is more
likely detected when it reaches inhabited areas.

Muddy floods are therefore a hill slope process, and confusion with mudflows produced by mass
movements should be avoided.
[edit]Other

 Floods can occur if water accumulates across an impermeable surface (e.g. from
rainfall) and cannot rapidly dissipate (i.e. gentle orientation or low evaporation).
 A series of storms moving over the same area.
 Dam-building beavers can flood low-lying urban and rural areas, often causing
significant damage.

[edit]Effects

[edit]Primary effects

 Physical damage - Can damage any type of structure, including bridges, cars,
buildings, sewerage systems, roadways, and canals.
 Casualties - People and livestock die due to drowning. It can also lead to epidemics and
waterborne diseases.

[edit]Secondary effects

 Water supplies - Contamination of water. Clean drinking water becomes scarce.

 Diseases - Unhygienic conditions. Spread of water-borne diseases.
 Crops and food supplies - Shortage of food crops can be caused due to loss of entire
harvest.[4] However, lowlands near rivers depend upon river silt deposited by floods in order
to add nutrients to the local soil.
 Trees - Non-tolerant species can die from suffocation.[5]
[edit]Tertiary/long-term effects

Economic - Economic hardship, due to: temporary decline in tourism, rebuilding costs, food
shortage leading to price increase ,etc.

[edit]Control

A tsunami (Japanese: 津波 [tsɯnami], lit. 'harbor wave';[1] English pronunciation: /suːˈnɑːmi/ soo-
NAH-mee) or tidal wave is a series of water waves (called a tsunami wave train[2]) caused by
the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, usually an ocean, but can occur in large
lakes. Tsunamis are a frequent occurrence in Japan; approximately 195 events have been
recorded.[3] Due to the immense volumes of water and energy involved, tsunamis can devastate
coastal regions.

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions (including detonations of

underwater nuclear devices),landslides and other mass movements, meteorite ocean impacts or
similar impact events, and other disturbances above or below water all have the potential to
generate a tsunami.

The Greek historian Thucydides was the first to relate tsunami to submarine earthquakes,[4][5] but
understanding of tsunami's nature remained slim until the 20th century and is the subject of
ongoing research. Many early geological, geographical, andoceanographic texts refer to
tsunamis as "seismic sea waves."

Some meteorological conditions, such as deep depressions that cause tropical cyclones, can
generate a storm surge, called ameteotsunami, which can raise tides several metres above
normal levels. The displacement comes from low atmospheric pressure within the centre of the
depression. As these storm surges reach shore, they may resemble (though are not) tsunamis,
inundating vast areas of land. Such a storm surge inundated Burma in May 2008.

Etymology
The term tsunami comes from the Japanese, meaning "harbor" (tsu, 津) and "wave"
(nami, 波). (For the plural, one can either follow ordinary English practice and add an s, or use
an invariable plural as in the Japanese.[6])

Tsunami are sometimes referred to as tidal waves. In recent years, this term has fallen out of
favor, especially in the scientific community, because tsunami actually have nothing to do with
tides. The once-popular term derives from their most common appearance, which is that of an
extraordinarily high tidal bore. Tsunami and tides both produce waves of water that move inland,
but in the case of tsunami the inland movement of water is much greater and lasts for a longer
period, giving the impression of an incredibly high tide. Although the meanings of "tidal" include
"resembling"[7] or "having the form or character of"[8] the tides, and the term tsunami is no more
accurate because tsunami are not limited to harbours, use of the termtidal wave is discouraged
by geologists and oceanographers.

There are only a few other languages that have a native word for this disastrous wave. In
the Tamil language, the word is aazhi peralai. In the Acehnese language, it is ië beuna or alôn
buluëk [9] (Depending on the dialect. Note that in the fellow Austronesian language of Tagalog, a
major language in the Philippines, alon means "wave".) On Simeulue island, off the western
coast of Sumatra in Indonesia, in the Defayan language the word is smong, while in the Sigulai
language it is emong.[10]

Generation mechanisms
The principal generation mechanism (or cause) of a tsunami is the displacement of a substantial
volume of water or perturbation of the sea.[11] This displacement of water is usually attributed to
either earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, or more rarely by meteorites and nuclear
tests.[12][13] The waves formed in this way are then sustained by gravity. It is important to note
that tides do not play any part in the generation of tsunamis, hence referring to tsunamis as
'tidal waves' is inaccurate.

Seismicity generated tsunamis

Tsunamis can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the
overlying water. Tectonic earthquakes are a particular kind of earthquake that are associated
with the earth's crustal deformation; when these earthquakes occur beneath the sea, the water
above the deformed area is displaced from its equilibrium position.[14] More specifically, a
tsunami can be generated when thrust faults associated with convergent or destructive plate
boundaries move abruptly, resulting in water displacement, due to the vertical component of
movement involved. Movement on normal faults will also cause displacement of the seabed, but
the size of the largest of such events is normally too small to give rise to a significant tsunami.

Drawing of tectonic plate

Overriding plate bulges
boundary beforeearthquake. Plate slips, The energy released
under strain,
causingsubsidence and produces tsunami waves.
causingtectonic uplift.
releasing energy into water.
Tsunamis have a small amplitude (wave height) offshore, and a very long wavelength (often
hundreds of kilometers long), which is why they generally pass unnoticed at sea, forming only a
slight swell usually about 300 millimetres (12 in) above the normal sea surface. They grow in
height when they reach shallower water, in a wave shoaling process described below. A
tsunami can occur in any tidal state and even at low tide can still inundate coastal areas.

On April 1, 1946, a magnitude-7.8 (Richter Scale) earthquake occurred near the Aleutian
Islands, Alaska. It generated a tsunami which inundated Hilo on the island of Hawai'i with a
14 metres (46 ft) high surge. The area where the earthquake occurred is where the Pacific
Ocean floor is subducting (or being pushed downwards) under Alaska.

Examples of tsunami at locations away from convergent boundaries include Storegga about
8,000 years ago, Grand Banks 1929, Papua New Guinea 1998 (Tappin, 2001). The Grand
Banks and Papua New Guinea tsunamis came from earthquakes which destabilized sediments,
causing them to flow into the ocean and generate a tsunami. They dissipated before traveling
transoceanic distances.

The cause of the Storegga sediment failure is unknown. Possibilities include an overloading of
the sediments, an earthquake or a release of gas hydrates (methane etc.)

The 1960 Valdivia earthquake (Mw 9.5) (19:11 hrs UTC), 1964 Alaska earthquake (Mw 9.2),
and 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake (Mw 9.2) (00:58:53 UTC) are recent examples of
powerfulmegathrust earthquakes that generated tsunamis (known as teletsunamis) that can
cross entire oceans. Smaller (Mw 4.2) earthquakes in Japan can trigger tsunamis
(called local andregional tsunamis) that can only devastate nearby coasts, but can do so in
only a few minutes.

In the 1950s, it was discovered that larger tsunamis than had previously been believed possible
could be caused by giant landslides. These phenomena rapidly displace large water volumes,
as energy from falling debris or expansion transfers to the water at a rate faster than the water
can absorb. Their existence was confirmed in 1958, when a giant landslide inLituya
Bay, Alaska, caused the highest wave ever recorded, which had a height of 524 metres (over
1700 feet). The wave didn't travel far, as it struck land almost immediately. Two people fishing in
the bay were killed, but another boat amazingly managed to ride the wave. Scientists named
these waves megatsunami.

Scientists discovered that extremely large landslides from volcanic island collapses can
generate megatsunami, that can travel trans-oceanic distances.
Characteristics

When the wave enters shallow water, it slows down and its amplitude (height) increases.

The wave further slows and amplifies as it hits land. Only the largest waves crest.

While everyday wind waves have a wavelength (from crest to crest) of about 100 metres (330 ft)
and a height of roughly 2 metres (6.6 ft), a tsunami in the deep ocean has a wavelength of
about 200 kilometres (120 mi). Such a wave travels at well over 800 kilometres per hour (500
mph), but due to the enormous wavelength the wave oscillation at any given point takes 20 or
30 minutes to complete a cycle and has an amplitude of only about 1 metre (3.3 ft).[15] This
makes tsunamis difficult to detect over deep water. Ships rarely notice their passage.

As the tsunami approaches the coast and the waters become shallow, wave
shoaling compresses the wave and its velocity slows below 80 kilometres per hour (50 mph). Its
wavelength diminishes to less than 20 kilometres (12 mi) and its amplitude grows enormously,
producing a distinctly visible wave. Since the wave still has such a long wavelength, the tsunami
may take minutes to reach full height. Except for the very largest tsunamis, the approaching
wave does not break (like a surf break), but rather appears like a fast moving tidal bore.[16] Open
bays and coastlines adjacent to very deep water may shape the tsunami further into a step-like
wave with a steep-breaking front.

When the tsunami's wave peak reaches the shore, the resulting temporary rise in sea level is
termed 'run up'. Run up is measured in metres above a reference sea level.[16] A large tsunami
may feature multiple waves arriving over a period of hours, with significant time between the
wave crests. The first wave to reach the shore may not have the highest run up.[17]

About 80% of tsunamis occur in the Pacific Ocean, but are possible wherever there are large
bodies of water, including lakes. They are caused by earthquakes, landslides, volcanic
explosions, and bolides.

Drawback
If the first part of a tsunami to reach land is a trough—called a drawback—rather than a wave
crest, the water along the shoreline recedes dramatically, exposing normally submerged areas.

A drawback occurs because the water propagates outwards with the trough of the wave at its
front. Drawback begins before the wave arrives at an interval equal to half of the wave's period.
Drawback can exceed hundreds of metres, and people unaware of the danger sometimes
remain near the shore to satisfy their curiosity or to collect fish from the exposed seabed. During
the Indian Ocean tsunami, the sea withdrew and many people went onto the exposed sea bed
to investigate.[citation needed] Photos show people walking on the normally submerged areas with the
advancing wave in the background.[citation needed] Few survived.[citation needed]

Scales of intensity and magnitude

As with earthquakes, several attempts have been made to set up scales of tsunami intensity or
magnitude to allow comparison between different events.[18]

Intensity scales
The first scales used routinely to measure the intensity of tsunami were the Sieberg-Ambraseys
scale, used in the Mediterranean Sea and the Imamura-Iida intensity scale, used in thePacific
Ocean. The latter scale was modified by Soloviev, who calculated the Tsunami
intensity I according to the formula

where Hav is the average wave height along the nearest coast. This scale, known as
the Soloviev-Imamura tsunami intensity scale, is used in the global tsunami catalogues
compiled by the NGDC/NOAA and the Novosibirsk Tsunami Laboratory as the main
parameter for the size of the tsunami.

Magnitude scales
The first scale that genuinely calculated a magnitude for a tsunami, rather than an intensity
at a particular location was the ML scale proposed by Murty & Loomis based on the
potential energy.[18] Difficulties in calculating the potential energy of the tsunami mean that
this scale is rarely used. Abe introduced the tsunami magnitude scale Mt, calculated from,

where h is the maximum tsunami-wave amplitude (in m) measured by a tide gauge at

a distance R from the epicenter, a, b & D are constants used to make the Mt scale
match as closely as possible with the moment magnitude scale.[19]

Warnings and predictions

See also: Tsunami warning system

One of the deep water buoys used in theDART tsunami warning system

Drawbacks can serve as a brief warning. People who observe drawback (many
survivors report an accompanying sucking sound), can survive only if they
immediately run for high ground or seek the upper floors of nearby buildings. In 2004,
ten-year old Tilly Smith of Surrey, England, was on Maikhao
beach in Phuket, Thailand with her parents and sister, and having learned about
tsunamis recently in school, told her family that a tsunami might be imminent. Her
parents warned others minutes before the wave arrived, saving dozens of lives. She
credited her geography teacher, Andrew Kearney.

In the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami drawback was not reported on the African coast or
any other eastern coasts it reached. This was because the wave moved downwards
on the eastern side of the fault line and upwards on the western side. The western
pulse hit coastal Africa and other western areas.

A tsunami cannot be precisely predicted, even if the magnitude and location of an

earthquake is known. Geologists, oceanographers, andseismologists analyse each
earthquake and based on many factors may or may not issue a tsunami warning.
However, there are some warning signs of an impending tsunami, and automated
systems can provide warnings immediately after an earthquake in time to save lives.
One of the most successful systems uses bottom pressure sensors that are attached
to buoys. The sensors constantly monitor the pressure of the overlying water column.
This is deduced through the calculation:

where
P = the overlying pressure in newtons per metre square,
ρ = the density of the seawater= 1.1 x 103 kg/m3,
g = the acceleration due to gravity= 9.8 m/s2 and
h = the height of the water column in metres.

Hence for a water column of 5,000 m depth the overlying pressure is equal to

or about 5500 tonnes-force per square metre.

Regions with a high tsunami risk typically use tsunami warning systems to
warn the population before the wave reaches land. On the west coast of the
United States, which is prone to Pacific Ocean tsunami, warning signs
indicate evacuation routes. In Japan, the community is well-educated about
earthquakes and tsunamis, and along the Japanese shorelines the tsunami
warning signs are reminders of the natural hazards together with a network
of warning sirens, typically at the top of the cliff of surroundings hills.[20]

The Pacific Tsunami Warning System is based in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. It

monitors Pacific Ocean seismic activity. A sufficiently large earthquake
magnitude and other information triggers a tsunami warning. While the
subduction zones around the Pacific are seismically active, not all
earthquakes generate tsunami. Computers assist in analysing the tsunami
risk of every earthquake that occurs in the Pacific Ocean and the adjoining
land masses.

Tsunami hazard sign A tsunami warning The monument to the

atBamfield, British sign on victims of tsunami Tsunami memorial
Columbia a seawall in Kamakura atLaupahoehoe, Hawai inKanyakumari beach
, Japan, 2004. i

A seawall at Tsu, Japan

Tsunami Evacuation Route signage alongU.S. Route 101, in Washington

As a direct result of the Indian Ocean tsunami, a re-appraisal of the tsunami

threat for all coastal areas is being undertaken by national governments and
the United Nations Disaster Mitigation Committee. A tsunami warning
system is being installed in the Indian Ocean.
Computer models can predict tsunami arrival, usually within minutes of the
arrival time. Bottom pressure sensors relay information in real time. Based
on these pressure readings and other seismic information and the seafloor's
shape (bathymetry) and coastal topography, the models estimate the
amplitude and surge height of the approaching tsunami. All Pacific
Rim countries collaborate in the Tsunami Warning System and most
regularly practice evacuation and other procedures. In Japan, such
preparation is mandatory for government, local authorities, emergency
services and the population.

Some zoologists hypothesise that some animal species have an ability to

sense subsonic Rayleigh waves from an earthquake or a tsunami. If correct,
monitoring their behavior could provide advance warning of earthquakes,
tsunami etc. However, the evidence is controversial and is not widely
accepted. There are unsubstantiated claims about the Lisbon quake that
some animals escaped to higher ground, while many other animals in the
same areas drowned. The phenomenon was also noted by media sources
in Sri Lanka in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.[21][22] It is possible that
certain animals (e.g., elephants) may have heard the sounds of the tsunami
as it approached the coast. The elephants' reaction was to move away from
the approaching noise. By contrast, some humans went to the shore to
investigate and many drowned as a result.

It is not possible to prevent a tsunami. However, in some tsunami-prone

countries some earthquake engineering measures have been taken to
reduce the damage caused on shore. Japan built many tsunami walls of up
to 4.5 metres (15 ft) to protect populated coastal areas. Other localities have
built floodgates and channels to redirect the water from incoming tsunami.
However, their effectiveness has been questioned, as tsunami often overtop
the barriers. For instance, the Okushiri, Hokkaidō tsunami which
struck Okushiri Island of Hokkaidō within two to five minutes of
the earthquake on July 12, 1993 created waves as much as 30 metres (100
ft) tall—as high as a 10-story building. The port town of Aonae was
completely surrounded by a tsunami wall, but the waves washed right over
the wall and destroyed all the wood-framed structures in the area. The wall
may have succeeded in slowing down and moderating the height of the
tsunami, but it did not prevent major destruction and loss of life.[23]
Natural factors such as shoreline tree cover can mitigate tsunami effects.
Some locations in the path of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami escaped
almost unscathed because trees such as coconut
palms and mangroves absorbed the tsunami's energy. In one striking
example, the village of Naluvedapathy in India's Tamil Nadu region suffered
only minimal damage and few deaths because the wave broke against a
forest of 80,244 trees planted along the shoreline in 2002 in a bid to enter
the Guinness Book of Records.[24] Environmentalists have suggested tree
planting along tsunami-prone seacoasts. Trees require years to grow to a
useful size, but such plantations could offer a much cheaper and longer-
lasting means of tsunami mitigation than artificial barriers.

Mitigation
Natural barriers
A report published by the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) suggests that the tsunami of 26th December 2004 caused less
damage in the areas where natural barriers were present, such
as mangroves, coral reefs or coastal vegetation. A Japanese study of this
tsunami in Sri Lanka used satellite imagery modelling to establish the
parameters of coastal resistance as a function of different types of trees. [25]

History

The Samoan tsunami of September 2009

A devastated Marina beach in Chennaiafter the Indian Ocean Tsunami

Main article: Historic tsunami

Destructive tsunamis have been recorded throughout history, for example

there were 26 that caused 200 or more deaths in the last century alone.
[26]
Of these, many were recorded in the Asia–Pacific region, particularly
around Japan and Indonesia.

Ancient history
As early as 426 B.C. the Greek historian Thucydides inquired in his
book History of the Peloponnesian War about the causes of tsunami, and
was the first to argue that ocean earthquakes must be the cause.[4][5]

The cause, in my opinion, of this phenomenon must be sought in the

earthquake. At the point where its shock has been the most violent the sea
is driven back, and suddenly recoiling with redoubled force, causes the
inundation. Without an earthquake I do not see how such an accident could
happen.[27]

The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (Res Gestae 26.10.15-19)

described the typical sequence of a tsunami, including an incipient
earthquake, the sudden retreat of the sea and a following gigantic wave,
after the 365 A.D. tsunami devastated Alexandria.[28][29]

2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

Main article: 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami killed over

200,000[30] people with many bodies either being lost to the sea or
unidentified.

According to an article in Geographical magazine (April 2008), the Indian

Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004 was not the worst that the region
could expect. Professor Costas Synolakis of the Tsunami Research Center
at the University of Southern California co-authored a paper in Geophysical
Journal International which suggests that a future tsunami in the Indian
Ocean basin could affect locations such
asMadagascar, Singapore, Somalia, Western Australia, and many others.
 As a weapon

Storm surge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the meteorological terminology. For the fictional character, see Storm Surge
(Transformers).

Impact of a storm surge

A storm surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure weather system,
typically tropical cyclones and strong extratropical cyclones. Storm surges are caused primarily
by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface. The wind causes the water to pile up higher than
the ordinary sea level. Low pressure at the center of a weather system also has a small
secondary effect, as can the bathymetry of the body of water. It is this combined effect of low
pressure and persistent wind over a shallow water body which is the most common cause of
storm surge flooding problems. The term "storm surge" in casual (non-scientific) use is storm
tide; that is, it refers to the rise of water associated with the storm, plus tide, wave run-up, and
freshwater flooding. When referencing storm surge height, it is important to clarify the usage, as
well as the reference point.National Hurricane Center tropical cyclone reports reference storm
surge as water height above predicted astronomical tide level, and storm tide as water height
above NGVD-29. Most casualties during a tropical cyclone occur during the storm surge.

In areas where there is a significant difference between low tide and high tide, storm surges are
particularly damaging when they occur at the time of a high tide. In these cases, this increases
the difficulty of predicting the magnitude of a storm surge since it requires weather forecasts to
be accurate to within a few hours. Storm surges can be produced by extratropical cyclones,
such as the Night of the Big Wind of 1839 and the Storm of the Century (1993), but the most
extreme storm surge events typically occur as a result of tropical cyclones. Factors that
determine the surge heights for landfalling tropical cyclones include the speed, intensity, size of
the radius of maximum winds (RMW), radius of the wind fields, angle of the track relative to the
coastline, the physical characteristics of the coastline and the bathymetry of the water offshore.
The SLOSH (Sea, Lake, and Overland Surges from Hurricanes) model is used to simulate
surge from tropical cyclones.[1] Additionally, there is an extratropical storm surge model that is
used to predict those effects.[2]

The Galveston Hurricane of 1900, a Category 4 hurricane that struck Galveston, Texas, drove a
devastating surge ashore; between 6,000 and 12,000 lives were lost, making it the
deadliest natural disaster ever to strike the United States.[3] The deadliest storm surge caused
by an extratropical cyclone in the twentieth century was the North Sea flood of 1953, which
killed a total of over 2,000 people in the UK and the Netherlands

[edit]Mechanics

Schematic of a storm surge.

At least five processes can be involved in altering tide levels during storms: the pressure effect,
the direct wind effect, the effect of the Earth's rotation, the effect of waves, and the rainfall
effect.[4] The pressure effects of a tropical cyclone will cause the water level in the open ocean
to rise in regions of low atmospheric pressure and fall in regions of high atmospheric pressure.
The rising water level will counteract the low atmospheric pressure such that the total pressure
at some plane beneath the water surface remains constant. This effect is estimated at a 10 mm
(0.39 in) increase in sea level for every millibar drop in atmospheric pressure.[4]
Strong surface winds cause surface currents perpendicular to the wind direction, by an effect
known as the Ekman Spiral. Wind stresses cause a phenomenon referred to as "wind set-up",
which is the tendency for water levels to increase at the downwind shore, and to decrease at the
upwind shore. Intuitively, this is caused by the storm simply blowing the water towards one side
of the basin in the direction of its winds. Because the Ekman Spiral effects spread vertically
through the water, the effect is inversely proportional to depth. The pressure effect and the wind
set-up on an open coast will be driven into bays in the same way as the astronomical tide.[4]

The Earth's rotation causes the Coriolis effect, which bends currents to the right in the Northern
Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. When this bend brings the currents into
more perpendicular contact with the shore it can amplify the surge, and when it bends the
current away from the shore it has the effect of lessening the surge.[4]

The effect of waves, while directly powered by the wind, is distinct from a storm's wind-powered
currents. Powerful wind whips up large, strong waves in the direction of its movement.
[4]
Although these surface waves are responsible for very little water transport in open water, they
may be responsible for significant transport near the shore. When waves are breaking on a line
more or less parallel to the beach they carry considerable water shoreward. As they break, the
water particles moving toward the shore have considerable momentum and may run up a
sloping beach to an elevation above the mean water line which may exceed twice the wave
height before breaking.[5]

The rainfall effect is experienced predominantly in estuaries. Hurricanes may dump as much as
12 in (300 mm) of rainfall in 24 hours over large areas, and higher rainfall densities in localized
areas. As a result, watersheds can quickly surge water into the rivers that drain them. This can
increase the water level near the head of tidal estuaries as storm-driven waters surging in from
the ocean meet rainfall flowing from the estuary.[4]

Surge and wave heights on shore are affected by the configuration and bathymetry of the ocean
bottom. A narrow shelf, or one that has a steep drop from the shoreline and subsequently
produces deep water in close proximity to the shoreline tends to produce a lower surge, but a
higher and more powerful wave. This situation well exemplified by the southeast coast ofFlorida.
The edge of the Floridian Plateau, where the water depths reach 91 metres (299 ft), lies just
3,000 m (9,800 ft) offshore of Palm Beach, Florida; just 7,000 m (23,000 ft) offshore, the depth
increases to over 180 m (590 ft).[6] The 180 m (590 ft) depth contour followed southward
from Palm Beach County lies more than 30,000 m (98,000 ft) to the east of the upper Keys.

Conversely, coastlines along North America such as those along the Gulf of Mexico coast from
Texas to Florida, and Asia such as the Bay of Bengal, have long, gently sloping shelves and
shallow water depths. On the Gulf side of Florida, the edge of the Floridian Plateau lies more
than 160 kilometres (99 mi) offshore of Marco Island in Collier County. Florida Bay, lying
between the Florida Keys and the mainland, is also very shallow; depths typically vary between
0.3 m (0.98 ft) and 2 m (6.6 ft).[7] These areas are subject to higher storm surges, but smaller
waves. This difference is because in deeper water, a surge can be dispersed down and away
from the hurricane. However, upon entering a shallow, gently sloping shelf, the surge can not be
dispersed away, but is driven ashore by the wind stresses of the hurricane. Topography of the
land surface is another important element in storm surge extent. Areas where the land lies less
than a few meters above sea level are at particular risk from storm surge inundation.[4]

For a given topography and bathymetry the surge height is not solely affected by peak wind
speed; the size of the storm also affects the peak surge. With any storm the piled up water has
an exit path to the sides and this escape mechanism is reduced in proportion to the surge force
(for the same peak wind speed) as the storm covers more area.

[edit]Measuring surge
Surge can be measured directly at coastal tidal stations as the difference between the forecast
tide and the observed rise of water.[8] Another method of measuring surge is by the deployment
of pressure transducers along the coastline just ahead of an approaching tropical cyclone. This
was first tested for Hurricane Rita in 2005.[9] These types of sensors can be placed in locations
that will be submerged, and can accurately measure the height of water above them.[10]

After surge from a cyclone has receded, teams of surveyors map high water marks (HWM) on
land, in a rigorous and detailed process that includes photos and written descriptions of the
marks. HWM denote the location and elevation of flood waters from a storm event. When HWM
are analyzed, if the various components of the water height can be broken out so that the
portion attributable to surge can be identified, then that mark can be classified as storm surge.
Otherwise, it is classified as storm tide. HWM on land are referenced to a vertical datum (a
reference coordinate system). During evaluation, HWM are divided into four categories based
on the confidence in the mark; only HWM evaluated as "excellent" are used by NHC in post
storm analysis of the surge.[11]

Two different measures are used for storm tide and storm surge measurements. Storm tide is
measured using a geodetic vertical datum (NGVD 29 or NAVD 88). Since storm surge is defined
as the rise of water beyond what would be expected by the normal movement due to tides,
storm surge is measured using tidal predictions, with the assumption that the tide prediction is
well-known and only slowly varying in the region subject to the surge. Since tides are a localized
phenomenon, storm surge can only be measured in relationship to a nearby tidal station. Tidal
bench mark information at a station provides a translation from the geodetic vertical datum
to mean sea level (MSL) at that location, then subtracting the tidal prediction yields a surge
height above the normal water height.[8][11]

[edit]Records

The highest storm tide noted in historical accounts was produced by the 1899 Cyclone Mahina,
estimated at 13 meters (43 ft) at Bathurst Bay, Australia, but research published in 2000 noted
the majority of this was likely wave run-up, due to the steep coastal topography.[12] In the United
States, one of the greatest recorded storm surges was generated by 2005'sHurricane Katrina,
which produced a maximum storm surge of more than 8 meters (25 ft) in the communities of
Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Diamondhead, and Pass Christian inMississippi, with a storm surge
height of 8.5 m (27.8 ft) in Pass Christian.[13][14][15] Another record storm surge occurred in this
same area from Hurricane Camille in August 1969, with the highest storm tide of record noted
from a HWM as 7.5 m (24.6 ft), also found in Pass Christian.[16] The worst storm surge, in terms
of loss of life, was the 1970 Bhola cyclone and in general the Bay of Bengal is particularly prone
to tidal surges.[17]

[edit]SLOSH

Example of a SLOSH run

See also: Tropical cyclone forecasting

The National Hurricane Center in the US, forecasts storm surge using the SLOSH model, which
stands for Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes. The model is accurate to within
20 percent.[18] SLOSH inputs include the central pressure of a tropical cyclone, storm size, the
cyclone's forward motion, its track, and maximum sustained winds. Local topography, bay and
river orientation, depth of the sea bottom, astronomical tides, as well as other physical features
are taken into account, in a predefined grid referred to as a SLOSH basin. Overlapping SLOSH
basins are defined for the southern and eastern coastline of the continental U.S.[19] Some storm
simulations use more than one SLOSH basin; for instance, Katrina SLOSH model runs used
both the Lake Ponchartrain / New Orleans basin, and the Mississippi Sound basin, for the
northern Gulf of Mexico landfall. The final output from the model run will display the maximum
envelope of water, or MEOW, that occurred at each location. To allow for track or forecast
uncertainties, usually several model runs with varying input parameters are generated to create
a map of MOMs, or Maximum of Maximums.[20] And for hurricane evacuation studies, a family of
storms with representative tracks for the region, and varying intensity, eye diameter, and speed,
are modeled to produce worst-case water heights for any tropical cyclone occurrence. The
results of these studies are typically generated from several thousand SLOSH runs. These
studies have been completed by USACE, under contract to the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, for several states and are available on their Hurricane Evacuation
Studies (HES) website.[21] They include coastal county maps, shaded to identify the minimum
SSHS category of hurricane that will result in flooding, in each area of the county.[22]

[edit]Mitigation

Although meteorological surveys alert about hurricanes or severe storms, in the areas where
the risk of coastal flooding is particularly high, there are specific storm surge warnings. These
have been implemented, for instance, in Holland,[23] Spain,[24][25] the United States,[26]
[27]
and Great Britain.[28]

A prophylactic method introduced after the North Sea Flood of 1953 is the construction of dams
and floodgates (storm surge barriers). They are open and allow free passage but close when
the land is under threat of a storm surge. Major storm surge barriers are
the Oosterscheldekering and Maeslantkering in the Netherlands which are part of the Delta
Works project, and the Thames Barrier protecting London.

Another modern development (in use in the Netherlands) is the creation of housing communities
at the edges of wetlands with floating structures, restrained in position by vertical pylons.
[29]
Such wetlands can then be used to accommodate runoff and surges without causing damage
to the structures while also protecting conventional structures at somewhat higher low-lying
elevations, provided that dikes prevent major surge intrusion.

For mainland areas, storm surge is more of a threat when the storm strikes land from seaward,
rather than approaching from landwards.[30]
[edit]Notes

Limnic eruption
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lake Nyos, silty after a limnic eruption

A limnic eruption, also referred to as a lake overturn, is a rare type of natural disaster in
which carbon dioxide (CO2) suddenly erupts from deep lake water, suffocating wildlife, livestock
and humans. Such an eruption may also cause tsunamis in the lake as the rising CO2 displaces
water. Scientists believe landslides, volcanic activity, or explosions can trigger such an eruption.
Lakes in which such activity occurs may be known as limnically active lakes or exploding lakes.
Some features of limnically active lakes include:

 CO2-saturated incoming water

 A cool lake bottom indicating an absence of direct volcanic interaction with lake waters
 An upper and lower thermal layer with differing CO2 saturations
 Proximity to areas with volcanic activity

Scientists have recently determined, from investigations into the mass casualties in the 1980s
at Lake Monoun and Lake Nyos, that limnic eruptions and volcanic eruptions, although indirectly
related, are actually separate types of disaster events.[1]

[edit]Historical occurrences
Cow killed by the limnic eruption at Lake Nyos

To date, this phenomenon has been observed only twice. The first was in Cameroon at Lake
Monoun in 1984, causing the asphyxiation and death of 37 people living nearby[2]. A second,
deadlier eruption happened at neighbouring Lake Nyos in 1986, this time releasing over 80
millioncubic meters of CO2 and killing between 1,700 and 1,800 people, again by asphyxiation[3].

Due to the nature of the event, it is hard to determine if limnic eruptions have happened
elsewhere. However, a third lake — Lake Kivu — containing massive amounts of dissolved
CO2 exists on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. Sample
sediments from the lake were taken by Professor Robert Hecky from the University of
Michigan which showed that an event caused living creatures in the lake to go extinct
approximately every thousand years, and caused nearby vegetation to be swept back into the
lake.

The Messel pit fossil deposits of Messel, Germany, show evidence of a limnic eruption there in
the early Eocene. Among the victims are perfectly
preserved insects, frogs, turtles, crocodiles, birds, anteaters, insectivores,
early primates and paleotheres.

[edit]Causes
For a limnic eruption to occur, the lake must be nearly saturated with gas. In the two known
cases, the major component was CO2, however, in Lake Kivu, scientists are concerned about
the concentrations of methane gas as well. This CO2 may come from volcanic gas emitted from
under the lake or from decomposition of organic material. Before a lake is saturated, it behaves
like an unopened carbonated beverage (soft drink): the CO2 is dissolved in the water. In both
the lake and the soft drink, CO2 dissolves much more readily at higher pressure. This is why
bubbles in a can of soda only form after the drink is open; the pressure is released and the
CO2 comes out of solution. In the case of lakes, the bottom is at a much higher pressure; the
deeper it is, the higher the pressure at the bottom. This means that huge amounts of CO2 can
be dissolved in large, deep lakes. Also, CO2 dissolves more readily in cooler water, such as that
at the bottom of a lake. A small rise in watertemperature can lead to the release of a large
amount of CO2.

Once the lake is saturated with CO2, it is very unstable. A trigger is all that is needed to set off
an eruption. In the case of the 1986 eruption at Lake Nyos, landslides were the suspected
triggers, but an actual volcanic eruption, an earthquake, or even wind and rain storms are other
possible triggers. In any case, the trigger pushes some of the saturated water higher in the lake,
where the pressure is insufficient to keep the CO2 in solution. Bubbles start forming and the
water is lifted even higher in the lake (buoyancy), where even more of the CO2 comes out of
solution. This process forms a column of gas. At this point the water at the bottom of this column
is pulled up by suction, and it too loses its CO2 in a runaway process. This eruption pours
CO2 into the air and can also displace water to form a tsunami.

There are several reasons this type of eruption is very rare. First, there must be a source of the
CO2, so only regions with volcanic activity are at risk. Second, temperate lakes, such as North
America's Great Lakes, turn over each spring and fall as a result of seasonal air temperature
changes, mixing water from the bottom and top of the lake, so CO2 that builds up at the bottom
of the lake is brought to the top where the pressure is too low for it to stay in solution and it
escapes into the atmosphere. Finally, a lake must be quite deep to have enough pressure to
dissolve large volumes of CO2. So only in deep, stable, tropical, volcanic lakes such as Lake
Nyos are limnic eruptions possible.

[edit]Consequences

Once an eruption occurs, a large CO2 cloud forms above the lake and expands to the
neighbouring region. Because CO2 is denser than air, it has a tendency to sink to the ground
while pushing breathable air up. As a result, life forms that need to breathe oxygen suffocate
once the CO2 cloud reaches them, as there is very little oxygen in the cloud. The CO2 can make
human bodily fluids very acidic, potentially causing CO2 poisoning. As victims gasp for air they
actually hurt themselves more by sucking in the CO2 gas.

At Lake Nyos, the gas cloud descended from the lake into a nearby village where it settled,
killing nearly everyone. In this eruption, some people as far as 25 km (15.5 miles) from the lake
died. A change in skin color on some bodies led scientists to think that the gas cloud may have
contained a dissolved acid such as hydrogen chloride as well, but that hypothesis is disputed.
[4]
Many victims were found with blisters on their skin. This is believed to have been caused
by pressure ulcers, which likely formed from the low levels of oxygen present in the blood of
those asphyxiated by the carbon dioxide.[5] Thousands of cattle and wild animals were also
asphyxiated, but no official counts were made. On the other hand, vegetation nearby was
mostly unaffected except for that which grew immediately adjacent to the lake. There the
vegetation was damaged or destroyed by a 5-meter (16.4 ft.) tsunami from the violent eruption.

[edit]A possible solution: Degassing lakes

A siphon used by French scientists in an attempt to degas Lake Nyos.

Efforts have been under way for several years to develop a solution to remove the gas from
these lakes and prevent a build-up that could lead to another catastrophe. A team of French
scientists began experimenting at Lake Monoun and Lake Nyos in 1990 using siphons to degas
the waters of these lakes in a controlled manner. A pipe is positioned vertically in the lake with
its upper end above the water's surface. Water saturated with CO2 enters the bottom of the pipe
and rises to the top. The lower pressure at the surface allows the gas to come out of solution.
Interestingly, only a small amount of water has to initially be mechanically pumped through the
pipe to start the flow. As the saturated water rises, the CO2 comes out of solution and forms
bubbles. The natural buoyancy of the bubbles draws the water up the pipe at high velocity
causing a large fountain at the surface. The degassifying water acts as a pump, drawing more
water into the bottom of the pipe, and creating a self-sustaining flow. This is the same process
that leads to a natural eruption, but in this case it is controlled by the size of the pipe.
Each pipe has a limited pumping capacity and several would be required for both Lake Monoun
and Lake Nyos to degas a significant fraction of the deep lake water and render the lakes safe.
The deep lake waters are slightly acidic due to the dissolved CO2 which causes corrosion to the
pipes and electronics, necessitating ongoing maintenance. There are also fears that the
CO2 from the pipes could settle on the surface of the lake forming a thin layer of unbreathable
air and thus causing problems for wildlife.

In January 2001, a single pipe was installed on Lake Nyos. A second pipe was installed at Lake
Monoun in late 2002. These two pipes are thought to be sufficient to prevent an increase in
CO2 levels, removing approximately the same amount of gas as that naturally entering at the
lake bed. In January 2003, an 18-month project had been given approval to fully degas Lake
Monoun.[6] The project appears to have been subsequently cancelled.[citation needed]

[edit]Lake Kivu's potential danger

Satellite image of Lake Kivu.

Lake Kivu is not only 2,000 times larger than Lake Nyos — it is also located in a far more
densely populated area, with over two million people living along its shores. Fortunately, it has
not reached a high level of CO2 saturation yet. If the water were to become heavily saturated, it
could become an even greater risk to human and animal life, as it is located very close to a
potential trigger, Mount Nyiragongo, an active volcano that erupted in January 2002. It is also
located in an active earthquake zone and close to other active volcanoes.

While the lake could be degassed in a manner similar to Lake Monoun and Lake Nyos, due to
the size of the lake and the volume of gas involved such an operation would be expensive,
running into millions of dollars. A scheme initiated in 2010 to utilise methane trapped in the lake
as a fuel source to generate electricity in Rwanda has led to a degree of CO2 degassing.
[7]
During the procedure for extracting the flammable gas used to fire power stations on the
shore, some CO2 is removed in a process known as scrubbing. It is as yet unclear whether
enough of the gas will be removed in this way to ensure the danger of a limnic eruption posed
by Lake Kivu will be completely eliminated

Tropical Storm Allison

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the Atlantic tropical storm of 2001. For other storms of the same name,
see Tropical Storm Allison (disambiguation).

Tropical Storm Allison

tropical storm (SSHS)

Tropical Storm Allison on June 5, 2001

Formed June 4, 2001

Dissipat June 18, 2001

ed
 Highest
winds

Lowest 1000 mbar (hPa; 29.53 inHg)

pressure

Fatalitie 41 direct, 14 indirect

s

Damage $5.5 billion (2001 USD)

$6.82 billion (2010 USD)

Areas Texas (particularly

affected aroundHouston), Louisiana, most of
the Eastern United States

Part of the
2001 Atlantic hurricane season

Tropical Storm Allison was a tropical storm that devastated southeast Texas in June of
the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season. The first storm of the season, Allison lasted unusually long
for a June storm, remaining tropical or subtropical for 15 days. The storm developed from
atropical wave in the northern Gulf of Mexico on June 4, 2001, and struck the upper Texas
coast shortly thereafter. It drifted northward through the state, turned back to the south, and re-
entered the Gulf of Mexico. The storm continued to the east-northeast, made landfall
on Louisiana, then moved across the southeast United States and Mid-Atlantic. Allison was the
first storm since Tropical Storm Frances in 1998 to strike the northern Texas coastline.[1]

The storm dropped heavy rainfall along its path, peaking at over 40 inches (1,000 mm) in Texas.
The worst flooding occurred in Houston, where most of Allison's damage occurred: 30,000
became homeless after the storm flooded over 70,000 houses and destroyed 2,744 homes.
Downtown Houston was inundated with flooding, causing severe damage to hospitals and
businesses. Twenty-three people died in Texas. Throughout its entire path, Allison caused $5.5
billion ($6.7 billion 2008 USD) in damage and 41 deaths. Aside from Texas, the places worst hit
were Louisiana and southeastern Pennsylvania.

Following the storm, President George W. Bush designated 75 counties along Allison's path as
disaster areas (the first time he had to do so), which enabled the citizens affected to apply for
aid. Allison is the only tropical storm to have its name retired without ever having reached
hurricane strength.

[edit]Meteorological history
Storm path

A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on May 21, 2001. It moved westward across
theAtlantic Ocean, retaining little convection on its way. After moving across South America and
the southwestern Caribbean Sea, the wave entered the eastern North Pacific Ocean on June 1.
A low-level circulation developed on June 2, while it was about 230 miles (370 km) south-
southeast of Salina Cruz, Mexico. Southerly flow forced the system northward, and the wave
moved inland on June 3. The low-level circulation dissipated, though the mid-level circulation
persisted. It emerged into the Gulf of Mexico on June 4, and developed deep convection on its
eastern side.[2] Early on June 5, satellite imagery suggested that a tropical depression was
forming in the northwest Gulf of Mexico, which was furthered by reports of wind gusts as high as
60 mph (95 km/h) just a few hundred feet above the surface, towards the east side of the
system.[3]

Tropical Storm Allison on June 5 at peak strength

At 1200 UTC on June 5, the disturbance developed a broad, low-level circulation, and was
classified as Tropical Storm Allison, the first storm of the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season. Some
intensification was projected, though it was expected to be hindered by cool offshore sea
surface temperatures.[4] Due to the cold-core nature of the center, Allison initially
contained subtropical characteristics. Despite this, the storm quickly strengthened to attain peak
sustained winds of 60 mph (95 km/h), with tropical storm-force winds extending up to 230 miles
(370 km) east of the center, and a minimum central pressure of 1000 mbar.[2] The storm initially
moved very little, and the presence of several small vortices from within the deep convection
caused difficulty in determining the exact center location.[5]

Later in the day, several different track forecasts arose. One scenario had the cyclone tracking
westward in to Mexico. Another projected the storm moving east towards southern Louisiana. At
the time, it was noted that little rain or wind persisted near the center, but rather to the north and
east.[6] Under the steering currents of a subtropical ridge that extended in an east–west
orientation across the southeast United States,[5]Allison weakened while nearing the Texas
coastline, and struck near Freeport, Texas with 50 mph (80 km/h) winds.[2] Inland, the storm
rapidly weakened, and the National Hurricane Center discontinued advisories early on June 6.
[7]
Shortly after being downgraded to a tropical depression, surface observations showed an
elongated circulation with a poorly defined center, which had reformed closer to the deep
convection.[8]

Tropical Storm Allison with an eye-like feature over Mississippi

The depression drifted northward until reaching Lufkin, Texas, where it stalled due to a high
pressure system to its north.[2] While stalling over Texas, the storm dropped excessive rainfall,
peaking at just over 40 inches (1,033 mm) in northwestern Jefferson County.[9] On June 7, the
subtropical ridge off Florida weakened, while the ridge west of Texas intensified. This steered
Tropical Depression Allison to make a clockwise loop, and the storm began drifting to the
southwest. As the center reached Huntsville, Texas, a heavy rain band began to back build from
Louisiana westward into Liberty County, Texas, which had caused additional flooding.[10] At the
time, the system had a minimum central pressure of about 1004 mb and maximum sustained
winds of about 10 mph (16 km/h).[11]

Late on June 9 and early on June 10, Allison's remnants once again reached the Gulf of Mexico
and emerged over open waters.[12] The low once again became nearly stationary about 60 mi
(100 km) south of Galveston, Texas, and despite more favorable upper-level winds, it showed
no signs of redevelopment.[13] Due to dry air and moderate westerly wind shear, the storm
transformed into a subtropical cyclone. While the subtropical depression moved eastward, a
new low level circulation redeveloped to the east, and Allison quickly made landfall on Morgan
City, Louisiana on June 11.[2] At around the same time, the surface center reformed to the east-
northeast of its previous location, aligning with the mid-level circulation.
[14]
Strong thunderstorms redeveloped over the circulation, and Allison strengthened into a
subtropical storm over southeastern Louisiana.[2] The storm intensified further to attain sustained
winds of 45 mph (70 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of about 1000 mb near Mclain,
Mississippi, accompanied by a well-defined eye-like feature.[15]

Tropical Storm Allison over North Carolina

The storm was officially downgraded to a subtropical depression at 0000 UTC on June 12.
Somewhat accelerating, the depression tracked to the east-northeast
through Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina before becoming nearly stationary
near Wilmington, North Carolina.[2] The depression drifted through North Carolina and sped to
the northeast for a time in response to an approaching cold front.[16]Though satellite and radar
imagery show the system was well-organized, the system slowed and moved erratically for a
period of time,[17]executing what appeared to be a small counterclockwise loop.[18]

The storm began tracking in a generally northeasterly direction, and crossed into the
southern Delmarva Peninsula on June 16.[19] The subtropical remnants reached the Atlantic on
June 17, and while located east of Atlantic City, New Jersey, winds began to restrengthen, and
heavy rains formed to the north of the circulation. The low was interacting with a frontal
boundary, and started merging with it, as it accelerated to the northeast at 13 mph (21 km/h).
[20]
The remnants of Allison briefly reintensified to a subtropical
storm through baroclinic processes, though it became extratropical while south of Long Island.
[2]
By later on June 17, the low was situated off the coast of Rhode Island, spreading a swath of
precipitation over New England.[21] The remnants of the tropical storm were then absorbed by
the frontal boundary by June 18, and eventually passed south of Cape Race, Newfoundland on
June 20, where the extratropical cyclone dissipated.[2]

[edit]Preparations

Main article: Effects of Tropical Storm Allison in Texas

Shortly after the storm formed, officials in Galveston County, Texas issued a voluntary
evacuation for the western end of Galveston Island, as the area was not protected by
the Galveston Seawall.[2] The ferry from the island to the Bolivar Peninsula was closed, while
voluntary evacuations were issued in Surfside in Brazoria County.[22] When the National
Hurricane Centerissued the first advisory on Allison, officials issued Tropical Storm
Warnings from Sargent, Texas to Morgan City, Louisiana.[23] After the storm made landfall, flash
flood watches and warnings were issued for numerous areas in eastern Texas.[24] During the
flood event, the National Weather Service in Houston issued 99 flash flood warnings with an
average lead time of 40 minutes. With an average lead time of 24 minutes, the National
Weather Service in Lake Charles, Louisiana issued 47 flash flood warnings. With an average
lead time of 39 minutes, the National Weather Service in New Orleans/Baton Rouge issued
87 flash flood warnings, of which 30 were not followed by a flash flood.[25]

In Tallahassee, Florida, a shelter opened the day prior to Allison's movement northward through
the area, seven staff members housing 12 people. Two other shelters were on standby. Teams
informed citizens in the Florida Panhandle of flood dangers.[26]

[edit]Impact

Tropical Storm Allison was a major flood disaster throughout its path from Texas to the Mid-
Atlantic. The worst of the flooding occurred in Houston, Texas, where over 35 inches (890 mm)
of rain fell. Allison killed 41 people, of which 27 drowned. The storm also caused over $5 billion
in damage (2001 USD, $6.4 billion 2007 USD), making Allison the deadliest and costliest
tropical storm on record in the United States.[2]
[edit]Texas

Main article: Effects of Tropical Storm Allison in Texas

Combined with waves on top, areas of Galveston Island experienced a wall of water 8 feet
(2.5 m) in height, creating overwash along the coastline. The storm caused winds of up to
43 mph (69 km/h) at the Galveston Pier. While Allison was stalling over Texas, it dropped very
heavy rainfall across the state.[2] Minimal beach erosion was reported.[27] Flash flooding
continued for days,[10] with rainfall amounts across the state peaking at just over 40 inches
(1,033 mm) in northwestern Jefferson County. In the Port of Houston, a total of 36.99 inches
(940 mm) was reported.[9] Houston experienced torrential rainfall in a short amount of time. The
six-day rainfall in Houston amounted to 38.6 inches (980 mm).[28] The deluge of rainfall flooded
95,000 automobiles and 73,000 houses throughout Harris County.[1] Tropical Storm Allison
destroyed 2,744 homes, leaving 30,000 homeless with residential damages totaling to
$1.76 billion (2001 USD, $2.05 billion 2007 USD).[28]

The Southwest Freeway, near Downtown Houston, lies under water due to flooding from Tropical Storm Allison

Several hospitals in the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world,
experienced severe damage from the storm, which hit quickly and with unexpected fury on a
Friday evening. The Baylor College of Medicine experienced major damage, totaling
$495 million (2001 USD, $577 million 2007 USD). The medical school lost 90,000 research
animals, 60,000 tumor samples, and 25 years of research data.The University of Texas Health
Science Center at Houston, across the street, lost thousands of laboratory animals. Throughout
the Medical Center, damage totaled to over $2 billion (2001 USD, $2.3 billion 2007 USD).[28]
Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou at Main Street after Tropical Storm Allison hitHouston

The underground tunnel system, which connects most large office buildings in downtown
Houston, was submerged, as were many streets and parking garages adjacent to Buffalo
Bayou. At the Theatre District, also in downtown, the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand
Opera, and Alley Theater lost millions of dollars of costumes, musical instruments, sheet music,
archives and other artifacts. By midnight on June 9 nearly every freeway and major road in the
city was under several feet of water, forcing hundreds of motorists to abandon their vehicles for
higher ground.[28]

Despite massive flooding damage to entire neighborhoods there were no drowning deaths in
flooded homes. In the area, there were 12 deaths from driving, 6 from walking, 3 from
electrocution, and 1 in an elevator.[1] Elsewhere in Texas, a man drowned when swimming in a
ditch in Mauriceville.[25] Damage totaled to $5.2 billion (2001 USD, $6 billion 2007 USD)
throughout Texas.[29]

[edit]Louisiana

Flooding in Chackbay, Louisiana

While making its first landfall, Allison's large circulation dropped severe rains on southwest
Louisiana.[30] Days later, Allison hit the state as a subtropical storm, dropping more heavy rains
to the area. Rainfall totals peaked at 29.86 inches (758 mm) in Thibodaux, the highest rainfall
total in Louisiana from a tropical cyclone since another Tropical Storm Allison in 1989.[31] Most of
the southeastern portion of the state experienced over 10 inches of rain (255 mm).[9] Winds
were generally light, peaking at 38 mph (61 km/h) sustained in Lakefront with gusts to 53 mph
(85 km/h) in Bay Gardene. The storm produced a storm surge of 2.5 feet (0.75 m)
in Cameron as it was making landfall in Texas.[2] While moving northward through Texas, the
outer bands of the storm produced anF1 tornado near Zachary, damaging several trees and a
power line. A man was killed when a damaged power line hit his truck.[32]

When Allison first made landfall, heavy rainfall flooded numerous houses and businesses. Minor
wind gusts caused minor roof damage to 10 houses in Cameron Parish, while its storm surge
flooded portions of Louisiana Highway 82.[33] When the system returned, more rainfall occurred,
flooding over 1,000 houses in St. Tammany Parish,[34] 80 houses in Saint Bernard Parish,[35] and
hundreds of houses elsewhere in the state. The flooding also forced 1,800 residents from their
homes in East Baton Rouge Parish.[36] The deluge left numerous roads impassable, while runoff
resulted in severe river flooding. The Bogue Falaya River in Covington crested past its peak
twice to near record levels.[34] The Amite and Comite Rivers reached their highest levels since
1983. In addition, the levee along the Bayou Manchac broke, flooding roadways and more
houses.[36] Damage in Louisiana totaled to $65 million (2001 USD, $75 million 2007 USD).[28]

[edit]Southeast United States

Rainfall totals from Allison

In Mississippi, Allison produced heavy rainfall of over 10 inches (255 mm) in one night,[37] while
some areas in the southwestern portion of the state received over 15 inches (380 mm).[9] The
flooding damaged numerous houses and flooded many roadways.[37] Thunderstorms from the
storm produced four tornadoes,[2] including one in Gulfport, Mississippi that damaged 10
houses.[38] Severe thunderstorms in George Countydamaged 15 houses, destroyed 10, and
injured five people.[39] Damage in Mississippi totaled to over $1 million (2001 USD, $1.2 million
2007 USD).[37][38][39] Rainfall in Alabama was moderate, with areas near Mobile experiencing
more than 10 inches (255 mm).[9] Heavy rainfall closed several roads in Crenshaw County.
[40]
The storm, combined with a high pressure, produced coastal flooding in southern Alabama.
[41]
Allison produced an F0 tornado in southwest Mobile County that caused minor roof
damage[42] and another F0 tornado in Covington Countythat caused minor damage to six homes
and a church.[42]

The storm, combined with a high pressure system, produced a strong pressure gradient,
resulting in strong rip currents off the coast of Florida. The currents prompted sirens, which are
normally used for storm warnings, to be activated in Pensacola Beach.[43] The rip currents killed
5 off the coast of Florida.[44] Outer rain bands from the storm dropped heavy rainfall across
the Florida Panhandle of over 11 inches (280 mm) in one day. The Tallahassee Regional
Airport recorded 10.13 inches (257 mm) in 24 hours, breaking the old 24 hour record set in
1969.[45] Throughout the state, Allison destroyed 10 homes and damaged 599, 196 severely,
primarily in Leon County.[46] Including the deaths from rip currents, Allison killed eight people in
Florida[2] and caused $20 million (2001 USD, $23 million 2007 USD) in damage.[45]

Over Georgia, the storm dropped heavy rainfall of 10 inches (255 mm) in 24 hours in various
locations. The deluge caused rivers to crest past their banks, including the Oconee
River at Milledgeville which peaked at 33.7 feet (10.3 m). The rainfall, which was heaviest
across the southwestern portion of the state, washed out several bridges and roads, and
flooded many other roads. Georgia governor Roy Barnes declared a state of emergency for
seven counties in the state.[47] The storm also spawned two tornadoes.[2] In South Carolina,
Allison's outer bands produced 10 tornadoes[2] and several funnel clouds, though most only
caused minor damage limited to a damaged courthouse, snapped trees[48] and downed power
lines.[49] Allison produced from 12 to 16 inches (305 to 406 mm) of rainfall in North Carolina,
closing nearly all roads in Martin County and damaging 25 homes.[50] The severe flooding
washed out a bridge in eastern Halifax County[51] and flooded numerous cars.[31] Wet roads
caused nine traffic accidents throughout the state.[2]
[edit]Mid-Atlantic and Northeast United States

Damage from flooding in Pennsylvania

In Virginia, Allison produced light rainfall, with the southeastern and south-central portions of the
state experiencing over 3 inches (76 mm).[9] A tree in a saturated ground fell over and killed one
person.[52] Allison also produced one tornado in the state.[2] Washington, D.C. experienced
moderate rainfall from the storm, totaling to 2.59 inches (66 mm) in Georgetown.[53] In Maryland,
rainfall from Tropical Depression Allison totaled to 7.5 inches (190 mm) in Denton, closing
eleven roads and causing washouts on 41 others. The Maryland Eastern Shore experienced
only minor rainfall from one to two inches (25 to 50 mm). Damage was light, and no deaths were
reported.[54] In Delaware, the storm produced moderate rainfall, peaking at 4.2 inches (106 mm)
in Greenwood. No damage was reported.[55]

Allison, in combination with an approaching frontal boundary, dropped heavy rainfall across
southeastern Pennsylvania, peaking at 10.17 inches (258 mm) in Chalfont in Bucks County and
over 3 inches (76 mm) in portions of Philadelphia. The rainfall caused rivers to rise, with
the Neshaminy Creek in Langhorne peaking at 16.87 feet (5.1 m). Several other rivers and
creeks in southeastern Pennsylvania crested at over 10 feet (3 m). The rainfall downed
numerous weak trees and power lines, leaving 70,000 without power during the storm. The
flooding washed out several roads and bridges, including a few SEPTA rail lines. In addition, the
rainfall destroyed 241 homes and damaged 1,386 others. Flooding at a Dodge dealership
totaled 150 vehicles. Hundreds of people were forced to be rescued from damaged buildings
from flood waters. The flooding dislodged a clothes dryer in the basement of the "A" building of
the Village Green Apartment Complex in Upper Moreland Township, breaking a natural gas line.
The gas leak resulted in an explosion and an ensuing fire that killed six people. Firefighters
were unable to render assistance as the building was completely surrounded by floodwaters.
Additionally, one man drowned in his vehicle in a river.[56] Damage in Pennsylvania totaled to
$215 million (2001 USD, $250 million 2007 USD).[28]
In New Jersey, the storm produced heavy rainfall, peaking at 8.1 inches (205 mm) in Tuckerton.
The rains also caused river flooding, including the north branch of the Metedeconk
River inLakewood which crested at 8 feet (2.5 m). The flooding, severe at places, closed several
roads, including numerous state highways.[57] Gusty winds of up to 44 mph (71 km/h) in Atlantic
City downed weak trees and power lines, leaving over 13,000 without power. Several people
had to be rescued from high waters, though no fatalities occurred in the state. Overall damage
was minimal.[58]

Tropical Storm Allison caused flash flooding in New York, dropping up to 3 inches (75 mm) of
rain in one hour in several locations and peaking at 5.73 inches (146 mm) in Granite Springs.
The rains also caused river flooding, including the Mahwah River which crested at 3.79 feet (1.2
m). Allison's rainfall damaged 24 houses and several stores, while the flooding closed several
major highways in the New York City area. Overall damage was light, and no fatalities occurred
in New York due to Allison.[59] Similarly, rainfall in Connecticut peaked at 7.2 inches (183 mm)
in Pomfret,[60] closing several roads and causing minor damage to numerous houses. The Yantic
River at Yantic crested at 11.1 feet (3.4 m),[60] while a state road was closed when a private dam
in Hampton failed from the rainfall.[60] In Rhode Island, Allison produced up to 7.1 inches
(180 mm) of rainfall in North Smithfield, washing out several roads and houses, and destroying
a log house in Foster.[61]

An isolated severe thunderstorm in the outer bands of Allison produced

an F1 tornado in Worcester and Middlesex Counties in Massachusetts, impacting over
100 trees and damaging one house and one small camper. A microburst in Leominster and
another in Shirley damaged several trees. Lightning from the storm hit two houses, causing
significant damage there but little elsewhere. Allison also produced moderate rainfall in the
state, mainly ranging from 3 to 5 inches (75 to 125 mm). The rainfall caused drainage and traffic
problems. Damage in Massachusetts totaled to $400,000 (2001 USD, $466,000 2007 USD).[62]

[edit]Aftermath

Main article: Effects of Tropical Storm Allison in Texas

Within weeks of the disaster, President George W. Bush declared 75 counties in Texas,
[63]
southern Louisiana,[64] southern Mississippi,[65] northwestern Florida,[66] and southeastern
Pennsylvania as disaster areas.[67] The declarations allowed affected citizens to receive aid for
temporary housing, emergency home repairs, and other serious disaster-related expenses.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) also provided 75% for the cost of debris
removal, emergency services related to the disaster, and repairing or replacing damaged public
facilities, such as roads, bridges and utilities.[63]

Aid from the American Red Cross

A few weeks after Allison, FEMA opened six disaster recovery centers across southeast Texas,
which provided recovery information to those who applied for disaster assistance.
[68]
The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army opened 48 shelters at the peak of need for
people driven from their homes, which served nearly 300,000 meals. The National Disaster
Medical System deployed a temporary hospital to Houston with 88 professionals, aiding nearly
500 people.[69] Thirty-five volunteer services provided aid for the flood victims in Texas, including
food, clothing, and volunteers to help repair the houses.[70] After nearly 50,000 cars were flooded
and ruined, many people attempted to sell the cars across the country without telling of the car's
history.[71] Following the extreme flooding, a mosquito outbreak occurred, though FEMA
provided aid to control the problem.[72] By six months after the storm, around 120,000 Texas
citizens applied for federal disaster aid, totaling to $1.05 billion (2001 USD, $1.22 billion
2007 USD).[73]

Like in Texas, a mosquito outbreak occurred in Louisiana. Only pesticides acceptable to the US
Environmental Protection Agency and the US Fish and Wildlife Service were allowed to be
used.[74] FEMA officials warned homeowners of the dangers of floodwaters, including mold,
mildew, and bacteria.[75] By three months after the storm, just under 100,000 Louisiana citizens
applied for federal aid, totaling to over $110 million (2001 USD, $128 million 2007 USD).
$25 million (2001 USD, $29 million 2007 USD) of the total was for business loans, while an
additional $8 million was for public assistance for communities and state agencies.[76] More than
750 flood victims in Florida applied for governmental aid, totaling to $1.29 million (2001 USD,
$1.5 million 2007 USD).[77] In Pennsylvania, 1,670 flood victims applied for federal aid, totaling to
$11.5 million (2001 USD, $13.4 million 2007 USD). $3.4 million (2001 USD, $4 million
2007 USD) of the total was to replace a SEPTA rail bridge over the Sandy Run in Fort
Washington.[78]

Tropical cyclone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Hurricane" redirects here. For other uses, see Hurricane (disambiguation).

Hurricane Isabel (2003) as seen from orbit duringExpedition 7 of the International Space Station. The eye, eyewall
and surrounding rainbands that are characteristics of tropical cyclones are clearly visible in this view from space.

A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and

numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones
strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated airrises,
resulting in condensation of water vapor contained in the moist air. They are fueled by a
different heat mechanism than other cyclonic windstorms such as nor'easters, European
windstorms, and polar lows. The characteristic that separates tropical cyclones from other
cyclonic systems is that any height in the atmosphere, the center of a tropical cyclone will be
warmer than its surrounds; a phenomenon called "warm core" storm systems.

The term "tropical" refers to both the geographic origin of these systems, which form almost
exclusively in tropical regions of the globe, and their formation in maritime tropical air masses.
The term "cyclone" refers to such storms' cyclonic nature, withcounterclockwise rotation in
the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise rotation in the Southern Hemisphere. The opposite
direction of spin is a result of the Coriolis force. Depending on its location and strength, a
tropical cyclone is referred to by names such ashurricane, typhoon, tropical storm, cyclonic
storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone.

While tropical cyclones can produce extremely powerful winds and torrential rain, they are also
able to produce high waves and damaging storm surge as well as spawning tornadoes. They
develop over large bodies of warm water, and lose their strength if they move over land due to
increased surface friction and loss of the warm ocean as an energy source. This is why coastal
regions can receive significant damage from a tropical cyclone, while inland regions are
relatively safe from receiving strong winds. Heavy rains, however, can produce significant
flooding inland, and storm surges can produce extensive coastal flooding up to 40 kilometres
(25 mi) from the coastline. Although their effects on human populations can be devastating,
tropical cyclones can also relieve drought conditions. They also carry heat and energy away
from the tropics and transport it toward temperate latitudes, which makes them an important
part of the global atmospheric circulation mechanism. As a result, tropical cyclones help to
maintain equilibrium in the Earth's troposphere, and to maintain a relatively stable and warm
temperature worldwide.

Many tropical cyclones develop when the atmospheric conditions around a weak disturbance in
the atmosphere are favorable. The background environment is modulated by climatological
cycles and patterns such as the Madden-Julian oscillation, El Niño-Southern Oscillation, and
the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation. Others form when other types of cyclones acquire tropical
characteristics. Tropical systems are then moved by steering winds in the troposphere; if the
conditions remain favorable, the tropical disturbance intensifies, and can even develop an eye.
On the other end of the spectrum, if the conditions around the system deteriorate or the tropical
cyclone makes landfall, the system weakens and eventually dissipates. It is not possible to
artificially induce the dissipation of these systems with current technology.

Physical structure
See also: Eye (cyclone)
Structure of a tropical cyclone

All tropical cyclones are areas of low atmospheric pressure in the Earth's atmosphere. The
pressures recorded at the centers of tropical cyclones are among the lowest that occur on
Earth's surface at sea level.[1] Tropical cyclones are characterized and driven by the release of
large amounts of latent heat of condensation, which occurs when moist air is carried upwards
and its water vapor condenses. This heat is distributed vertically around the center of the storm.
Thus, at any given altitude (except close to the surface, where water temperature dictates air
temperature) the environment inside the cyclone is warmer than its outer surroundings.[2]

Eye and center

A strong tropical cyclone will harbor an area of sinking air at the center of circulation. If this area
is strong enough, it can develop into a large "eye". Weather in the eye is normally calm and free
of clouds, although the sea may be extremely violent.[3] The eye is normally circular in shape,
and may range in size from 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to 370 kilometres (230 mi) in diameter.[4]
[5]
Intense, mature tropical cyclones can sometimes exhibit an outward curving of the eyewall's
top, making it resemble a football stadium; this phenomenon is thus sometimes referred to as
the stadium effect.[6]

There are other features that either surround the eye, or cover it. The central dense overcast is
the concentrated area of strong thunderstorm activity near the center of a tropical cyclone;[7] in
weaker tropical cyclones, the CDO may cover the center completely.[8] The eyewall is a circle of
strong thunderstorms that surrounds the eye; here is where the greatest wind speeds are found,
where clouds reach the highest, and precipitation is the heaviest. The heaviest wind damage
occurs where a tropical cyclone's eyewall passes over land.[3]Eyewall replacement cycles occur
naturally in intense tropical cyclones. When cyclones reach peak intensity they usually have an
eyewall and radius of maximum winds that contract to a very small size, around 10 kilometres
(6.2 mi) to 25 kilometres (16 mi). Outer rainbands can organize into an outer ring of
thunderstorms that slowly moves inward and robs the inner eyewall of its needed moisture
and angular momentum. When the inner eyewall weakens, the tropical cyclone weakens (in
other words, the maximum sustained winds weaken and the central pressure rises.) The outer
eyewall replaces the inner one completely at the end of the cycle. The storm can be of the same
intensity as it was previously or even stronger after the eyewall replacement cycle finishes. The
storm may strengthen again as it builds a new outer ring for the next eyewall replacement.[9]

Size descriptions of tropical

cyclones
 ROCI Type

Less than 2 degrees Very

latitude small/midget

2 to 3 degrees of
Small
latitude

3 to 6 degrees of Medium/Avera
latitude ge

6 to 8 degrees of Large anti-

latitude dwarf

Over 8 degrees of
Very large[10]
latitude

Size
One measure of the size of a tropical cyclone is determined by measuring the distance from its
center of circulation to its outermost closed isobar, also known as its ROCI. If the radius is less
than two degrees of latitude or 222 kilometres (138 mi), then the cyclone is "very small" or a
"midget". A radius between 3 and 6 latitude degrees or 333 kilometres (207 mi) to
670 kilometres (420 mi) are considered "average-sized". "Very large" tropical cyclones have a
radius of greater than 8 degrees or 888 kilometres (552 mi).[10] Use of this measure has
objectively determined that tropical cyclones in the northwest Pacific Ocean are the largest on
earth on average, withAtlantic tropical cyclones roughly half their size.[11] Other methods of
determining a tropical cyclone's size include measuring the radius of gale force winds and
measuring the radius at which its relative vorticity field decreases to 1×10−5 s−1 from its center.[12]
[13]

Mechanics
Tropical cyclones form when the energy released by the condensation of moisture in rising air causes a positive
feedback loop over warm ocean waters.[14]

A tropical cyclone's primary energy source is the release of the heat of condensation from water
vapor condensing, with solar heatingbeing the initial source for evaporation. Therefore, a
tropical cyclone can be visualized as a giant vertical heat engine supported by mechanics driven
by physical forces such as the rotation and gravity of the Earth.[15] In another way, tropical
cyclones could be viewed as a special type of mesoscale convective complex, which continues
to develop over a vast source of relative warmth and moisture. While an initial warm core
system, such as an organized thunderstorm complex, is necessary for the formation of a tropical
cyclone, a large flux of energy is needed to lower atmospheric pressure more than a few
millibars (0.10 inch of mercury). The inflow of warmth and moisture from the underlying ocean
surface is critical for tropical cyclone strengthening.[16] A significant amount of the inflow in the
cyclone is in the lowest 1 kilometre (3,300 ft) of the atmosphere.[17]

Condensation leads to higher wind speeds, as a tiny fraction of the released energy is
converted into mechanical energy;[18] the faster winds and lower pressure associated with them
in turn cause increased surface evaporation and thus even more condensation. Much of the
released energy drives updrafts that increase the height of the storm clouds, speeding up
condensation.[19] This positive feedback loop, called the Wind-induced surface heat exchange,
continues for as long as conditions are favorable for tropical cyclone development. Factors such
as a continued lack of equilibrium in air mass distribution would also give supporting energy to
the cyclone. The rotation of the Earth causes the system to spin, an effect known as the Coriolis
effect, giving it a cyclonic characteristic and affecting the trajectory of the storm.[20][21][22]

What primarily distinguishes tropical cyclones from other meteorological phenomena is deep
convection as a driving force.[23] Because convection is strongest in a tropical climate, it defines
the initial domain of the tropical cyclone. By contrast, mid-latitude cyclones draw their energy
mostly from pre-existing horizontal temperature gradients in the atmosphere.[23] To continue to
drive its heat engine, a tropical cyclone must remain over warm water, which provides the
needed atmospheric moisture to keep the positive feedback loop running. When a tropical
cyclone passes over land, it is cut off from its heat source and its strength diminishes rapidly.[24]

Chart displaying the drop in surface temperature in the Gulf of Mexico as HurricanesKatrina and Rita passed over

The passage of a tropical cyclone over the ocean causes the upper layers of the ocean to cool
substantially, which can influence subsequent cyclone development. This cooling is primarily
caused by wind-driven mixing of cold water from deeper in the ocean and the warm surface
waters. This effect results in a negative feedback process which can inhibit further development
or lead to weakening. Additional cooling may come in the form of cold water from falling
raindrops (this is because the atmosphere is cooler at higher altitudes). Cloud cover may also
play a role in cooling the ocean, by shielding the ocean surface from direct sunlight before and
slightly after the storm passage. All these effects can combine to produce a dramatic drop in
sea surface temperature over a large area in just a few days.[25]

Scientists estimate that a tropical cyclone releases heat energy at the rate of 50 to
200 exajoules (1018 J) per day,[19] equivalent to about 1 PW (1015 watt). This rate of energy
release is equivalent to 70 times the world energy consumption of humans and 200 times the
worldwide electrical generating capacity, or to exploding a 10-megaton nuclear bomb every
20 minutes.[19][26]

In the lower troposphere, the most obvious motion of clouds is toward the center. However
tropical cyclones also develop an upper-level (high-altitude) outward flow of clouds. These
originate from air that has released its moisture and is expelled at high altitude through the
"chimney" of the storm engine.[15] This outflow produces high, cirrus clouds that spiral away from
the center. The clouds thin as they move outwards from the center of the system and are
evaporated. They may be thin enough for the sun to be visible through them. These high cirrus
clouds may be the first signs of an approaching tropical cyclone.[27] As air parcels are lifted
within the eye of the storm the vorticity is reduced, causing the outflow from a tropical cyclone to
have anti-cyclonic motion.

Major basins and related warning centers

Main articles: Tropical cyclone basins and Regional Specialized Meteorological Center

Basins and WMO Monitoring Institutions[28]

Basin Responsible RSMCs and TCWCs

North Atlantic National Hurricane Center (United States)

North-East Pacific National Hurricane Center (United States)

Central Pacific Hurricane Center (United

North-Central Pacific
States)

North-West Pacific Japan Meteorological Agency

North Indian Ocean India Meteorological Department

South-West Indian
Météo-France
Ocean

Bureau of Meteorology† (Australia)

Meteorological and Geophysical
Australian region Agency† (Indonesia)
Papua New Guinea National Weather
Service†

Fiji Meteorological Service

Southern Pacific
Meteorological Service of New Zealand†

†
: Indicates a Tropical Cyclone Warning Center
There are six Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers (RSMCs) worldwide. These
organizations are designated by the World Meteorological Organization and are responsible for
tracking and issuing bulletins, warnings, and advisories about tropical cyclones in their
designated areas of responsibility. Additionally, there are six Tropical Cyclone Warning
Centers (TCWCs) that provide information to smaller regions.[29]The RSMCs and TCWCs are
not the only organizations that provide information about tropical cyclones to the public.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issues advisories in all basins except the Northern
Atlantic for the purposes of the United States Government.[30] The Philippine Atmospheric,
Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) issues advisories and names
for tropical cyclones that approach the Philippines in the Northwestern Pacific to protect the life
and property of its citizens.[31]The Canadian Hurricane Center (CHC) issues advisories on
hurricanes and their remnants for Canadian citizens when they affect Canada.[32]

On 26 March 2004, Cyclone Catarina became the first recorded South Atlantic cyclone and
subsequently struck southern Brazil with winds equivalent to Category 2 on the Saffir-Simpson
Hurricane Scale. As the cyclone formed outside the authority of another warning center,
Brazilian meteorologists initially treated the system as an extratropical cyclone, although
subsequently classified it as tropical.[33]

Formation
Main article: Tropical cyclogenesis

Map of the cumulative tracks of all tropical cyclones during the 1985–2005 time period. ThePacific Ocean west of
the International Date Linesees more tropical cyclones than any other basin, while there is almost no activity in
the Atlantic Ocean south of the Equator.
Map of all tropical cyclone tracks from 1945 to 2006. Equal-area projection.

Worldwide, tropical cyclone activity peaks in late summer, when the difference between
temperatures aloft and sea surface temperatures is the greatest. However, each particular basin
has its own seasonal patterns. On a worldwide scale, May is the least active month, while
September is the most active whilst November is the only month with all the tropical cyclone
basins active.[34]

Times
In the Northern Atlantic Ocean, a distinct cyclone season occurs from June 1 to November 30,
sharply peaking from late August through September.[34] The statistical peak of the Atlantic
hurricane season is 10 September. The Northeast Pacific Ocean has a broader period of
activity, but in a similar time frame to the Atlantic.[35] The Northwest Pacific sees tropical
cyclones year-round, with a minimum in February and March and a peak in early September. In
the North Indian basin, storms are most common from April to December, with peaks in May
and November.[34] In the Southern Hemisphere, the tropical cyclone year begins on July 1 and
runs all year round and encompasses the tropical cyclone seasons which run from November 1
until the end of April with peaks in mid-February to early March.[34][36]

Season lengths and seasonal averages[34][37]

Tropical Tropical Category 3+

Season Season
Basin Storms Cyclones TCs
start end
(>34 knots) (>63 knots) (>95 knots)

Northwest Pacific April January 26.7 16.9 8.5

 South Indian November April 20.6 10.3 4.3

Novembe
Northeast Pacific May 16.3 9.0 4.1
r

Novembe
North Atlantic June 10.6 5.9 2.0
r

Australia Southwest
November April 9 4.8 1.9
Pacific

Decembe
North Indian April 5.4 2.2 0.4
r

Factors

Waves in the trade winds in the Atlantic Ocean—areas of converging winds that move along the same track as the
prevailing wind—create instabilities in the atmosphere that may lead to the formation of hurricanes.

The formation of tropical cyclones is the topic of extensive ongoing research and is still not fully
understood.[38] While six factors appear to be generally necessary, tropical cyclones may
occasionally form without meeting all of the following conditions. In most situations,water
temperatures of at least 26.5 °C (79.7 °F) are needed down to a depth of at least 50 m (160 ft);
[39]
waters of this temperature cause the overlying atmosphere to be unstable enough to sustain
convection and thunderstorms.[40] Another factor is rapid cooling with height, which allows the
release of the heat of condensation that powers a tropical cyclone.[39] High humidity is needed,
especially in the lower-to-mid troposphere; when there is a great deal of moisture in the
atmosphere, conditions are more favorable for disturbances to develop.[39] Low amounts of wind
shear are needed, as high shear is disruptive to the storm's circulation.[39] Tropical cyclones
generally need to form more than 555 km (345 mi) or 5 degrees of latitude away from
the equator, allowing the Coriolis effect to deflect winds blowing towards the low pressure center
and creating a circulation.[39] Lastly, a formative tropical cyclone needs a pre-existing system of
disturbed weather, although without a circulation no cyclonic development will take place.
[39]
Low-latitude and low-level westerly wind bursts associated with the Madden-Julian
oscillation can create favorable conditions for tropical cyclogenesis by initiating tropical
disturbances.[41]

Locations
Most tropical cyclones form in a worldwide band of thunderstorm activity called by several
names: the Intertropical Front (ITF), theIntertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), or the monsoon
trough.[42][43][44] Another important source of atmospheric instability is found intropical waves,
which cause about 85% of intense tropical cyclones in the Atlantic ocean, and become most of
the tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific basin.[45][46][47]

Tropical cyclones move westward when equatorward of the subtropical ridge, intensifying as
they move. Most of these systems form between 10 and 30 degrees away of the equator, and
87% form no farther away than 20 degrees of latitude, north or south.[48][49] Because the Coriolis
effect initiates and maintains tropical cyclone rotation, tropical cyclones rarely form or move
within about 5 degrees of the equator, where the Coriolis effect is weakest.[48] However, it is
possible for tropical cyclones to form within this boundary as Tropical Storm Vamei did in 2001
and Cyclone Agni in 2004.[50][51]

Movement and track

Steering winds
See also: Prevailing winds

Although tropical cyclones are large systems generating enormous energy, their movements
over the Earth's surface are controlled by large-scale winds—the streams in the Earth's
atmosphere. The path of motion is referred to as a tropical cyclone's track and has been
compared by Dr. Neil Frank, former director of the National Hurricane Center, to "leaves carried
along by a stream".[52]

Tropical systems, while generally located equatorward of the 20th parallel, are steered primarily
westward by the east-to-west winds on the equatorward side of the subtropical ridge—a
persistent high pressure area over the world's oceans.[52] In the tropical North Atlantic and
Northeast Pacific oceans, trade winds—another name for the westward-moving wind currents—
steer tropical waves westward from the African coast and towards the Caribbean Sea, North
America, and ultimately into the central Pacific ocean before the waves dampen out.[46]These
waves are the precursors to many tropical cyclones within this region.[45] In the Indian
Ocean and Western Pacific (both north and south of the equator), tropical cyclogenesis is
strongly influenced by the seasonal movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and
the monsoon trough, rather than by easterly waves.[53] Tropical cyclones can also be steered by
other systems, such as other low pressure systems, high pressure systems, warm fronts,
and cold fronts.

Coriolis effect

Infrared image of a powerful southern hemisphere cyclone, Monica, near peak intensity, showing clockwise rotation
due to the Coriolis effect

The Earth's rotation imparts an acceleration known as the Coriolis effect, Coriolis acceleration,
or colloquially, Coriolis force. This acceleration causes cyclonic systems to turn towards the
poles in the absence of strong steering currents.[54] The poleward portion of a tropical cyclone
contains easterly winds, and the Coriolis effect pulls them slightly more poleward. The westerly
winds on the equatorward portion of the cyclone pull slightly towards the equator, but, because
the Coriolis effect weakens toward the equator, the net drag on the cyclone is poleward. Thus,
tropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere usually turn north (before being blown east), and
tropical cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere usually turn south (before being blown east) when
no other effects counteract the Coriolis effect.[21]

The Coriolis effect also initiates cyclonic rotation, but it is not the driving force that brings this
rotation to high speeds – that force is theheat of condensation.[19]
Interaction with the mid-latitude westerlies
See also: Westerlies

Storm track of Typhoon Ioke, showing recurvature off the Japanese coast in 2006

When a tropical cyclone crosses the subtropical ridge axis, its general track around the high-
pressure area is deflected significantly by winds moving towards the general low-pressure area
to its north. When the cyclone track becomes strongly poleward with an easterly component, the
cyclone has begun recurvature.[55] A typhoon moving through the Pacific Ocean towards Asia,
for example, will recurve offshore of Japan to the north, and then to the northeast, if the typhoon
encounters southwesterly winds (blowing northeastward) around a low-pressure system passing
over China or Siberia. Many tropical cyclones are eventually forced toward the northeast
by extratropical cyclones in this manner, which move from west to east to the north of the
subtropical ridge. An example of a tropical cyclone in recurvature was Typhoon Ioke in 2006,
which took a similar trajectory.[56]

Landfall
See also: List of notable tropical cyclones and Unusual areas of tropical cyclone formation

Officially, landfall is when a storm's center (the center of its circulation, not its edge) crosses the
coastline.[57] Storm conditions may be experienced on the coast and inland hours before landfall;
in fact, a tropical cyclone can launch its strongest winds over land, yet not make landfall; if this
occurs, then it is said that the storm made a direct hit on the coast.[57] As a result of the
narrowness of this definition, the landfall area experiences half of a land-bound storm by the
time the actual landfall occurs. For emergency preparedness, actions should be timed from
when a certain wind speed or intensity of rainfall will reach land, not from when landfall will
occur.[57]
Multiple storm interaction
Main article: Fujiwhara effect

When two cyclones approach one another, their centers will begin orbiting cyclonically about a
point between the two systems. The two vortices will be attracted to each other, and eventually
spiral into the center point and merge. When the two vortices are of unequal size, the larger
vortex will tend to dominate the interaction, and the smaller vortex will orbit around it. This
phenomenon is called the Fujiwhara effect, after Sakuhei Fujiwhara.[58]

Dissipation
Factors

Tropical Storm Franklin, an example of a strongly sheared tropical cyclone in the Atlantic Basin during 2005

A tropical cyclone can cease to have tropical characteristics in several different ways. One such
way is if it moves over land, thus depriving it of the warm water it needs to power itself, quickly
losing strength.[59] Most strong storms lose their strength very rapidly after landfall and become
disorganized areas of low pressure within a day or two, or evolve into extratropical cyclones.
There is a chance a tropical cyclone could regenerate if it managed to get back over open warm
water, such as with Hurricane Ivan. If it remains over mountains for even a short time,
weakening will accelerate.[60] Many storm fatalities occur in mountainous terrain, as the dying
storm unleashes torrential rainfall,[61] leading to deadly floods and mudslides, similar to those
that happened with Hurricane Mitch in 1998.[62]Additionally, dissipation can occur if a storm
remains in the same area of ocean for too long, mixing the upper 60 metres (200 ft) of water,
dropping sea surface temperatures more than 5 °C (9 °F).[63] Without warm surface water, the
storm cannot survive.[64]

A tropical cyclone can dissipate when it moves over waters significantly below 26.5 °C (79.7 °F).
This will cause the storm to lose its tropical characteristics (i.e. thunderstorms near the center
and warm core) and become a remnant low pressure area, which can persist for several days.
This is the main dissipation mechanism in the Northeast Pacific ocean.[65] Weakening or
dissipation can occur if it experiences vertical wind shear, causing the convection and heat
engine to move away from the center; this normally ceases development of a tropical cyclone.
[66]
Additionally, its interaction with the main belt of the Westerlies, by means of merging with a
nearby frontal zone, can cause tropical cyclones to evolve into extratropical cyclones. This
transition can take 1–3 days.[67] Even after a tropical cyclone is said to be extratropical or
dissipated, it can still have tropical storm force (or occasionally hurricane/typhoon force) winds
and drop several inches of rainfall. In the Pacific ocean and Atlantic ocean, such tropical-derived
cyclones of higher latitudes can be violent and may occasionally remain at hurricane or
typhoon-force wind speeds when they reach the west coast of North America. These
phenomena can also affect Europe, where they are known as European windstorms; Hurricane
Iris's extratropical remnants are an example of such a windstorm from 1995.[68] Additionally, a
cyclone can merge with another area of low pressure, becoming a larger area of low pressure.
This can strengthen the resultant system, although it may no longer be a tropical cyclone.
[66]
Studies in the 2000s have given rise to the hypothesis that large amounts of dust reduce the
strength of tropical cyclones.[69]

Artificial dissipation
In the 1960s and 1970s, the United States government attempted to weaken hurricanes
through Project Stormfury by seeding selected storms with silver iodide. It was thought that the
seeding would cause supercooled water in the outer rainbands to freeze, causing the inner
eyewall to collapse and thus reducing the winds.[70] The winds of Hurricane Debbie—a hurricane
seeded in Project Stormfury—dropped as much as 31%, but Debbie regained its strength after
each of two seeding forays.[71] In an earlier episode in 1947, disaster struck when a hurricane
east of Jacksonville, Florida promptly changed its course after being seeded, and smashed
into Savannah, Georgia.[72] Because there was so much uncertainty about the behavior of these
storms, the federal government would not approve seeding operations unless the hurricane had
a less than 10% chance of making landfall within 48 hours, greatly reducing the number of
possible test storms. The project was dropped after it was discovered that eyewall replacement
cycles occur naturally in strong hurricanes, casting doubt on the result of the earlier attempts.
Today, it is known that silver iodide seeding is not likely to have an effect because the amount
of supercooled water in the rainbands of a tropical cyclone is too low.[73]

Other approaches have been suggested over time, including cooling the water under a tropical
cyclone by towing icebergs into the tropical oceans.[74] Other ideas range from covering the
ocean in a substance that inhibits evaporation,[75] dropping large quantities of ice into the eye at
very early stages of development (so that the latent heat is absorbed by the ice, instead of being
converted to kinetic energy that would feed the positive feedback loop),[74] or blasting the
cyclone apart with nuclear weapons.[18] Project Cirrus even involved throwing dry ice on a
cyclone.[76] These approaches all suffer from one flaw above many others: tropical cyclones are
simply too large and short-lived for any of the weakening techniques to be practical.[77]

Effects

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Main article: Effects of tropical cyclones

Tropical cyclones out at sea cause large waves, heavy rain, and high winds, disrupting
international shipping and, at times, causing shipwrecks.[78] Tropical cyclones stir up water,
leaving a cool wake behind them, which causes the region to be less favorable for subsequent
tropical cyclones.[25] On land, strong winds can damage or destroy vehicles, buildings, bridges,
and other outside objects, turning loose debris into deadly flying projectiles. The storm surge, or
the increase in sea level due to the cyclone, is typically the worst effect from landfalling tropical
cyclones, historically resulting in 90% of tropical cyclone deaths.[79] The broad rotation of a
landfalling tropical cyclone, and vertical wind shear at its periphery, spawns tornadoes.
Tornadoes can also be spawned as a result of eyewall mesovortices, which persist until landfall.
[80]
Over the past two centuries, tropical cyclones have been responsible for the deaths of about
1.9 million people worldwide. Large areas of standing water caused by flooding lead to infection,
as well as contributing to mosquito-borne illnesses. Crowded evacuees in sheltersincrease the
risk of disease propagation.[81] Tropical cyclones significantly interrupt infrastructure, leading to
power outages, bridge destruction, and the hampering of reconstruction efforts.[81][82]

Although cyclones take an enormous toll in lives and personal property, they may be important
factors in the precipitation regimes of places they impact, as they may bring much-needed
precipitation to otherwise dry regions.[83] Tropical cyclones also help maintain the global heat
balance by moving warm, moist tropical air to the middle latitudes and polar regions.[84] The
storm surge and winds of hurricanes may be destructive to human-made structures, but they
also stir up the waters of coastal estuaries, which are typically important fish breeding locales.
Tropical cyclone destruction spurs redevelopment, greatly increasing local property values.[85]

Observation and forecasting

Observation
Main article: Tropical cyclone observation

Sunset view of Hurricane Isidore's rainbands photographed at 7,000 feet (2,100 m)

Intense tropical cyclones pose a particular observation challenge, as they are a dangerous
oceanic phenomenon, and weather stations, being relatively sparse, are rarely available on the
site of the storm itself. Surface observations are generally available only if the storm is passing
over an island or a coastal area, or if there is a nearby ship. Usually, real-time measurements
are taken in the periphery of the cyclone, where conditions are less catastrophic and its true
strength cannot be evaluated. For this reason, there are teams of meteorologists that move into
the path of tropical cyclones to help evaluate their strength at the point of landfall.[86]
Tropical cyclones far from land are tracked by weather
satellites capturing visible and infrared images from space, usually at half-hour to quarter-hour
intervals. As a storm approaches land, it can be observed by land-based Doppler radar. Radar
plays a crucial role around landfall by showing a storm's location and intensity every several
minutes.[87]

In-situ measurements, in real-time, can be taken by sending specially equipped reconnaissance

flights into the cyclone. In the Atlantic basin, these flights are regularly flown by United States
government hurricane hunters.[88] The aircraft used are WC-130 Hercules andWP-3D Orions,
both four-engine turboprop cargo aircraft. These aircraft fly directly into the cyclone and take
direct and remote-sensing measurements. The aircraft also launch GPS dropsondes inside the
cyclone. These sondes measure temperature, humidity, pressure, and especially winds
between flight level and the ocean's surface. A new era in hurricane observation began when a
remotely piloted Aerosonde, a small drone aircraft, was flown through Tropical Storm Ophelia as
it passed Virginia's Eastern Shore during the 2005 hurricane season. A similar mission was also
completed successfully in the western Pacific ocean. This demonstrated a new way to probe the
storms at low altitudes that human pilots seldom dare.[89]

A general decrease in error trends in tropical cyclone path prediction is evident since the 1970s

Forecasting
See also: Tropical cyclone track forecasting, Tropical cyclone prediction model, and Tropical
cyclone rainfall forecasting

Because of the forces that affect tropical cyclone tracks, accurate track predictions depend on
determining the position and strength of high- and low-pressure areas, and predicting how those
areas will change during the life of a tropical system. The deep layer mean flow, or average
wind through the depth of the troposphere, is considered the best tool in determining track
direction and speed. If storms are significantly sheared, use of wind speed measurements at a
lower altitude, such as at the 700 hPa pressure surface (3,000 metres / 9,800 feet above sea
level) will produce better predictions. Tropical forecasters also consider smoothing out short-
term wobbles of the storm as it allows them to determine a more accurate long-term trajectory.
[90]
High-speed computers and sophisticated simulation software allow forecasters to
produce computer models that predict tropical cyclone tracks based on the future position and
strength of high- and low-pressure systems. Combining forecast models with increased
understanding of the forces that act on tropical cyclones, as well as with a wealth of data from
Earth-orbiting satellites and other sensors, scientists have increased the accuracy of track
forecasts over recent decades.[91] However, scientists are not as skillful at predicting the
intensity of tropical cyclones.[92] The lack of improvement in intensity forecasting is attributed to
the complexity of tropical systems and an incomplete understanding of factors that affect their
development.

Classifications, terminology, and naming

Intensity classifications
Main article: Tropical cyclone scales
Three tropical cyclones at different stages of development. The weakest (left) demonstrates only the most basic
circular shape. A stronger storm (top right) demonstrates spiral banding and increased centralization, while the
strongest (lower right) has developed an eye.

Tropical cyclones are classified into three main groups, based on intensity: tropical depressions,
tropical storms, and a third group of more intense storms, whose name depends on the region.
For example, if a tropical storm in the Northwestern Pacific reaches hurricane-strength winds on
the Beaufort scale, it is referred to as a typhoon; if a tropical storm passes the same benchmark
in the Northeast Pacific Basin, or in the Atlantic, it is called a hurricane.[57] Neither "hurricane"
nor "typhoon" is used in either the Southern Hemisphere or the Indian Ocean. In these basins,
storms of tropical nature are referred to simply as "cyclones".

Additionally, as indicated in the table below, each basin uses a separate system of terminology,
making comparisons between different basins difficult. In the Pacific Ocean, hurricanes from the
Central North Pacific sometimes cross the International Date Line into the Northwest Pacific,
becoming typhoons (such as Hurricane/Typhoon Ioke in 2006); on rare occasions, the reverse
will occur.[93] It should also be noted that typhoons with sustained winds greater than 67 metres
per second (130 kn) or 150 miles per hour (240 km/h) are calledSuper Typhoons by the Joint
Typhoon Warning Center.[94]

Tropical depression
A tropical depression is an organized system of clouds and thunderstorms with a defined,
closed surface circulation and maximum sustained winds of less than 17 metres per second (33
kn) or 38 miles per hour (61 km/h). It has no eye and does not typically have the organization or
the spiral shape of more powerful storms. However, it is already a low-pressure system, hence
the name "depression".[15]The practice of the Philippines is to name tropical depressions from
their own naming convention when the depressions are within the Philippines' area of
responsibility.[95]

Tropical storm
A tropical storm is an organized system of strong thunderstorms with a defined surface
circulation and maximum sustained winds between 17 metres per second (33 kn) (39 miles per
hour (63 km/h)) and 32 metres per second (62 kn) (73 miles per hour (117 km/h)). At this point,
the distinctive cyclonic shape starts to develop, although an eye is not usually present.
Government weather services, other than the Philippines, first assign names to systems that
reach this intensity (thus the term named storm).[15]

Hurricane or typhoon
A hurricane or typhoon (sometimes simply referred to as a tropical cyclone, as opposed to a
depression or storm) is a system with sustained winds of at least 33 metres per second (64 kn)
or 74 miles per hour (119 km/h).[15] A cyclone of this intensity tends to develop an eye, an area
of relative calm (and lowest atmospheric pressure) at the center of circulation. The eye is often
visible in satellite images as a small, circular, cloud-free spot. Surrounding the eye is
the eyewall, an area about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) to 80 kilometres (50 mi) wide in which the
strongest thunderstorms and winds circulate around the storm's center. Maximum sustained
winds in the strongest tropical cyclones have been estimated at about 85 metres per second
(165 kn) or 195 miles per hour (314 km/h).[96]

[hide]Tropical Cyclone Classifications (all winds are 10-minute averages)[97][98]

10-
SW NE Pacific &
Beauf minute N Indian Austral SW NW NW
Indian N Atlantic
ort sustaine Ocean ia Pacific Pacific Pacific
Ocean NHC, CHC &C
scale d winds IMD BOM FMS JMA JTWC
MF PHC
(knots)

<28 knot
Trop.
s (32 Depressio
0–6 Disturban
mph; 52 n
ce
km/h)
Tropical
Tropical
Depressi
Depression
28–29 on
knots
Tropical Tropical
(32–33 Tropical
Depressio Depressi
mph; 52– Low
n on
54 km/h)
Deep
Depressio
7 Depressio
n
n
30–33 Tropical Tropical Storm
knots Storm
(35–38
mph; 56–
61 km/h)

8–9 34–47 Cyclonic Moderate Tropical Tropical Tropical

knots Storm Tropical Cyclone Cyclone Storm
(39–54 Storm (1) (1)
mph; 63–
 87 km/h)

48–55
knots
(55–63
10
mph; 89–
102
km/h)
Severe Severe Tropical Tropical Severe
Cyclonic Tropical Cyclone Cyclone Tropical
Storm Storm (2) (2) Storm
56–63 Typhoon
knots
(64–72
11
mph;
104–117
km/h)

Hurricane (1)

12 64–72 Very Typhoon

knots Severe
(74–83 Cyclonic
mph; Storm
119–133
km/h) Severe Severe
Tropical Tropical
Cyclone Cyclone
73–85 (3) (3)
knots
(84–98 Tropical
Hurricane (2)
mph; Cyclone
135–157
km/h)

86–89 Severe Severe Major

knots Tropica Tropical Hurricane (3)
(99–102 l Cyclone
mph; Cyclon (4)
159–165 e (4)
km/h)

90–99 Intense
knots Tropical
(100–114
mph;
170–183
km/h)

100–106
knots
(120–122
mph;
190–196 Cyclone
km/h)

107–114
knots
(123–131 Major
mph; Hurricane (4)
198–211
km/h)

115–119 Severe
Severe
knots Tropica
Tropical
(132–137 l
Cyclone
mph; Cyclon
(5)
213–220 e (5)
Very
km/h)
Intense Super
Tropical Typhoon
Cyclone
>120 kn
ots (140 Super
Major
mph; Cyclonic
Hurricane (5)
220 Storm
km/h)
Origin of storm terms

Taipei 101 endures a typhoon in 2005

The word typhoon, which is used today in the Northwest Pacific, may be derived
from Urdu, Persian and Arabic ţūfān (‫)طوفان‬, which in turn originates
from Greek Typhon (Τυφών), a monster from Greek mythology associated with storms.[99] The
related Portuguese word tufão, used in Portuguese for typhoons, is also derived from Typhon.
[100]
The word is also similar to Chinese "taifeng" ("toifung" in Cantonese) (颱風 – literally great
winds), and also to the Japanese "taifu" (台風), which may explain why "typhoon" came to be
used for East Asian cyclones.[citation needed]

The word hurricane, used in the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, is probably derived from
the name of a Mayan storm god, Huracan, via the Spanish, huracán.[101] Huracan is also the
source of the word Orcan, another word for a European windstorm. Another possible source
is Hyrrokkin, a Jotun or giantess in Norse mythology, called upon by the Aesir to launch the ship
bearing the body of the godBalder, which was too heavy for even the gods to move.[102]

Naming
Main articles: Tropical cyclone naming and Lists of tropical cyclone names

Storms reaching tropical storm strength were initially given names to eliminate confusion when
there are multiple systems in any individual basin at the same time, which assists in warning
people of the coming storm.[103] In most cases, a tropical cyclone retains its name throughout its
life; however, under special circumstances, tropical cyclones may be renamed while active.
These names are taken from lists that vary from region to region and are usually drafted a few
years ahead of time. The lists are decided on, depending on the regions, either by committees
of the World Meteorological Organization (called primarily to discuss many other issues), or by
national weather offices involved in the forecasting of the storms. Each year, the names of
particularly destructive storms (if there are any) are "retired" and new names are chosen to take
their place. Different countries have different local conventions; for example, in Japan, storms
are referred to by number (each year), such as 台風第 9 号 (Typhoon #9).

Notable tropical cyclones

Main articles: List of notable tropical cyclones, List of Atlantic hurricanes, and List of Pacific
hurricanes

Tropical cyclones that cause extreme destruction are rare, although when they occur, they can
cause great amounts of damage or thousands of fatalities. The 1970 Bhola cyclone is the
deadliest tropical cyclone on record, killing more than 300,000 people[104] and potentially as
many as 1 million[105] after striking the densely populated Ganges Delta region ofBangladesh on
13 November 1970. Its powerful storm surge was responsible for the high death toll.
[104]
The North Indian cyclone basin has historically been the deadliest basin.[81]
[106]
Elsewhere, Typhoon Nina killed nearly 100,000 in China in 1975 due to a 100-year flood that
caused 62 dams including the Banqiao Dam to fail.[107] The Great Hurricane of 1780 is the
deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record, killing about 22,000 people in the Lesser Antilles.[108] A
tropical cyclone does need not be particularly strong to cause memorable damage, primarily if
the deaths are from rainfall or mudslides. Tropical Storm Thelma in November 1991 killed
thousands in the Philippines,[109] while in 1982, the unnamed tropical depression that eventually
became Hurricane Paul killed around 1,000 people in Central America.[110]

Hurricane Katrina is estimated as the costliest tropical cyclone worldwide,[111] causing

$81.2 billion in property damage (2008 USD)[112] with overall damage estimates exceeding
$100 billion (2005 USD).[111] Katrina killed at least 1,836 people after
striking Louisiana and Mississippi as a major hurricane in August 2005.[112] Hurricane Andrew is
the second most destructive tropical cyclone in U.S history, with damages totaling $40.7 billion
(2008 USD), and with damage costs at $31.5 billion (2008 USD), Hurricane Ike is the third most
destructive tropical cyclone in U.S history. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 is the deadliest
natural disaster in the United States, killing an estimated 6,000 to 12,000 people in Galveston,
Texas.[113] Hurricane Mitch caused more than 10, 000 fatalities in Latin America. Hurricane
Iniki in 1992 was the most powerful storm to strike Hawaii in recorded history, hitting Kauai as a
Category 4 hurricane, killing six people, and causing U.S. $3 billion in damage.[114] Other
destructive Eastern Pacific hurricanes include Pauline and Kenna, both causing severe damage
after striking Mexico as major hurricanes.[115][116] In March 2004, Cyclone Gafilo struck
northeastern Madagascar as a powerful cyclone, killing 74, affecting more than 200,000, and
becoming the worst cyclone to affect the nation for more than 20 years.[117]

The relative sizes of Typhoon Tip, Cyclone Tracy, and theContiguous United States

The most intense storm on record was Typhoon Tip in the northwestern Pacific Ocean in 1979,
which reached a minimum pressure of 870 mbar (25.69 inHg) and maximum sustained wind
speeds of 165 knots (85 m/s) or 190 miles per hour (310 km/h).[118] Tip, however, does not solely
hold the record for fastest sustained winds in a cyclone. Typhoon Keith in the Pacific and
HurricanesCamille and Allen in the North Atlantic currently share this record with Tip.[119] Camille
was the only storm to actually strike land while at that intensity, making it, with 165 knots (85
m/s) or 190 miles per hour (310 km/h) sustained winds and 183 knots (94 m/s) or 210 miles per
hour (340 km/h) gusts, the strongest tropical cyclone on record at landfall.[120] Typhoon Nancy in
1961 had recorded wind speeds of 185 knots (95 m/s) or 215 miles per hour (346 km/h), but
recent research indicates that wind speeds from the 1940s to the 1960s were gauged too high,
and this is no longer considered the storm with the highest wind speeds on record.[96] Similarly, a
surface-level gust caused by Typhoon Paka on Guam was recorded at 205 knots (105 m/s) or
235 miles per hour (378 km/h). Had it been confirmed, it would be the strongest non-
tornadic wind ever recorded on the Earth's surface, but the reading had to be discarded since
the anemometer was damaged by the storm.[121]

In addition to being the most intense tropical cyclone on record, Tip was the largest cyclone on
record, with tropical storm-force winds 2,170 kilometres (1,350 mi) in diameter. The smallest
storm on record, Tropical Storm Marco, formed during October 2008, and made landfall
in Veracruz. Marco generated tropical storm-force winds only 37 kilometres (23 mi) in diameter.
[122]

Hurricane John is the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record, lasting 31 days in 1994. Before
the advent of satellite imagery in 1961, however, many tropical cyclones were underestimated in
their durations.[123] John is also the longest-tracked tropical cyclone in the Northern Hemisphere
on record, which had a path of 7,165 miles (13,280 km). Reliable data for Southern Hemisphere
cyclones is unavailable.[124]

Changes due to El Niño-Southern Oscillation

See also: El Niño-Southern Oscillation

Most tropical cyclones form on the side of the subtropical ridge closer to the equator, then move
poleward past the ridge axis before recurving into the main belt of the Westerlies.[125]When
the subtropical ridge position shifts due to El Nino, so will the preferred tropical cyclone tracks.
Areas west of Japan and Korea tend to experience much fewer September-November tropical
cyclone impacts during El Niño and neutral years. During El Niño years, the break in the
subtropical ridge tends to lie near 130°E which would favor the Japanese archipelago.[126] During
El Niño years, Guam's chance of a tropical cyclone impact is one-third of the long term average.
[127]
The tropical Atlantic ocean experiences depressed activity due to increased vertical wind
shear across the region during El Niño years.[128] During La Niña years, the formation of tropical
cyclones, along with the subtropical ridge position, shifts westward across the western Pacific
ocean, which increases the landfall threat to China.[126]

Long-term activity trends

See also: Atlantic hurricane reanalysis

Atlantic Multidecadal Cycle since 1950, usingaccumulated cyclone energy (ACE)

Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation Timeseries, 1856–2009

While the number of storms in the Atlantic has increased since 1995, there is no obvious
global trend; the annual number of tropical cyclones worldwide remains about 87 ± 10.
However, the ability of climatologists to make long-term data analysis in certain basins is
limited by the lack of reliable historical data in some basins, primarily in the Southern
Hemisphere.[129] In spite of that, there is some evidence that the intensity of hurricanes is
increasing. Kerry Emanuel stated, "Records of hurricane activity worldwide show an
upswing of both the maximum wind speed in and the duration of hurricanes. The energy
released by the average hurricane (again considering all hurricanes worldwide) seems to
have increased by around 70% in the past 30 years or so, corresponding to about a 15%
increase in the maximum wind speed and a 60% increase in storm lifetime."[130]

Atlantic storms are becoming more destructive financially, since five of the ten most
expensive storms in United States history have occurred since 1990. According to
the World Meteorological Organization, “recent increase in societal impact from tropical
cyclones has largely been caused by rising concentrations of population and infrastructure
in coastal regions.”[131] Pielke et al. (2008) normalized mainland U.S. hurricane damage
from 1900–2005 to 2005 values and found no remaining trend of increasing absolute
damage. The 1970s and 1980s were notable because of the extremely low amounts of
damage compared to other decades. The decade 1996–2005 was the second most
damaging among the past 11 decades, with only the decade 1926–1935 surpassing its
costs. The most damaging single storm is the 1926 Miami hurricane, with $157 billion of
normalized damage.[132]

Often in part because of the threat of hurricanes, many coastal regions had sparse
population between major ports until the advent of automobile tourism; therefore, the most
severe portions of hurricanes striking the coast may have gone unmeasured in some
instances. The combined effects of ship destruction and remote landfall severely limit the
number of intense hurricanes in the official record before the era of hurricane
reconnaissance aircraft and satellite meteorology. Although the record shows a distinct
increase in the number and strength of intense hurricanes, therefore, experts regard the
early data as suspect.[133]

The number and strength of Atlantic hurricanes may undergo a 50–70 year cycle, also
known as the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. Nyberg et al. reconstructed Atlantic major
hurricane activity back to the early 18th century and found five periods averaging 3–5
major hurricanes per year and lasting 40–60 years, and six other averaging 1.5–2.5 major
hurricanes per year and lasting 10–20 years. These periods are associated with the
Atlantic multidecadal oscillation. Throughout, a decadal oscillation related to solar
irradiance was responsible for enhancing/dampening the number of major hurricanes by 1–
2 per year.[134]

Although more common since 1995, few above-normal hurricane seasons occurred during
1970–94.[135] Destructive hurricanes struck frequently from 1926–60, including many major
New England hurricanes. Twenty-one Atlantic tropical storms formed in 1933, a record only
recently exceeded in 2005, which saw 28 storms. Tropical hurricanes occurred infrequently
during the seasons of 1900–25; however, many intense storms formed during 1870–99.
During the 1887 season, 19 tropical storms formed, of which a record 4 occurred after 1
November and 11 strengthened into hurricanes. Few hurricanes occurred in the 1840s to
1860s; however, many struck in the early 19th century, including a 1821 storm that made a
direct hit on New York City. Some historical weather experts say these storms may have
been as high as Category 4 in strength.[136]

These active hurricane seasons predated satellite coverage of the Atlantic basin. Before
the satellite era began in 1960, tropical storms or hurricanes went undetected unless a
reconnaissance aircraft encountered one, a ship reported a voyage through the storm, or a
storm hit land in a populated area.[133] The official record, therefore, could miss storms in
which no ship experienced gale-force winds, recognized it as a tropical storm (as opposed
to a high-latitude extra-tropical cyclone, a tropical wave, or a brief squall), returned to port,
and reported the experience.

Proxy records based on paleotempestological research have revealed that major hurricane
activity along the Gulf of Mexico coast varies on timescales of centuries to millennia.[137]
[138]
Few major hurricanes struck the Gulf coast during 3000–1400 BC and again during the
most recent millennium. These quiescent intervals were separated by a hyperactive period
during 1400 BC and 1000 AD, when the Gulf coast was struck frequently by catastrophic
hurricanes and their landfall probabilities increased by 3–5 times. This millennial-scale
variability has been attributed to long-term shifts in the position of the Azores High,
[138]
which may also be linked to changes in the strength of the North Atlantic Oscillation.[139]

According to the Azores High hypothesis, an anti-phase pattern is expected to exist

between the Gulf of Mexico coast and the Atlantic coast. During the quiescent periods, a
more northeasterly position of the Azores High would result in more hurricanes being
steered towards the Atlantic coast. During the hyperactive period, more hurricanes were
steered towards the Gulf coast as the Azores High was shifted to a more southwesterly
position near the Caribbean. Such a displacement of the Azores High is consistent with
paleoclimatic evidence that shows an abrupt onset of a drier climate in Haiti around
3200 14C years BP,[140] and a change towards more humid conditions in the Great
Plains during the late-Holocene as more moisture was pumped up the Mississippi
Valley through the Gulf coast. Preliminary data from the northern Atlantic coast seem to
support the Azores High hypothesis. A 3000-year proxy record from a coastal lake in Cape
Cod suggests that hurricane activity increased significantly during the past 500–
1000 years, just as the Gulf coast was amid a quiescent period of the last millennium.

Global warming
See also: Effects of global warming
See also: Hurricane Katrina and global warming

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Geophysical Fluid

Dynamics Laboratory performed a simulation to determine if there is
a statistical trend in the frequency or strength of tropical cyclones over time. The
simulation concluded "the strongest hurricanes in the present climate may be
upstaged by even more intense hurricanes over the next century as the earth's
climate is warmed by increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere".
[141]

In an article in Nature, Kerry Emanuel stated that potential hurricane

destructiveness, a measure combining hurricane strength, duration, and
frequency, "is highly correlated with tropical sea surface temperature, reflecting
well-documented climate signals, including multidecadal oscillations in the North
Atlantic and North Pacific, and global warming". Emanuel predicted "a substantial
increase in hurricane-related losses in the twenty-first century".[142] In more recent
work published by Emanuel (in the March 2008 issue of the Bulletin of the
American Meteorological Society), he states that new climate modeling data
indicates “global warming should reduce the global frequency of
hurricanes.”[143] According to the Houston Chronicle, the new work suggests that,
even in a dramatically warming world, hurricane frequency and intensity may not
substantially rise during the next two centuries.[144]

Similarly, P.J. Webster and others published an article in Science examining the
"changes in tropical cyclone number, duration, and intensity" over the past
35 years, the period when satellite data has been available. Their main finding
 Costliest U.S. Atlantic hurricanes
Total estimated property damage, adjusted for
wealth normalization[132]

Ran Seaso Cost

Hurricane
k n (2005 USD)
was although the number of
cyclones decreased 1 "Miami" 1926 $157 billion
throughout the planet
2 "Galveston" 1900 $99.4 billion
excluding the north Atlantic
Ocean, there was a great 3 Katrina 2005 $81.0 billion
increase in the number and
4 "Galveston" 1915 $68.0 billion
proportion of very strong
cyclones.[145] 5 Andrew 1992 $55.8 billion
The strength of the reported
"New
effect is surprising in light of 6 1938 $39.2 billion
England"
modeling studies[146] that
predict only a one half "Cuba–
7 1944 $38.7 billion
Florida"
category increase in storm
intensity as a result of a ~2 °C "Okeechobee
8 1928 $33.6 billion
(3.6 °F) global warming. Such "
a response would have
9 Donna 1960 $26.8 billion
predicted only a ~10%
increase in Emanuel's 10 Camille 1969 $21.2 billion
potential destructiveness index
Main article: List of costliest Atlantic hurricanes
during the 20th century rather
than the ~75–120% increase
he reported.[142] Secondly, after adjusting for changes in population and inflation,
and despite a more than 100% increase in Emanuel's potential destructiveness
index, no statistically significant increase in the monetary damages resulting from
Atlantic hurricanes has been found.[132][147]

Sufficiently warm sea surface temperatures are considered vital to the

development of tropical cyclones.[148] Although neither study can directly link
hurricanes with global warming, the increase in sea surface temperatures is
believed to be due to both global warming and natural variability, e.g. the
hypothesized Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), although an exact
attribution has not been defined.[149] However, recent temperatures are the
warmest ever observed for many ocean basins.[142]

In February 2007, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change released its fourth assessment report on climate change. The report
noted many observed changes in the climate, including atmospheric composition,
global average temperatures, ocean conditions, among others. The report
concluded the observed increase in tropical cyclone intensity is larger than
climate models predict. Additionally, the report considered that it is likely that
storm intensity will continue to increase through the 21st century, and declared it
more likely than not that there has been some human contribution to the
increases in tropical cyclone intensity.[150] However, there is no universal
agreement about the magnitude of the effects anthropogenic global warming has
on tropical cyclone formation, track, and intensity. For example, critics such
as Chris Landsea assert that man-made effects would be "quite tiny compared to
the observed large natural hurricane variability".[151] A statement by the American
Meteorological Society on 1 February 2007 stated that trends in tropical cyclone
records offer "evidence both for and against the existence of a detectable
anthropogenic signal" in tropical cyclogenesis.[152] Although many aspects of a
link between tropical cyclones and global warming are still being "hotly debated",
[153]
a point of agreement is that no individual tropical cyclone or season can be
attributed to global warming.[149][153] Research reported in the 3 September 2008
issue of Nature found that the strongest tropical cyclones are getting stronger,
particularly over the North Atlantic and Indian oceans. Wind speeds for the
strongest tropical storms increased from an average of 140 miles per hour (230
km/h) in 1981 to 156 miles per hour (251 km/h) in 2006, while the ocean
temperature, averaged globally over the all regions where tropical cyclones form,
increased from 28.2 °C (82.8 °F) to 28.5 °C (83.3 °F) during this period.[154][155]

Related cyclone types

Subtropical Storm Gustav in 2002

See also: Cyclone, Extratropical cyclone, and Subtropical cyclone

In addition to tropical cyclones, there are two other classes of cyclones within the
spectrum of cyclone types. These kinds of cyclones, known as extratropical
cyclones and subtropical cyclones, can be stages a tropical cyclone passes
through during its formation or dissipation.[156] An extratropical cyclone is a storm
that derives energy from horizontal temperature differences, which are typical in
higher latitudes. A tropical cyclone can become extratropical as it moves toward
higher latitudes if its energy source changes from heat released by condensation
to differences in temperature between air masses; additionally, although not as
frequently, an extratropical cyclone can transform into a subtropical storm, and
from there into a tropical cyclone.[157] From space, extratropical storms have a
characteristic "comma-shaped" cloud pattern.[158] Extratropical cyclones can also
be dangerous when their low-pressure centers cause powerful winds and high
seas.[159]

A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of a

tropical cyclone and some characteristics of an extratropical cyclone. They can
form in a wide band of latitudes, from the equator to 50°. Although subtropical
storms rarely have hurricane-force winds, they may become tropical in nature as
their cores warm.[160] From an operational standpoint, a tropical cyclone is usually
not considered to become subtropical during its extratropical transition.[161]

Tropical cyclones in popular culture

Main article: Tropical cyclones in popular culture

In popular culture, tropical cyclones have made appearances in different types of

media, including films, books, television, music, and electronic games. The
media can have tropical cyclones that are entirely fictional, or can be based on
real events.[162] For example, George Rippey Stewart's Storm, a best-
seller published in 1941, is thought to have influenced meteorologists into giving
female names to Pacific tropical cyclones.[163] Another example is the hurricane
in The Perfect Storm, which describes the sinking of the Andrea Gail by the1991
Perfect Storm.[164] Also, hypothetical hurricanes have been featured in parts of the
plots of series such as The Simpsons, Invasion, Family Guy, Seinfeld, Dawson's
Creek, and CSI Miami.[162][165][166][167][168][169] The 2004 film The Day After
Tomorrow includes several mentions of actual tropical cyclones as well as
featuring fantastical "hurricane-like" non-tropical