Portal:Tropical cyclones
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The Tropical Cyclones Portal
A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center, a closed low-level circulation and a spiral arrangement of numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rainfall. Tropical cyclones feed on the heat released when moist air rises, 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, leading to their classification as "warm core" storm systems. Most tropical cyclones originate in the doldrums, approximately ten degrees from the Equator.
The term "tropical" refers to both the geographic origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively in tropical regions of the globe, as well as to their formation in maritime tropical air masses. The term "cyclone" refers to such storms' cyclonic nature, with anticlockwise rotation in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise rotation in the Southern Hemisphere. Depending on its location and intensity, a tropical cyclone may be referred to by names such as "hurricane", "typhoon", "tropical storm", "cyclonic storm", "tropical depression" or simply "cyclone".
Types of cyclone: 1. A "Typhoon" is a tropical cyclone located in the North-west Pacific Ocean which has the most cyclonic activity and storms occur year-round. 2. A "Hurricane" is also a tropical cyclone located at the North Atlantic Ocean or North-east Pacific Ocean which have an average storm activity and storms typically form between May 15 and November 30. 3. A "Cyclone" is a tropical cyclone that occurs in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans.
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Typhoon Pongsona was the last typhoon of the 2002 Pacific typhoon season, and was the second costliest United States disaster in 2002, only behind Hurricane Lili. Pongsona developed out of an area of disturbed weather on December 2, and steadily intensified to reach typhoon status on December 5. On December 8 it passed through Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands while at peak intensity, with 10-minute sustained winds of 175 km/h (110 mph). It ultimately turned to the northeast, weakened, and became extratropical on December 11.
Typhoon Pongsona produced strong wind gusts peaking at 285 km/h (175 mph), which left the entire island of Guam without power and destroyed about 1,300 houses. With strong building standards and experience from repeated typhoon strikes, there were no fatalities directly related to Pongsona, although there was one indirect death from flying glass. Damage on the island totaled over $730 million (2002 USD, $1.31 billion 2026 USD), making Pongsona among the five costliest typhoons on the island. The typhoon also caused extreme damage on Rota and elsewhere in the Northern Mariana Islands, and as a result of its impact the name was retired. (Full article...)
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The meteorological history of Hurricane Gustav spanned eleven days, from August 25 to September 4, 2008. The tropical disturbance which eventually spawned Hurricane Gustav gathered on August 16, southwest of the Cape Verde islands, but was slow to develop as it trekked west across the Atlantic. Upon reaching the warm waters of Caribbean Sea it began to organize and became a tropical depression on August 25. It quickly strengthened to a tropical storm, and then a hurricane, before making landfall on Haiti's southwest peninsula. Gustav was severely disrupted by Hispaniola's mountains and stalled, disorganized, in the Gulf of Gonâve between August 26 and 27.
Deep convection reformed the storm's center southwest of Haiti, near Jamaica's east coast. Under the influence of a mid-level ridge that extended from the Gulf of Mexico to the western Atlantic Ocean, Gustav picked up a westward motion. It was briefly disrupted by Jamaica as it passed over the mountainous island but rapidly strengthened when it moved over open water once again. Reaching Category 4 strength about 24 hours after having been upgraded to a hurricane, Gustav brushed the Isle of Youth and made landfall on Cuba's western's peninsula. (Full article...)
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The 1988 Pacific hurricane season was the least active Pacific hurricane season since 1981. It officially began May 15, in the eastern Pacific, and June 1, in the central Pacific and lasted until November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. The first named storm, Tropical Storm Aletta, formed on June 16, and the last-named storm, Tropical Storm Miriam, was previously named Hurricane Joan in the Atlantic Ocean before crossing Central America and re-emerging in the eastern Pacific; Miriam continued westward and dissipated on November 2.
The season produced 23 tropical depressions, of which 15 attained tropical storm status. Seven storms reached hurricane status, three of which became major hurricanes. The strongest storm of the season, Hurricane Hector, formed on July 30 to the south of Mexico and reached peak winds of 145 mph (233 km/h)—Category 4 status—before dissipating over open waters on August 9; Hector was never a threat to land. Tropical Storm Gilma was the only cyclone in the season to make landfall, crossing the Hawaiian Islands, although there were numerous near-misses. Gilma's Hawaiian landfall was unusual, but not unprecedented. There were also two systems that successfully crossed over from the Atlantic: the aforementioned Joan / Miriam and Hurricane Debby, which became Tropical Depression Seventeen-E, making the 1988 season the first on record in which more than one tropical cyclone has crossed between the Atlantic and Pacific basins intact. Three systems caused deaths: Tropical Storm Aletta caused one death in southwestern Mexico, Hurricane Uleki caused two drownings off the coast of Oahu as it passed by the Hawaiian Islands, and Hurricane Kristy caused 21 deaths in the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Chiapas. (Full article...)
Related portals
Currently active tropical cyclones
Italicized basins are unofficial.
- North Atlantic (2026)
- No active systems
- East and Central Pacific (2026)
- No active systems
- West Pacific (2026)
- No active systems
- North Indian Ocean (2026)
- No active systems
- Mediterranean (2025–26)
- No active systems
- South-West Indian Ocean (2025–26)
- No active systems
- Australian region (2025–26)
- No active systems
- South Pacific (2025–26)
- No active systems
- South Atlantic (2025–26)
- No active systems
Last updated: 04:16, 20 April 2026 (UTC)
Tropical cyclone anniversaries
May 1
- 1971 - Typhoon Wanda (pictured) reached its peak intensity just off the Vietnamese coast with 140 km/h (85 mph) winds. The storm killed 56 people and caused $700,000 of damage.
- 2015 - Cyclone Quang, as a rapidly weakening cyclone, makes landfall over in Exmouth, Western Australia with only minimal damage and no known casualties.
May 2
- 1994 - A powerful cyclone made landfall near the Burma–Bangladeshi border. The cyclone caused 285 deaths and over $125 million of damage.
- 2008 - Cyclone Nargis (pictured) struck the Ayeyarwady Region of Burma near Yangon, inflicting catastrophic destruction and causing 138,373 fatalities; it was the fifth-deadliest tropical cyclone on record.
May 3
- 2019 - Cyclone Fani (pictured) struck eastern India. It killed 89 people and left US$8.9 billion in damage.
- 2024 - Tropical Storm Hidaya struck eastern Tanzania, one of only three storms on record to strike the country. Hidaya killed five people and damaged more than 1,500 houses.
Did you know…
- …that the Australian region have three distinct lists of names for tropical storms, each one of them being administered by agencies in Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, respectively?
- …that the Joint Typhoon Warning Center considers that Typhoon Vera (pictured) of 1986 is actually two distinct systems, formed from two separated low-level circulations?
- …that Cyclone Freddy (track pictured) in 2023 was the longest-lasting tropical cyclone recorded?
- …that the typhoons of 2024—Yinxing, Toraji, Usagi, and Man-yi (pictured)—made history as the first recorded instance since 1951 of four tropical cyclones coexisting in November?
General images -
Cyclone on Mars, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (from Cyclone)
Hurricane Isabel (2003)'s effect on the North Carolina Outer Banks (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Comparison between extratropical and tropical cyclones on surface analysis (from Cyclone)
Hurricane response involves working in hazardous conditions, including contamination and electrocution hazards from floodwater.
Wind damage varies exponentially with wind speed, so that small increases in wind strength can dramatically increase damage. Damages rise by about a factor of four for every category increase in the Saffir–Simpson scale. (from Cyclone)
Percentages of hurricane deaths in the United States from 1970 to 1999. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Chart with concurrent information for Hurricane Arlene and Tropical Storm Bret logged and plotted (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Surface weather map of the 1935 Labor Day hurricane moving up the west coast of Florida (from Tropical cyclone observation)
The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. Katrina was the costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
An example of a chart for Matthew showing its five-day forecast track (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
The initial extratropical low-pressure area forms at the location of the red dot on the image. It is usually perpendicular (at a right angle to) the leaf-like cloud formation seen on satellite during the early stage of cyclogenesis. The location of the axis of the upper level jet stream is in light blue. (from Cyclone)
Personnel and equipment from the National Guard of the United States en route to Hurricane Florence response efforts in 2018
An extratropical cyclone near Iceland (from Cyclone)
Broken concrete utility pole in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017, which ranks fourth in costliest US tropical cyclones. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Effects in Buncombe County, North Carolina after Hurricane Helene passed through the area in September 2024. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Tropical cyclones form when the energy released by the condensation of moisture in rising air causes a positive feedback loop over warm ocean waters. (from Cyclone)
The dangerous semicircle is the upper-right corner, with the arrow marking the direction of motion of a Northern Hemisphere storm. Note that typhoons, etc. are asymmetrical, and semicircle is a convenient misnomer. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Radar image of Hurricane Erika making landfall over Northeastern Mexico (from Tropical cyclone observation)
All but the most expensive bottles of water were sold out at this Publix supermarket before Hurricane Irma; in the week preceding the storm, water sold out soon after shipments arrived (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Aerial image of destroyed houses in Tacloban, following Typhoon Haiyan (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Flooding in Port Arthur, Texas caused by Hurricane Harvey. Harvey was the wettest and second-costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
A fictitious synoptic chart of an extratropical cyclone affecting the UK and Ireland. The blue arrows between isobars indicate the direction of the wind, while the "L" symbol denotes the centre of the "low". Note the occluded, cold and warm frontal boundaries. (from Cyclone)
A polar low over the Sea of Japan in December 2009 (from Cyclone)
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The 2018 Pacific hurricane season was an event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation, in which tropical cyclones form in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The season officially started on May 15 in the eastern Pacific—east of 140°W—and began on June 1 in the central Pacific—the region between the International Date Line and 140°W, and ended on November 30. These dates typically cover the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the eastern Pacific basin. The season began with the formation of Tropical Depression One-E, which developed on May 10, and ended with the dissipation of the season's final storm, Tropical Storm Xavier, which dissipated as a tropical cyclone on November 5.
The 2018 hurricane season was exceptionally active and featured the highest Accumulated Cyclone Energy since reliable records began in 1971. Throughout the season, 26 tropical depressions developed, 23 of which became tropical storms. A total of 13 tropical storms reached hurricane strength, and 10 hurricanes achieved major hurricane intensity.[1] The basin saw above-average activity across all regions from the International Date Line to the west coast of Mexico and Central America. Activity peaked from early August to early October, with several long-lived and powerful hurricanes developing in that time period. Several storms severely affected land, such as Hurricane Lane in Hawaii and Hurricane Willa in Mexico. In contrast to the similarly active 2015 Pacific hurricane season, 2018 was not significantly influenced by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation. Instead, low pressures and increased sea surface temperatures associated with the Pacific Meridional Mode supported the development of these intense and long-lived storms. (Full article...)
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WikiProject Tropical cyclones is the central point of coordination for Wikipedia's coverage of tropical cyclones. Feel free to help!
WikiProject Weather is the main center point of coordination for Wikipedia's coverage of meteorology in general, and the parent project of WikiProject Tropical cyclones. Three other branches of WikiProject Weather in particular share significant overlaps with WikiProject Tropical cyclones:
- The Non-tropical storms task force coordinates most of Wikipedia's coverage on extratropical cyclones, which tropical cyclones often transition into near the end of their lifespan.
- The Floods task force takes on the scope of flooding events all over the world, with rainfall from tropical cyclones a significant factor in many of them.
- WikiProject Severe weather documents the effects of extreme weather such as tornadoes, which landfalling tropical cyclones can produce.
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- National Hurricane Center; Hurricane Research Division; Central Pacific Hurricane Center (April 26, 2024). "The Northeast and North Central Pacific hurricane database 1949–2023". United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. Archived from the original on May 29, 2024. A guide on how to read the database is available here.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
