Portal:Tropical cyclones

The Tropical Cyclones Portal

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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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Hurricane Sally rapidly intensifying before landfall in Alabama on September 16

Hurricane Sally was a destructive and slow-moving tropical cyclone that was the first hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. state of Alabama since Ivan in 2004, coincidentally on the same date in the same place. The eighteenth named storm and seventh hurricane of the extremely active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Sally developed from an area of disturbed weather which was first monitored over the Bahamas on September 10. The system grew a broad area of low-pressure on September 11, and was designated as a tropical depression late that day. Early the next day, the depression made landfall at Key Biscayne and subsequently strengthened into Tropical Storm Sally that afternoon. Moderate northwesterly shear prevented significant intensification for the first two days, but convection continued to grow towards the center and Sally slowly intensified. On September 14, a center reformation into the center of the convection occurred, and data from a hurricane hunter reconnaissance aircraft showed that Sally had rapidly intensified into a strong Category 1 hurricane. However, an increase in wind shear and upwelling of colder waters halted the intensification and Sally weakened slightly on September 15 before turning slowly northeastward. Despite this increase in wind shear, it unexpectedly re-intensified, reaching Category 2 status early on September 16 before making landfall at peak intensity at 09:45 UTC on September 16, near Gulf Shores, Alabama, with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (180 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 965 millibars (28.5 inHg). The storm rapidly weakened after landfall before transitioning into an extratropical low at 12:00 UTC the next day. Sally's remnants lasted for another day as they moved off the coast of the Southeastern United States before being absorbed into another extratropical storm on September 18.

Numerous watches and warnings were issued in anticipation of the imminent approach of Sally, and several coastline counties and parishes on the Gulf Coast were evacuated. In South Florida, heavy rain led to localized flash flooding while the rest of peninsula saw continuous shower and thunderstorm activity due to the asymmetric structure of Sally. The area between Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola - Gulf Breeze, Florida took the brunt of the storm with widespread wind damage, storm surge flooding, and over 20 inches (510 mm) of rainfall in the first 24 hours and over 30 inches in 48 hours. Numerous tornadoes also occurred as well. Damage is estimated at $7.3 billion (2020 USD). Sally was the costliest of several destructive 2020 hurricanes whose names were not retired by the World Meteorological Organization following the season, along with Hanna, Isaias, Delta, and Zeta. (Full article...)

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Tropical cyclone forecasting is the science of forecasting where a tropical cyclone's center, and its effects, are expected to be at some point in the future. There are several elements to tropical cyclone forecasting: track forecasting, intensity forecasting, rainfall forecasting, storm surge, tornado, and seasonal forecasting. While skill is increasing in regard to track forecasting, intensity forecasting skill remains unchanged over the past several years. Seasonal forecasting began in the 1980s in the Atlantic basin and has spread into other basins in the years since. (Full article...)

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Crew members on the Space Shuttle Endeavour captured this image around Noon CDT of Hurricane Dean in the Caribbean. At the time the shuttle and International Space Station passed overhead, the Category 4 storm was moving westerly at 17 mph nearing Jamaica carrying sustained winds of 150 mph.

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The 2002 Pacific hurricane season was an average season which produced fifteen named storms. Eight hurricanes formed, including a record-tying three Category 5 hurricanes, a record it shares with the 1994 and 2018 seasons. It was also a near-average season in terms of accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), having an ACE of 125. The season officially began on May 15, 2002 in the East Pacific Ocean, and on June 1, 2002 in the Central Pacific; both ended on November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclone formation occurs in these regions of the Pacific. The first system of the 2002 season, Hurricane Alma, formed on May 24, and the last, Tropical Depression Sixteen-E, dissipated on November 16.

The strongest hurricane of the season, Kenna, formed on October 22 and peaked as a Category 5 hurricane two days later. Land impact was relatively significant. Kenna made landfall near Puerto Vallarta, located in the Mexican state of Jalisco on October 25, killing four people. Kenna was, at the time, the second-most powerful hurricane to ever strike the western coast of Mexico, hitting with winds of 140 mph (220 km/h), as well as the strongest landfall in terms of windspeed until Hurricane Patricia in 2015. Elsewhere, Tropical Storm Julio made landfall in Mexico, and Tropical Storm Boris dumped torrential rain along the Mexican coast, despite remaining offshore. Hurricanes Elida and Hernan also reached Category 5 intensity, but neither caused any damage. Damage across the basin reached $101.23 million (2002 USD), while 7 people were killed by Julio and Kenna. (Full article...)

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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): Typhoon Bavi; Tropical Storm Maysak (Henry)

North Indian Ocean (2026): No active systems

Mediterranean (2026–27): No active systems

South-West Indian Ocean (2026–27): No active systems

Australian region (2026–27): No active systems

South Pacific (2026–27): No active systems

South Atlantic (2026–27): No active systems

Last updated: 13:54, 5 July 2026 (UTC)

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Tropical cyclone anniversaries

July 5,

1992 - Hurricane Darby attains peak strength with winds of 195 km/h (120 mph).
2005 - Hurricane Cindy (pictured) made landfall in southeast Louisiana as a minimal hurricane causing flooding and a severe power outage in New Orleans. Cindy caused a total of $320 million of damage.
2007 - Tropical Storm Toraji makes landfall over in South China as a weak tropical storm causing US$9.7 million in damages.

July 6,

2001 - Tropical Storm Utor made landfall in southeastern China. Utor brought heavy rain to China which caused 144 deaths and nearly $300 million of damage.
2016 - Hurricane Blas (pictured) reached its maximum intensity as a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 220 km/h (140 mph) and a pressure of 947 hPa.

July 7,

1993 - Hurricane Calvin hit the Mexican coast near Manzanillo. Calvin caused over $32 million of damage and killed 34 people.
2008 - Recognized as the long-lived Atlantic hurricane on record during July, Hurricane Bertha (pictured) reaches its peak intensity as a Category 3 major hurricane. Bertha only killed three people.

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Did you know…

…that the first recorded instance of two tropical cyclones holding category 5 status, on the Saffir–Simpson scale, simultaneously was on September 11th of the 1961 Pacific typhoon season, with typhoons Pamela and Nancy (pictured)?
…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?

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The following are images from various tropical cyclone-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The 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)
Image 2Aerial image of destroyed houses in Tacloban, following Typhoon Haiyan (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 3Radar image of Hurricane Erika making landfall over Northeastern Mexico (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 4All 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)
Image 5An extratropical cyclone near Iceland (from Cyclone)
Image 6Personnel and equipment from the National Guard of the United States en route to Hurricane Florence response efforts in 2018
Image 7The 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)
Image 8Cyclone on Mars, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (from Cyclone)
Image 9Hurricane Isabel (2003)'s effect on the North Carolina Outer Banks (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 10Flooding 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)
Image 11Comparison between extratropical and tropical cyclones on surface analysis (from Cyclone)
Image 12Surface weather map of the 1935 Labor Day hurricane moving up the west coast of Florida (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 13Hurricane Florence viewed from the International Space Station (from Cyclone)
Image 14The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. Katrina was the costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 15Hurricane response involves working in hazardous conditions, including contamination and electrocution hazards from floodwater.
Image 16An example of a chart for Matthew showing its five-day forecast track (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 17A polar low over the Sea of Japan in December 2009 (from Cyclone)
Image 18Effects in Buncombe County, North Carolina after Hurricane Helene passed through the area in September 2024. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 19Tropical 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)
Image 20The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 21Percentages of hurricane deaths in the United States from 1970 to 1999. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 22Wind 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)
Image 23Subtropical Storm Alex in the north Atlantic Ocean in January 2016 (from Cyclone)
Image 24Broken concrete utility pole in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017, which ranks fourth in costliest US tropical cyclones. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 25Chart with concurrent information for Hurricane Arlene and Tropical Storm Bret logged and plotted (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 26A 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)

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This is a featured list, which represents some of the best list articles on English Wikipedia.

From 1523 to 1900, 180 tropical cyclones were known to have affected the U.S. state of Florida. Since the start of the Atlantic hurricane database in 1851, there were only eight years in which no tropical cyclone affected the state. Collectively, tropical cyclones in Florida resulted in at least 6,504 fatalities and monetary damage of over $90 million (2008 USD). At least 109 boats or ships were either driven ashore, wrecked, or damaged due to the storms. (Full article...)

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Related WikiProjects

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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