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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Tropical Storm Vera on September 13, 1989 with winds of 60 mph and a pressure of 985 mbar

Tropical Storm Vera, known in the Philippines as Severe Tropical Storm Pining, originated from a system that began to develop within a monsoon trough several hundred kilometers north of Guam on September 10. The JTWC issued a TCFA early on September 11, and the system was classified as a tropical depression later that day. The depression moved slowly and erratically at first, but then it was steered west-northwest by a subtropical ridge. It strengthened into a tropical storm, being named Vera, and reached its peak intensity with winds of 95 km/h (60 mph). The storm then weakened due to increasing wind shear and made landfall in China. It weakened further and became an extratropical cyclone on September 16. The remnants of the storm moved east-northeast over South Korea and Japan before dissipating on September 19.

Vera caused widespread flooding throughout Eastern China, with the worst damage occurring in Zhejiang Province, which reached $351 million (1989 USD), and at least 162 people were killed in and 354 were missing. 882 people were injured, and 3.1 million homes were damaged or destroyed. Additionally, significant losses also occurred in nearby Jiangsu Province, where 34 people were killed and an estimated 2,000 more were injured. Throughout eastern China, approximately 5.86 million households (23 million people) were affected by flooding triggered by the storm. According to news estimates, a total of 500–700 people died as a result of Vera. (Full article...)

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The eye is a region of mostly calm weather at the center of a tropical cyclone. The eye of a storm is a roughly circular area, typically 30–65 kilometers (19–40 miles; 16–35 nautical miles) in diameter. It is surrounded by the eyewall, a ring of towering thunderstorms where the most severe weather and highest winds of the cyclone occur. The cyclone's lowest barometric pressure occurs in the eye and can be as much as 15 percent lower than the pressure outside the storm.

In strong tropical cyclones, the eye is characterized by light winds and clear skies, surrounded on all sides by a towering, symmetric eyewall. In weaker tropical cyclones, the eye is less well defined and can be covered by the central dense overcast, an area of high, thick clouds that show up brightly on satellite imagery. Weaker or disorganized storms may also feature an eyewall that does not completely encircle the eye or have an eye that features heavy rain. In all storms, however, the eye is where the barometer reading is lowest. (Full article...)

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The emblem of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, also known by its nickname, Hurricane Hunters. The squadron is a flying unit of the United States Air Force, and "the only Department of Defense organization still flying into tropical storms and hurricanes." It flies into tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Central Pacific Ocean for the specific purpose of directly measuring weather data in and around those storms.

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The 1998 Atlantic hurricane season was a catastrophic and extremely deadly Atlantic hurricane season, which had the highest number of storm-related fatalities in over 218 years and some of the costliest ever at the time. The season had above average activity, due to the dissipation of an El Niño event and transition to La Niña conditions. It officially began on June 1 and ended on November 30, dates which conventionally delimit the period during which most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic Ocean. The season had a rather slow start, with no tropical cyclones forming in June. The first tropical cyclone, Tropical Storm Alex, developed on July 27, and the season's final storm, Hurricane Nicole, became extratropical on December 1.

Several storms made landfall or directly affected land. Hurricane Bonnie made landfall in southeastern North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane in late August, killing five people and causing about $1 billion in damage. Hurricane Earl caused $79 million in damage and three deaths after making landfall in Florida as a Category 1 hurricane. (Full article...)

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Currently active tropical cyclones

Italicized basins are unofficial.

North Atlantic (2025): No active systems

East and Central Pacific (2025): No active systems

West Pacific (2025): No active systems

North Indian Ocean (2025): No active systems

Mediterranean (2024–25): No active systems

South-West Indian Ocean (2024–25): No active systems

Australian region (2024–25): No active systems

South Pacific (2024–25): No active systems

South Atlantic (2024–25): No active systems

Last updated: 12:46, 1 April 2025 (UTC)

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Tropical cyclone anniversaries

April 3

1995 - Cyclone Marlene reached peak intensity with winds of 185 km/h (115 mph) and a barometric pressure of 920 hPa.
2007 - Cyclone Jaya (pictured) made landfall over in Sambava, Madagascar, causing one death.

April 4

1978 - Cyclone Alby passed close to the southwestern coast of Western Australia, killing 5 people and causing $39 million worth of damage along the coastline.
1994 - Severe Tropical Storm Owen moved across the central Philippines, killing 10 people.
2003 - Cyclone Inigo (pictured) became one of the most intense tropical cyclone in the Australian region when it reached Category 5 cyclone intensity, with 10 minute sustained winds of 230 km/h (145 mph) and a pressure of 900 mbar. Inigo earlier caused floods in Indonesia that killed 58 people.
2021 - Cyclone Seroja was named while passing through Indonesia. Flooding killed at least 272 people in the country and nearby East Timor.

April 5

1967 - Typhoon Violet reached its peak intensity with 220 km/h (140 mph) winds in the Philippine Sea. Violet hit northern Luzon a few days later, causing minimal damage.
2009 - Cyclone Jade (pictured) intensifies into a tropical storm just few hours before making landfall in Madagascar.

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Did you know…

…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?
…that Hurricane Otis (pictured) in 2023 was the first Pacific hurricane to make landfall at Category 5 intensity and surpassed Hurricane Patricia as the strongest landfalling Pacific hurricane on record?

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

Image 1An example of a chart for Matthew showing its five-day forecast track (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 2The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. Katrina was the costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 3A 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)
Image 4Tropical 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 5The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 6Aerial image of destroyed houses in Tacloban, following Typhoon Haiyan (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 7Personnel and equipment from the National Guard of the United States en route to Hurricane Florence response efforts in 2018
Image 8Flooding 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 92017 Atlantic hurricane season summary map (from Cyclone)
Image 10An extratropical cyclone near Iceland (from Cyclone)
Image 11Hurricane Catarina, a rare South Atlantic tropical cyclone viewed from the International Space Station on March 26, 2004 (from Cyclone)
Image 12Surface weather map of the 1935 Labor Day hurricane moving up the west coast of Florida (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 13Several cyclones on the dynamic north pole of Jupiter, imaged by Juno (from Cyclone)
Image 14Broken 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 15Hurricane Isabel (2003)'s effect on the North Carolina Outer Banks (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 16
South-West Indian Ocean cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 17
Pacific hurricane
(from Cyclone)
Image 18All 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 19Radar image of Hurricane Erika making landfall over Northeastern Mexico (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 20
Pacific typhoon
(from Cyclone)
Image 21Cyclone on Mars, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (from Cyclone)
Image 22
Atlantic hurricane
(from Cyclone)
Image 23Hurricane response involves working in hazardous conditions, including contamination and electrocution hazards from floodwater.
Image 24
Australian region cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 25A polar low over the Sea of Japan in December 2009 (from Cyclone)
Image 26The 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 27The 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 28
North Indian Ocean cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 29Percentages of hurricane deaths in the United States from 1970 to 1999. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 30Subtropical Storm Alex in the north Atlantic Ocean in January 2016 (from Cyclone)
Image 31
South Pacific cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 32Comparison between extratropical and tropical cyclones on surface analysis (from Cyclone)
Image 33Chart with concurrent information for Hurricane Arlene and Tropical Storm Bret logged and plotted (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 34The number of $1 billion Atlantic hurricanes almost doubled from the 1980s to the 2010s, and inflation-adjusted costs have increased more than elevenfold. The increases have been attributed to climate change and to greater numbers of people moving to coastal areas. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)

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

Category 5 hurricanes are tropical cyclones that reach Category 5 intensity on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale. They are by definition the strongest hurricanes that can form on planet Earth. Hurricanes of this intensity are infrequent in the northeastern Pacific Ocean; only 21 have formed since 1959, and they generally develop in clusters during the same year. Landfalls by such storms are rare due to the generally westward path of tropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere. (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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