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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Komen approaching the Bangladesh coast on July 30

Cyclonic Storm Komen (/ˈkoʊ.mɛn/) was an unusual tropical cyclone that originated near the southern coast of Bangladesh and later struck the same country while drifting over the northern Bay of Bengal. The second named storm of the 2015 season, Komen brought several days of heavy rainfall to Myanmar, Bangladesh, and India. It formed as a depression on July 26 over the Ganges delta and moved in a circular motion around the northern Bay of Bengal. Komen intensified into a 75 km/h (45 mph) cyclonic storm and moved ashore southeastern Bangladesh on July 30. The system turned westward over land and was last noted over eastern India on August 2.

Across its path, Komen dropped torrential rainfall, primarily in northwestern Myanmar where the precipitation totaled at 840 mm (33 in) in Paletwa. The rains compounded ongoing flooding and contributed to the worst flooding in the country in a century. About 1.7 million people were forced to evacuate as flood waters inundated houses to their rooftops. About 510,000 houses in the country were damaged or destroyed, and many residents lost their source of income as 667,221 acres (270,015 hectares) of crop fields were damaged. The floods killed 132 people, with at least 39 fatalities directly related to Komen. The government requested assistance from the international community to cope with the disaster, considered the worst in the country since Cyclone Nargis in 2008. Elsewhere, the storm's flooding damaged 88,900 houses in Bangladesh and covered crop fields for a week; Komen killed 45 people in the country, some of them due to illnesses spread following the storm. Later, floodwaters affected southeastern India, killing 103 people and damaging or destroying 476,046 houses. (Full article...)

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Isabel making landfall in North Carolina on September 18

In Virginia, Hurricane Isabel became the costliest disaster in the history of Virginia. Hurricane Isabel formed from a tropical wave on September 6, 2003, in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. It moved northwestward, and within an environment of light wind shear and warm waters it steadily strengthened to reach peak winds of 265 km/h (165 mph) on September 11. After fluctuating in intensity for four days, Isabel gradually weakened and made landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina with winds of 165 km/h (103 mph) on September 18. It quickly weakened over land as it passed through central Virginia, and Isabel became extratropical over western Pennsylvania on September 19.

Strong winds from the hurricane affected 99 counties and cities in the state, which downed thousands of trees and left about 1.8 million without power. The storm surge impacted much of the southeastern portion of the state, peaking at around 9 feet (2.7 m) in Richmond along the James River; the surge caused significant damage to homes along riverways. The nationwide maximum rainfall total from the hurricane was 20.2 inches (510 mm) in Sherando, Virginia. In the state's mountainous region, heavy rainfall caused severe and damaging flash flooding. The hurricane caused about $1.85 billion (2003 USD, $2.17 billion 2008 USD) in damage and 36 deaths in the state—10 directly from the storm's effects and 22 indirectly related. (Full article...)

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Rainfall total map of Tropical Storm Allison in June 2001. The rainfall caused severe flooding along its path, particularly near Dallas, resulting in over $6 billion in damage. Map provided by David Roth, Hydrometeorological Prediction Center.

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The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a record-breaking, devastating and deadly Atlantic hurricane season. It is the second-costliest hurricane season, just behind the 2017 season. It featured 28 tropical and subtropical storms, which was the most recorded in a hurricane season until the 2020 season. The United States National Hurricane Center named 27 storms, exhausting the annual pre-designated list, requiring the use of six Greek letter names, and adding an additional unnamed subtropical storm during a post-season re-analysis. A record 15 storms attained hurricane status, with maximum sustained winds of at least 74 miles per hour (119 km/h). Of those, a record seven became major hurricanes, rated Category 3 or higher on the Saffir–Simpson scale. Four storms of this season became Category 5 hurricanes, the most of any season on record.

The four Category 5 hurricanes during the season were Emily, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. In July, Emily reached peak intensity in the Caribbean Sea, becoming the first Category 5 hurricane of the season, later weakening and striking Mexico twice. It was the first Category 5 hurricane recorded in the month of July and was the earliest-forming Category 5 hurricane on record, until Hurricane Beryl surpassed the record in July 2024. In August, Katrina reached peak winds in the Gulf of Mexico but weakened by the time it struck the U.S. states of Louisiana and Mississippi. The most devastating effects of the season were felt on the Gulf Coast of the United States, where Katrina's storm surge crippled New Orleans, Louisiana, for weeks and devastated the Mississippi coastline. Katrina became the costliest U.S. hurricane, leaving $125 billion in damage and 1,392 deaths. Rita followed in September, reaching peak intensity in the Gulf of Mexico before weakening and hitting near the border of Texas and Louisiana. The season's strongest hurricane, Wilma, became the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, as measured by barometric pressure. Lasting for ten days in October, Wilma moved over Cozumel, the Yucatán Peninsula, and Florida, causing over $22 billion in damage and 52 deaths. (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): 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): Tropical Cyclone Jenna

South Pacific (2025–26): No active systems

South Atlantic (2025–26): No active systems

Last updated: 06:47, 5 January 2026 (UTC)

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Tropical cyclone anniversaries

January 4

1938 - A rare off-season hurricane reached peak intensity northeast of the Lesser Antilles.
1999 - Tropical Depression Hilda developed northwest of the coast of Borneo; the system killed five people in Mayalsia.
2019 – Tropical Storm Pabuk (pictured) made landfall in Southern Thailand, killing 10 people, with damages of about US$157 million. Pabuk was the earliest-forming storm in both the Northwest Pacific and North Indian Ocean basins on record.

January 5

2005 - Cyclone Heta (pictured) reached its lowest pressure of 915 hPa (mbar). Heta caused $150 million in damage, mostly on American Samoa.
2013 - Tropical Storm Sonamu reached peak intensity north of Borneo. The name was retired thereafter due to its pronunciation as it sounded like tsunami.
2018 - Cyclone Ava struck eastern Madagascar, resulting in 51 deaths from its widespread floods.

January 6

2001 - With winds of 10-minute sustained winds of 195 km/h (120 mph), Cyclone Ando reaches peak intensity just to the east of Madagascar.
2006 - Tropical Storm Zeta (pictured) dissipated in the central Atlantic Ocean, ending the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.

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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?

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

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

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

The 2012 Pacific hurricane season was an above-average year in which seventeen named storms formed. The hurricane season officially began on May 15 in the east Pacific—defined as the region east of 140°W—and on June 1 in the central Pacific—defined as the region west of 140°W to the International Date Line—and ended on November 30 in both regions. These dates conventionally delimit the period during each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northeastern Pacific Ocean. This year, the first storm of the season, Tropical Storm Aletta, formed on May 14, and the last, Tropical Storm Rosa, dissipated on November 3.

The season produced seventeen tropical storms; ten became hurricanes, and five further intensified into major hurricanes. Impact during the season was relatively minimal. In late May, Hurricane Bud paralleled the western Mexico coastline before dissipating, causing minor damage and but no reported fatalities. In mid-June, Hurricane Carlotta came ashore in Oaxaca at Category 2 hurricane intensity, making it the easternmost tropical cyclone in the basin to make landfall at hurricane intensity since 1966. The storm killed seven and caused $12.4 million (2012 USD) in damage. (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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