MONTHLY GLOBAL TROPICAL CYCLONE SUMMARY
FEBRUARY, 2005
First Installment
(For general comments about the nature of these summaries, as well as
information on how to download the tabular cyclone track files, see
the Author's Note at the end of this summary.)
SPECIAL NOTE: The February summary is being issued in two installments.
This first installment covers the Southwest Indian Ocean basin and the
entire Australian Region and contains the Feature of the Month. The
second part will be devoted to covering the unprecedented four very
intense tropical cyclones which traversed the South Pacific, all east of
the International Dateline.
*************************************************************************
FEBRUARY HIGHLIGHTS
--> Four very intense tropical cyclones form in Southeast Pacific
--> Strong Gulf of Carpentaria cyclone strikes Australia
--> One severe tropical storm in Southwest Indian Ocean basin
*************************************************************************
***** Feature of the Month for February *****
INTRODUCING ANOTHER OUTSTANDING TROPICAL CYCLONE WEBSITE
A few years ago I was contacted by a gentleman in southern Illinois
who was the weather forecaster for a radio station, asking permission
to post portions of my monthly tropical cyclone summaries on his website.
Back in late November of 2004, I was contacted again by the same person,
John Diebolt, who had recently relocated to Tucson, Arizona. John is no
longer involved in radio weather forecasting, but still has a website
devoted to weather. Since John has always had a great interest in
tropical meteorology, and since the weather in Arizona is so much more
tranquil than in Illinois, he decided to have his website focus on the
tropics rather than on local weather as it had done in the Midwest.
John was already in the habit of preparing tabular listings of
pertinent tracking information and graphical displays of the operational
tracks of tropical cyclones. I asked him if it would be possible to
prepare a separate graphic plotting the tracks which I prepare each
month in conjunction with the tropical cyclone summaries. This has been
a dream of mine for years, and John was quite willing to do so. Starting
with the December, 2004, summary I have begun including the link to the
graphic displaying the track for each tropical cyclone which was included
in my tracking files.
(One caveat--John, as well as Michael Bath on his Australian tropical
cyclone site--refers to my tracks as "best tracks". As the term is most
commonly used, this is not strictly true. As used by TPC/NHC, the term
"best track" refers to tracks which are prepared after a careful post-
season analysis of all the cyclones by the responsible warning agency and
are considered the definitive positions and intensities for inclusion in
the official historical databases. The tracks which I prepare are
operational tracks, but which sometimes use information from more than
one warning agency in order to give the most complete operational track
possible.)
The link for John's website is:
<http://www.tropicalcyclone2005.com/>
Rather than go into a detailed description of all the wealth of
information which John has made available, I would just encourage readers
to visit the site and check it out themselves. In addition to the maps
plotting the tracks which I prepare, John has included graphics charting
the tracks based upon warnings from individual warning centers, and also
some high-resolution close-up maps for portions of certain cyclone tracks
which looped or were otherwise very erratic.
He has also included links to many other tropical cyclone-related
websites, including those listed at the end of all the monthly summaries
where past editions are archived.
As a monthly feature in the May, 2002, summary, I included links to
and a short description of various tropical cyclone websites belonging
to some of my friends and e-mail acquaintances. New readers may be
interested in retrieving that particular summary from one of the websites
listed near the end of this summary and visiting some of those excellent
sites.
NORTH INDIAN OCEAN CYCLONE NAMES FOR 2005
After several years of planning and working out implementation
details, the RSMC for the North Indian Ocean basin--the Indian
Meteorological Department--began naming tropical cyclones in that
region on an experimental basis in the autumn of 2004. The first
officially named cyclonic storm--Onil--occurred in early October,
and the second--Agni--developed late in November. Already in 2005
there has been one named system, Cyclonic Storm Hibaru, which formed
in January in the southern Bay of Bengal.
The procedure for allocating names is similar to that used in the
Northwest Pacific basin. All the member nations--eight in this case--
submitted eight names each. The 64 names were arranged in eight
columns of eight names, ordered by the contributing nations in alpha-
betical order, just as is done in the Northwest Pacific. Potential
cyclonic storms for 2005 include (** indicates name has already been
assigned):
Hibaru ** Mala Gonu
Pyarr Mukda Yemyin
Baaz Ogni Sidr
Fanoos Akash Nargis
*************************************************************************
ACTIVITY BY BASINS
ATLANTIC (ATL) - North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico
Activity for February: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
NORTHEAST PACIFIC (NEP) - North Pacific Ocean East of Longitude 180
Activity for February: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
NORTHWEST PACIFIC (NWP) - North Pacific Ocean West of Longitude 180
Activity for February: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
NORTH INDIAN OCEAN (NIO) - Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea
Activity for February: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
SOUTHWEST INDIAN OCEAN (SWI) - South Indian Ocean West of Longitude 90E
Activity for February: 1 tropical disturbance
2 tropical depressions
1 severe tropical storm
Sources of Information
----------------------
The primary sources of tracking and intensity information for
Southwest Indian Ocean tropical cyclones are the warnings issued by
the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre on La Reunion Island, part of
Meteo France (MFR), and the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre
for the basin. However, tropical cyclones in this region are named
by the Sub-regional Tropical Cyclone Advisory Centres in Mauritius and
Madagascar with longitude 55E being the demarcation line between their
respective areas of naming responsibility. The La Reunion centre only
advises these agencies regarding the intensity of tropical systems.
References to sustained winds imply a 10-minute averaging period unless
otherwise stated.
In the companion tropical cyclone tracks file, I occasionally
annotate positions from warnings issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning
Center (JTWC) of the U. S. Air Force and Navy, located at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, when they differ from MFR's coordinates by usually
40-50 nm or more. The JTWC warnings are also the source of the
1-minute average maximum sustained wind values included in the
tracks file. Additionally, information describing details of
satellite imagery and atmospheric circulation features included in
the narratives is often gleaned from the JTWC warnings.
Southwest Indian Ocean Tropical Activity for February
-----------------------------------------------------
Following a fairly active January in the Southwest Indian Ocean, the
month of February was rather quiet, at least in terms of named tropical
storms. Only one tropical storm--Gerard--formed, and this was during the
first week of the month. Gerard developed out of a disturbance (MFR-12)
which had begun during the final week of January. The system originated
deep in the tropics in the vicinity of Diego Garcia but had worked its
way southwestward for several days before it began to intensify to the
southeast of Reunion Island. Once it developed into a tropical storm,
however, Gerard's life was fairly short and sweet as it moved rapidly to
higher latitudes. A report on Severe Tropical Storm Gerard follows
below. Also, as the month of February opened, the remnants of former
Tropical Storm Felapi, classified as a subtropical depression, were
drifting southward well to the southeast of Madagascar.
Although no more named storms followed Gerard, the basin literally
crawled with weaker systems for the remainder of February. MFR issued
warnings on three numbered systems: Tropical Disturbances 13, 14 and
15. The first and last of these were classed as tropical depressions,
meaning the estimated 10-min avg MSW reached 30 kts. Interestingly,
the one in the middle (MFR-14) lasted the longest (9 days) but remained
classified as a tropical disturbance with peak winds of only 25 kts.
Tropical Depression 13 formed on 4 February roughly 250 nm north of
Mauritius and pursued a generally south-southwestward track which carried
it a short distance east of Mauritius and Reunion Island. The system was
upgraded to tropical depression status with 30-kt winds on the 6th when
located about 165 nm southeast of Reunion Island. The depression
continued to move off to the south-southwest and became extratropical on
the 8th. The final MFR bulletin placed the LOW about 525 nm south of
Reunion Island at 1800 UTC on 8 February.
Tropical Disturbance 14 followed a contorted track over a period of
a week-and-a-half during mid-month. The system started as a weak 20-kt
LOW on the 8th about 150 nm north-northwest of Mauritius. It drifted
westward for a couple of days, then sharply reversed its course and
moved eastward and east-southeastward for a few days, reaching a point
approximately 125 nm east-northeast of Mauritius at 0000 UTC on the 13th.
Then the system once again reversed its heading and began to move west-
southwestward, passing south of Mauritius and Reunion Island. The final
reference to the disturbance by MFR was at 1200 UTC on 17 February with
the weak LOW meandering around about 200 nm west-southwest of Reunion
Island.
Tropical Depression 15 moved on a southerly track in the extreme
eastern part of the basin. The system got going on 24 February about
700 nm east of Diego Garcia and moved slowly southward over the next few
days. It was upgraded to a 30-kt tropical depression at 26/1200 UTC but
was never able to strengthen further and earn a name. It began to weaken
on the 28th and the final MFR bulletin at 28/0600 UTC placed the center
approximately 875 nm southeast of Diego Garcia.
Graphics displaying the tracks of these three systems may be found at
the following links:
<http://www.tropicalcyclone2005.com/database/tc_besttracks_graphics/INDIAN_S
OUTHWEST/2005_13M_BT.gif>
<http://www.tropicalcyclone2005.com/database/tc_besttracks_graphics/INDIAN_S
OUTHWEST/2005_14M_BT.gif>
<http://www.tropicalcyclone2005.com/database/tc_besttracks_graphics/INDIAN_S
OUTHWEST/2005_15M_BT.gif>
SEVERE TROPICAL STORM GERARD
(MFR-12 / TC-14S)
28 January - 5 February
------------------------------------------------
Name: contributed by the Seychelles
A. Storm Origins
----------------
The only named tropical cyclone in February in the Southwest Indian
Ocean actually began in late January. At 1800 UTC on 27 January an area
of convection had been persistent approximately 300 nm east-northeast of
Diego Garcia. Satellite imagery revealed a possible LLCC near the
disorganized convection, and vertical shear was low, although somewhat
stronger to the north. The potential for development was upgraded to
'fair' at 28/0000 UTC. At 1200 UTC on the 28th MFR issued the first
bulletin on Tropical Disturbance 12, locating the weak center around
100 nm east-northeast of Diego Garcia. The MSW was estimated at 25 kts,
but this was lowered to 20 kts at 1800 UTC. The LLCC was exposed with
convection decreasing and drifting away to the southwest, shear was
increasing and divergence aloft was decreasing. MFR dropped the MSW to
20 kts and JTWC downgraded the development potential to 'poor'.
At 29/0600 UTC the center of interest was relocated several hundred
miles to the south. Microwave imagery on the 29th showed a large mass
of colder, dry air to the south and west of the LLCC. Convection was
cyclic and shear moderate, although the system did exhibit good
outflow. Overall organization continued to improve and MFR upgraded the
disturbance to tropical depression status with 30-kt winds at 1800 UTC
on 30 January. The system was then located about 700 nm east-northeast
of Mauritius, having been drifting generally southwestward for the past
couple of days. An interim STWO issued by JTWC at 30/0100 UTC had noted
that the disturbance consisted of an elongated area of turning with two
possible LLCCs, and that convection was consolidating over the western-
most center with overall organization improving. The potential for
further development was upgraded to 'fair' once more and a TCFA issued
at 30/1400 UTC.
However, Tropical Depression 12 didn't fare so well on the 31st. At
31/0600 UTC MFR downgraded the system to 25 kts and at the same time
relocated the center well to the west-northwest to a position roughly
525 nm east-northeast of Mauritius. Also, at 1400 UTC JTWC cancelled
the TCFA issued the previous day. Animated multi-spectral imagery and
a 31/0920 UTC AMSR-E AQUA pass indicated that convection had diminished
and become decoupled from the center. The system was entering an
environment of cooler air, increasing vertical shear and diminished
outflow. The development potential was downgraded to 'poor' once more.
By 1800 UTC entrainment of dry air from the west had resulted in the
almost complete dissipation of the deep convection.
JTWC wrote the system off as a potential cyclone threat while MFR
maintained it as a weak tropical disturbance for the next couple of days
as it drifted southwestward in the general direction of the Mascarene
Islands. At 0300 UTC on 2 February JTWC issued an interim STWO which
in essence started the disturbance as a new suspicious 'poor' area
located about 325 nm east of Mauritius. Deep convection was once more
increasing around the LLCC, which was underneath a ridge axis in an
environment of low vertical shear and increasing 850-mb vorticity. By
1800 UTC organization had improved to the point that the development
potential was again upgraded to 'fair'.
B. Synoptic History
-------------------
Things began to happen fast on 3 February. At 0600 UTC MFR upped the
MSW to 30 kts, qualifying the system as a tropical depression once more.
The center was then located approximately 230 nm east of Reunion Island,
still moving southwestward. Next, JTWC issued a TCFA at 03/1400 UTC.
A 03/0949 UTC AMSR-E pass had depicted improving organization and
increasing deep convection with an indication of possible eye formation.
The intensifying system was located within a narrow region of low shear
with much stronger vertical shear to the south. At 1800 UTC MFR upgraded
Tropical Depression 12 to a 45-kt tropical storm, located about 175 nm
southeast of Reunion Island. At the same time JTWC issued their first
warning on TC-14S, likewise estimating the intensity at 45 kts (1-min
avg). Tropical Storm 12 (TC-14S) was tracking south-southwestward at
7 kts under the steering influence of a low to mid-level anticyclone
anchored to the southeast.
The actual naming responsibility for tropical cyclones east of 55E
lies with the Meteorological Service of Mauritius. In the majority of
cases a name is assigned at the time MFR upgrades a system to tropical
storm status. In this case, however, Mauritius did not assign the name
Gerard until 0600 UTC on 4 February, twelve hours after MFR and JTWC had
upgraded the system to tropical storm intensity. At the time of naming,
the system's MSW was 60 kts per both MFR and JTWC.
The tropical storm increased rapidly in intensity, reaching a MSW
of 60 kts at 04/0600 UTC, at which time it was named Gerard by Mauritius.
Severe Tropical Storm Gerard reached the westernmost point of its track
at 04/0000 UTC, thereafter moving on a course which was slightly east of
due south as it came under the influence of a transient shortwave trough.
Gerard reached its peak intensity of 60 kts with an estimated minimum CP
of 973 mb at 04/1800 UTC. The storm was then located about 475 nm south-
southeast of Reunion Island and had accelerated to a forward speed in
excess of 20 kts. The warning from MFR noted that winds possibly reached
hurricane intensity in a very small area just east of the center due to
the rapid translational speed. (Interestingly, JTWC had dropped the MSW
to 45 kts (1-min avg) at this time.) After 05/0000 UTC Gerard began to
rather quickly lose its tropical characteristics. MFR dropped coverage
of the system after 1200 UTC on 5 February as it moved poleward of the
35th parallel, out of their AOR. The final warning placed the center
about 900 nm south-southeast of Reunion Island, moving rapidly south-
southeastward, and noted that Gerard was fast becoming extratropical.
A graphic displaying the track of Severe Tropical Storm Gerard may
be found at the following link:
<http://www.tropicalcyclone2005.com/database/tc_besttracks_graphics/INDIAN_S
OUTHWEST/2005_12M-14S-GERARD_BT.gif>
C. Damage and Casualties
------------------------
No damage or casualties are known to have resulted from Severe
Tropical Storm Gerard.
(Report written by Gary Padgett)
*************************************************************************
NORTHWEST AUSTRALIA/SOUTHEAST INDIAN OCEAN (AUW) - From 90E to 135E
Activity for February: 1 tropical cyclone
Sources of Information
----------------------
The primary sources of tracking and intensity information for
Northwest Australia/Southeast Indian Ocean tropical cyclones are
the warnings and advices issued by the Tropical Cyclone Warning
Centres at Perth, Western Australia, and Darwin, Northern Territory.
References to sustained winds imply a 10-minute averaging period
unless otherwise stated.
In the companion tropical cyclone tracks file, I occasionally
annotate positions from warnings issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning
Center (JTWC) of the U. S. Air Force and Navy, located at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, when they differ from the Australian centres' coor-
dinates by usually 40-50 nm or more. The JTWC warnings are also the
source of the 1-minute average maximum sustained wind values included
in the tracks file. Additionally, information describing details of
satellite imagery and atmospheric circulation features included in
the narratives is often gleaned from the JTWC warnings.
Northwest Australia/Southeast Indian Ocean
Tropical Activity for February
------------------------------------------
The month of January had seen a flurry of minor, short-lived tropical
cyclones in waters between 90E and 135E, and the last of these systems
popped up in early February. After that, the remainder of the month was
very quiet with no tropical LOWs of any significance. Weak Tropical
Cyclone Vivienne meandered on an erratic track well south of Java for
a few days in early February--actually the system was classified as a
tropical cyclone by BoM Perth for only 18 hours on 8 February. A short
report on Vivienne follows.
TROPICAL CYCLONE VIVIENNE
(TC-17S)
5 - 10 February
---------------------------------------------
A Tropical Weather Outlook issued by BoM Perth on 3 February noted
that the monsoon trough across northern Australia was becoming more
active and that a tropical LOW was expected to form off the Kimberley
coast within the next couple of days with some potential for tropical
cyclone development. By the next day a weak LOW had formed near 15S/
119E with associated convection. Animated multi-spectral imagery
revealed a consolidating circulation with strong low-level inflow. The
LLCC was located in an environment of low to moderate vertical shear with
very favorable divergence aloft and increasing 850-mb vorticity. At 1800
UTC JTWC assessed the development potential as 'fair'. The Perth TCWC
issued the first gale warning on the LOW at 0200 UTC on 5 February,
placing the center approximately 300 nm northwest of Broome, Western
Australia. Gales were forecast for the southwestern quadrant at some
distance from the center. The system at this time was drifting slowly
to the southwest.
The LOW's organization gradually improved, and at 05/1800 UTC JTWC
issued a TCFA, which was re-issued 24 hours later. A 06/0949 UTC
QuikScat pass depicted a well-defined LLCC situated under the
subtropical ridge axis in an environment of low to moderate vertical
shear and within a very weak steering regime. A 06/2218 UTC microwave
pass showed a partially-exposed circulation center with deep convection
confined primarily to the southwestern quadrant. The first warning on
TC-17S from JTWC was issued at 07/0000 UTC with the system then located
about 325 west-northwest of Broome, still drifting very slowly in a
generally westward direction. Perth was still maintaining the system
as a 30-kt tropical LOW, and JTWC's initial warning intensity was 35 kts
(1-min avg), based on CI estimates of 35 and 45 kts. Deep convection
continued to cycle and the status quo was maintained for the next
24 hours.
By 0000 UTC on the 8th the LLCC had moved under the deep convection.
At 08/0400 UTC BoM Perth upgraded the LOW to Tropical Cyclone Vivienne,
located approximately 375 nm west-northwest of Broome and essentially
stationary. Maximum 10-min avg winds were estimated to reach as high
as 45 kts. Vivienne's life as a tropical cyclone was very brief.
A 08/1039 UTC SSM/I pass indicated that the LLCC had become fully-
exposed, and visible imagery revealed that the deep convection had
weakened significantly. JTWC dropped the winds to 30 kts at 1200 UTC
and issued their final warning. Perth retained Vivienne as a cyclone
through their 08/1600 UTC warning, but declassified it at 2200 UTC.
During its brief life as a tropical cyclone Vivienne moved very little.
The daily Tropical Weather Outlooks from Perth mentioned the ex-cyclone
for a couple of days--the final reference to the LOW at 0400 UTC on
10 February placed the weak center about 275 nm north of Karratha with
an expectation of dissipation over the next few days.
No damage or casualties are known to have resulted from the ephemeral
Tropical Cyclone Vivienne.
A graphic displaying the track of Tropical Cyclone Vivienne may be
found at the following link:
<http://www.tropicalcyclone2005.com/database/tc_besttracks_graphics/AUSTRALI
A/2005_07U-17S-VIVIENNE_BT.gif>
(Report written by Gary Padgett)
*************************************************************************
NORTHEAST AUSTRALIA/CORAL SEA (AUE) - From 135E to 160E
Activity for February: 1 severe tropical cyclone
Sources of Information
----------------------
The primary sources of tracking and intensity information for
Northeast Australia/Coral Sea tropical cyclones are the warnings
and advices issued by the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres at
Brisbane, Queensland, and Darwin, Northern Territory, and on very
infrequent occasions, by the centre at Port Moresby, Papua New
Guinea. References to sustained winds imply a 10-minute averaging
period unless otherwise stated.
In the companion tropical cyclone tracks file, I occasionally
annotate positions from warnings issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning
Center (JTWC) of the U. S. Air Force and Navy, located at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, when they differ from the Australian centres' coor-
dinates by usually 40-50 nm or more. The JTWC warnings are also the
source of the 1-minute average maximum sustained wind values included
in the tracks file. Additionally, information describing details of
satellite imagery and atmospheric circulation features included in
the narratives is often gleaned from the JTWC warnings.
Northeast Australia/Coral Sea
Tropical Activity for February
------------------------------
The first tropical cyclone of the 2004-2005 season in the eastern
portion of the Australian Region finally came to life in early February.
Tropical Cyclone Harvey developed in the Gulf of Carpentaria and moved
inland east-southeast of Port McArthur near the Queensland/Northern
Territory border as a Category 3 cyclone on the Australian Cyclone
Severity Scale with peak gusts estimated at 120 kts. Harvey's remnants
later emerged into the Coral Sea and generated gales over a wide area,
but the system at that stage did not have the structure of a tropical
cyclone so no tropical cyclone advices/warnings were issued. A report
on Severe Tropical Cyclone Harvey, written by Simon Clarke, follows.
SEVERE TROPICAL CYCLONE HARVEY
(TC-16P)
5 - 14 February
--------------------------------------------------
A. Storm Origins
----------------
On 4 February 2005 an active phase of the monsoon re-established
itself over northern Australia, focusing on a tropical LOW in the
western Gulf of Carpentaria to the north of Groote Eylandt. By
5 February this developing LOW had assumed a position in the central
Gulf approximately 125 nm west-southwest of Weipa, Australia (13.6S/
140.0E). Under favourable conditions of low shear, high SSTs and
good poleward upper-level outflow, it commenced the process of
intensification.
Warnings for the developing tropical LOW commenced during the evening
of 5 February for areas between Weipa (Queensland) and Port McArthur
(Northern Territory), with a southward movement forecast to bring the
developing storm closer to Australia's mainland and nearby islands.
The LOW intensified as predicted and was code named Harvey at 06/0000
UTC. At this time, Harvey was located approximately 125 nm west-
northwest of Pormpuraaw (Queensland) or near 14.0S/139.7E.
B. Synoptic History
-------------------
From this point onward, Harvey moved generally in a south-
southwesterly direction, intensifying slowly at first. However, upon
its approach to land, Harvey intensified rapidly into a SEVERE
CYCLONE (Category 3 on the Australian Scale) and quickened its pace
in response to an approaching surface trough advancing from the
southwest. Harvey reached a peak intensity of 965 hPa with a peak
MSW of 85 kts (10-min avg) in the hours just prior to making landfall
50 nm north-northwest of Wollogorang (Northern Territory) at 07/0600
UTC. At this time, a hint of an eye was just visible in satellite
imagery.
The maximum winds (1-min avg) estimated by JTWC for Harvey were
only 50 kts, and that was at 07/1200 UTC, some six hours after land-
fall. The previous warning at 07/0000 UTC, six hours before land-
fall, had estimated the MSW at 45 kts. Brisbane's 10-min avg MSW at
this time was 60 kts, so the intensification of Harvey just prior to
landfall was quite rapid. Since an eye was becoming visible just prior
to Harvey's reaching the coast, it stands to reason that if JTWC had
issued a warning at 0600 UTC, the MSW would probably have been in the
65 to 75-kt range. (This paragraph added by Gary Padgett.)
Rain falls of up to 200 mm were reported in the remote area where
Harvey crossed from sea to land. There have been no reports of any
structural damage or injuries. However, trees were reported as being
uprooted. People were evacuated from the Robinson River community to
higher ground because of the possibility of flooding in low-lying
areas. However, Harvey was a small cyclone, causing no significant
damage despite its severe classification.
Pungalina Station, 130 km southeast of Borroloola, was in the direct
path of the cyclone. The station manager reported that wind gusts
stronger than 55 kts hit the homestead just before midnight, and the
cyclone dumped 60 mm of rain in a few hours.
According to information received from Huang Chunliang, the AWS at
Mornington Island (WMO 94256, 16.67S/139.17E) recorded 180.2 mm of
rain in the 24 hours from 06/0000 to 07/0000 UTC, and an additional
102.4 mm between 08/0000 and 09/0000 UTC. (Chunliang only sent
daily amounts exceeding 100 mm, so the station's rainfall during the
intervening 24 hours must have undoubtedly been less than that amount.)
Harvey lost cyclone status at 07/1830 UTC approximately 110 km west-
northwest of Wollogorang and was soon captured thereafter by the
approaching surface trough to the southwest and steered rapidly
across inland Queensland, passing into the Coral Sea off the central
Queensland Coast near Mackay on 10 February. However, the remains of
the cyclone never regained the tropical characteristics that it
initially had. Despite this, gale warnings were issued from the TCWC
at Brisbane as the remnant LOW moved seaward, eventually losing its
low-level identity a week later after retreating north into the far
northeastern Coral Sea.
A graphic displaying the track of Severe Tropical Cyclone Harvey
may be found at the following link:
<http://www.tropicalcyclone2005.com/database/tc_besttracks_graphics/AUSTRALI
A/2005_06U-16P-HARVEY_BT.gif>
TRMM Imagery of Harvey in the Gulf of Carpentaria can be found at:
<http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img
_id=12709>
C. Damage and Casualties
------------------------
As Tropical Cyclone Harvey made landfall in a very sparsely populated
region, no significant structural or agricultural damage was reported.
Also, no casualties are known to have resulted from this cyclone.
(Report written by Simon Clarke)
*************************************************************************
SOUTH PACIFIC (SPA) - South Pacific Ocean East of Longitude 160E
Activity for February: 1 tropical depression
4 intense tropical cyclones of hurricane force
NOTE!!! The South Pacific basin will be covered in the second
installment of the February summary.
*************************************************************************
SPECIAL FEATURE - SOURCES OF TROPICAL CYCLONE INFORMATION
The purpose of this section is to list some websites where many and
varied types of tropical cyclone information are archived. Many readers
will know about these already, but for the benefit of those who don't,
I wanted to include them.
(1) Aircraft Reconnaissance Information
---------------------------------------
Various types of messages from reconnaissance aircraft may be
retrieved from the following FTP site:
<ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/pub/products/nhc/recon/>
Information regarding how to interpret the coded reconnaissance
messages may be found at the following URL:
<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/reconlist.shtml>
Links are also included to websites with further information about the
U. S. Air Force 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and the NOAA Air-
craft Operations Center.
(2) Archived Advisories
-----------------------
All the advisory products (public advisories, forecast/advisories,
strike probabilities, discussions, various graphics) issued by TPC/NHC
are archived on TPC's website. For the current year (using 2004 as an
example), the archived products can be found at:
<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2004/index.shtml>
Links to tropical products archives for earlier years are available at
the following URL:
<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastall.shtml>
JTWC warnings for past storms are archived on the NRL Monterry website:
<http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/tc_home.html>
On the NRL site, the link to past years can be found in the upper left
corner of the screen.
I am not aware at the moment of any other TCWC which archives all
its tropical cyclone warning/advisory products for public access, but
if I learn of any, I will add them to this list.
(3) Satellite Imagery
---------------------
Satellite images of tropical cyclones in various sensor bands are
available on the NRL Monterrey and University of Wisconsin websites,
courtesy of Jeff Hawkins and Chris Velden and their associates. The
links are:
<http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/tc_home.html>
<http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/tropic.html>
On the NRL site, the link to past years can be found in the upper left
corner of the screen. For the CIMSS site, a link to data archives is
located in the lower left portion of the screen.
I'm sure there are other sites with available imagery available, and
as I learn of them, I will add the links to this list.
*************************************************************************
EXTRA FEATURE
In order to shorten the amount of typing in preparing the narrative
material, I have been in the habit of freely using abbreviations and
acronyms. I have tried to define most of these with the first usage
in a given summary, but I may have missed one now and then. Most of
these are probably understood by a majority of readers but perhaps a
few aren't clear to some. To remedy this I developed a Glossary of
Abbreviations and Acronyms which I first included in the August, 1998
summary. I don't normally include the Glossary in most months in
order to help keep them from being too long. If anyone would like to
receive a copy of the Glossary, please e-mail me and I'll be happy
to send them a copy.
*************************************************************************
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This summary should be considered a very preliminary
overview of the tropical cyclones that occur in each month. The cyclone
tracks (provided separately) will generally be based upon operational
warnings issued by the various tropical cyclone warning centers. The
information contained therein may differ somewhat from the tracking and
intensity information obtained from a "best-track" file which is based
on a detailed post-seasonal analysis of all available data. Information
on where to find official "best-track" files from the various warning
centers will be passed along from time to time.
The track files are not being sent via e-mail. They can be retrieved
from the archive sites listed below. (Note: I do have a limited e-mail
distribution list for the track files. If anyone wishes to receive
these via e-mail, please send me a message.)
Both the summaries and the track files are standard text files
created in DOS editor. Download to disk and use a viewer such as
Notepad or DOS editor to view the files.
The first summary in this series covered the month of October,
1997. Back issues can be obtained from the following websites
(courtesy of Michael Bath, Michael V. Padua, Michael Pitt, Chris
Landsea, and John Diebolt):
<http://australiasevereweather.com/cyclones/>
<http://www.typhoon2000.ph>
<http://mpittweather.com>
<ftp://ftp.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/pub/landsea/padgett/>
<http://www.tropicalcyclone2005.com/>
Another website where much information about tropical cyclones may
be found is the website for the UK Meteorological Office. Their site
contains a lot of statistical information about tropical cyclones
globally on a monthly basis. The URL is:
<http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/tropicalcyclone>
TROPICAL CYCLONE REPORTS AVAILABLE
JTWC now has available on its website the Annual Tropical Cyclone
Report (ATCR) for 2004 (2003-2004 season for the Southern Hemisphere).
ATCRs for earlier years are available also.
The URL is: <http://199.10.200.33/jtwc.html>
Also, TPC/NHC has available on its webpage nice "technicolor"
tracking charts for the 2004 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific
tropical cyclones; also, storm reports for all the 2004 Atlantic
and Eastern North Pacific cyclones are now available, as well as
track charts and reports on storms from earlier years.
The URL is: <http://www.nhc.noaa.gov>
A special thanks to Michael Bath of McLeans Ridges, New South Wales,
Australia, for assisting me with proofreading the summaries.
PREPARED BY
Gary Padgett
E-mail: garyp@alaweb.com
Phone: 334-222-5327
Kevin Boyle (Eastern Atlantic, Western Northwest Pacific, South
China Sea)
E-mail: newchapelobservatory@btinternet.com
John Wallace (Assistance with Eastern North Pacific)
E-mail: dosidicus@aol.com
Huang Chunliang (Assistance with Western Northwest Pacific, South
China Sea)
E-mail: huangchunliang@hotmail.com
Simon Clarke (Northeast Australia/Coral Sea, South Pacific)
E-mail: saclarke@iprimus.com.au
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
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