MONTHLY GLOBAL TROPICAL CYCLONE SUMMARY
MARCH, 2006
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 March summary is being issued in two installments.
The first covers the Southwest Indian Ocean and Northwest Australia/
Southeast Indian Ocean basins. The second installment will cover the
Northwest Pacific, South Pacific and Northeast Australia/Coral Sea
basins.
SPECIAL NOTE #2: TPC/NHC now has all the storm reports and the track
chart for the 2005 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific seasons available
online. Links to the reports and track charts may be accessed at the
following URLs:
<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2005atlan.shtml>
<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2005epac.shtml>
Also, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center has available online their
annual summary for the 2005 tropical cyclone season in that region. The
link is:
<http://www.prh.noaa.gov/cphc/summaries/2005.php>
And finally, the Canadian Hurricane Centre has a summary available of
the 2005 tropical cyclones which entered their Response Zone. This
summary may be accessed at:
<http://www.atl.ec.gc.ca/weather/hurricane/storm05.html>
*************************************************************************
MARCH HIGHLIGHTS
--> Two severe tropical cyclones form off Western Australia--one makes
landfall
--> Very destructive tropical cyclone strikes Queensland
--> Another severe tropical cyclone in Coral Sea recurves away from
Australia
*************************************************************************
********** EXTRA FEATURE **********
WESTERN HEMISPHERE TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMES for 2006
Tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and
Caribbean Sea are assigned names by the Tropical Prediction Center/
National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. A separate alphabetical
set of alternating male/female names is used each year with the name
of the first tropical storm beginning with the letter "A". Names are
repeated every six years. The names of hurricanes which cause a lot
of damage and/or fatalities are usually retired from the list with
another name of the same alphabetical rank and gender replacing it.
Following the 2005 season, the names Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan
and Wilma were retired and have been replaced in the list for 2011
with Don, Katia, Rina, Sean and Whitney, respectively. It seemed
likely that Emily also would have been retired, but Mexico did not
request it, so Emily remains in the list for 2011.
The highest number of tropical storms named in one season in the
Atlantic was 27 during the incredibly active 2005 season, which has
become the most active Atlantic tropical cyclone season on record.
Other very active seasons include 1887 (19 storms), 1933 (21 storms),
1969 (18 storms) and 1995 (19 storms).
The list of names for 2006 is the same one used during the active
hurricane season of 2000 when fourteen tropical cyclones were named,
down through Nadine. The only name retired after the 2000 season was
Keith, and that name has been replaced with Kirk in the 2006 list.
TPC/NHC also has warning responsibility for the Eastern North
Pacific Ocean from the west coast of Mexico out to longitude 140W.
Six separate alphabetical sets of names are used for this basin in
the same manner as in the Atlantic. Initially, the Eastern Pacific
name sets contained only 21 names, omitting "Q" and "U" and ending
with the letter "W", as in the Atlantic. When the active 1985 season
threatened to exhaust the list, the names Xina, York and Zelda were
drafted to accommodate any additional storms which might develop.
(Hurricane Xina was named in late October, 1985.) The decision was
made sometime in the latter 1980s to extend the list with these three
names in odd-numbered years, and to add the names Xavier, Yolanda and
Zeke in even-numbered years (to preserve the alternating gender
scheme). During the Northeast Pacific's year of record activity in
1992, all 24 names were allotted to tropical cyclones forming east of
140W, ending with Tropical Storm Zeke in late October. Had more storms
developed, they would have been named with the letters of the Greek
alphabet (Alpha, Beta, etc), which is also the backup plan for the
Atlantic basin in case more than 21 tropical storms develop in a single
season.
The list for this year was last used in 2000 when seventeen tropical
cyclones were named, the last one being Rosa. The most active season
to utilize this set of names was in 1982, when 19 cyclones were named,
down through Tara.
The Central Pacific Hurricane Center, located in Honolulu, has
tropical cyclone warning responsibility for that portion of the North
Pacific Ocean lying between longitudes 140W and 180. The majority of
the tropical storms and hurricanes seen in that region are visitors
from east of 140W, but on the average about one tropical storm forms
in the Central Pacific each year, and when this happens, the storm is
given a Hawaiian name. The list consists of four sets of twelve
names each, using only the letters of the Hawaiian alphabet. All the
names are used--the first storm to form in a given year is assigned
the next available name on the list. No tropical cyclones were named
by CPHC in 2003 or in 2004. The last storm to form in Central Pacific
waters was Hurricane Huko in late October, 2002, so the next name to be
assigned will be Ioke.
Names for 2006 are (** indicates name has already been assigned):
ATLANTIC EASTERN PACIFIC CENTRAL PACIFIC
Alberto Leslie Aletta Miriam Ioke
Beryl Michael Bud Norman Kika
Chris Nadine Carlotta Olivia Lana
Debby Oscar Daniel Paul Maka
Ernesto Patty Emilia Rosa Neki
Florence Rafael Fabio Sergio Oleka
Gordon Sandy Gilma Tara Peni
Helene Tony Hector Vicente Ulia
Isaac Valerie Ileana Willa Wali
Joyce William John Xavier Ana
Kirk Kristy Yolanda Ela
Lane Zeke Halola
*************************************************************************
ACTIVITY BY BASINS
ATLANTIC (ATL) - North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico
Activity for March: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
NORTHEAST PACIFIC (NEP) - North Pacific Ocean East of Longitude 180
Activity for March: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
NORTHWEST PACIFIC (NWP) - North Pacific Ocean West of Longitude 180
Activity for March: 1 tropical storm **
** - treated as a tropical storm by JTWC only
NOTE!!! The Northwest Pacific basin will be covered in the second
installment of the March summary.
*************************************************************************
NORTH INDIAN OCEAN (NIO) - Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea
Activity for March: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
SOUTHWEST INDIAN OCEAN (SWI) - South Indian Ocean West of Longitude 90E
Activity for March: 1 tropical disturbance
1 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 March
--------------------------------------------------
Three tropical systems were in warning status during the month of
March in the Southwest Indian Ocean basin, all during the first part of
the month. Intense Tropical Cyclone Carina was near its peak intensity
over the east-central portion of the basin on 1 March, but encountered
a hostile environment which led to its very rapid weakening and
dissipation by 3 March. The report on Carina may be found in the
February summary.
Severe Tropical Storm Diwa operated from the 2nd until the 10th over
the western portion of the basin, passing southward between the Mascarene
Islands (Reunion and Mauritius) and Madagascar. Diwa originated as a
large, sloppily-organized monsoon depression which gradually acquired
tropical storm characteristics. A report on Diwa follows.
Meteo France on La Reunion (MFR) issued two warnings on another
system, numbered as Tropical Disturbance 12. At 0600 UTC on 4 March this
disturbance was centered approximately 200 north-northeast of Tromelin
Island, or about 335 nm due north of the center of Tropical Storm Diwa.
Peak 10-min avg winds were estimated at 25 kts, locally reaching 30 kts
in squalls. The system moved rapidly southeastward around the north-
eastern periphery of Diwa, and the second and final MFR warning at 1200
UTC placed the center of the disturbance about 190 nm east of Tromelin
and about 240 nm northeast of Diwa's center. No more warnings were
issued, and due to the large size of the circulation around Diwa, it
is assumed that the weak Tropical Disturbance 12 was absorbed into the
circulation of the tropical storm.
A graphic depicting the track of Tropical Disturbance 12 and Tropical
Storm Diwa may be found at the following link:
<http://www.tropicalcyclone2005.com/database/2006/SOHEM/BT-IMAGES/2006-12R-DIWA.gif>
TROPICAL STORM DIWA
(MFR-11 / TC-16S)
2 - 10 March
---------------------------------------
Diwa: contributed by Malawi
A. Introduction and Storm Origins
---------------------------------
Tropical Storm Diwa was a large, odd tropical storm which occupied
the first week of March moving slowly southward through the Southwest
Indian Ocean between Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands. Diwa was
in its early stages actually a monsoon depression which developed gales
along its periphery. In the author's opinion, the Meteorological Service
of Mauritius is to be commended for assigning a name and treating the
system as a tropical storm when it was apparent it was intensifying and
becoming an increasing threat. Another unusual feature of Tropical Storm
Diwa was that it achieved its peak intensity and most tropical-like
structure after moving into subtropical latitudes--something rarely seen
in the Southwest Indian basin.
MFR issued their first warning on the pre-Diwa system at 0600 UTC on
2 March, calling it simply a "zone of disturbed weather" located about
175 nm southeast of the island of Agalega. Around the same time JTWC
included the disturbance in a STWO, noting that it was a elongated LLCC
embedded within the monsoon trough east of Madagascar. Convection had
been increasing near the low-level disturbance, and an upper-level ridge
axis to the north was helping to provide an environment of low vertical
shear and favorable diffluence aloft. On their second bulletin, issued
at 02/1200 UTC, MFR upgraded the area to Tropical Disturbance 11 with
winds estimated at 25 kts. St. Brandon, well to the southeast, reported
10-min avg winds of 35 kts with a SLP of 1002 hPa at 02/2100 UTC. JTWC
upgraded the development potential to 'fair' at 1800 UTC since convection
was persisting near the LLCC.
B. Synoptic History
-------------------
MFR upgraded the disturbance to a 30-kt tropical depression at 0600
UTC on 3 March, and at 1200 UTC the system was upgraded to Tropical
Storm Diwa, centered at the time about 125 nm west of St. Brandon. The
MFR warning noted that the system had a monsoon depression structure
with weak winds near the center but with gales, locally reaching 40 kts,
over 100 nm from the center in the eastern semicircle under the
convective bands. JTWC issued a TCFA at 03/2100 UTC and the first
warning on TC-16S followed at 04/0000 UTC. In its formative stages
Diwa had moved basically to the south, but by now was moving on a slow
southwesterly track under the influence of ridging to the southeast.
After having reached tropical storm intensity, however, the storm did
not strengthen significantly during the next three days. By the 5th
Diwa had turned to the south, although it made a jog to the southwest on
the 6th. Tropical Storm Diwa passed about 200 nm west of Mauritius
around 0900 UTC on 5 March and about 100 nm west of Reunion Island around
1500 UTC the same day. Earlier on 3 March, while Diwa's center was a
little less than 200 nm northwest of Mauritius, a wind gust to 59 kts was
recorded at 2130 UTC at Savannah, a location in the southeastern part of
Mauritius near L'Escalier. (This observation, as well as the earlier
one taken from St. Brandon, was sent by Patrick Hoareau.)
After the aforementioned jog to the southwest, Diwa's motion became
primarily south-southeastward ahead of an approaching baroclinic zone.
The storm gradually began to strengthen--the MSW was upped to 40 kts at
06/0600 UTC and to 50 kts at 07/0000 UTC. Diwa was experiencing
favorable poleward and equatorward outflow with the deepest convection
located in the southeastern quadrant. Both JTWC and MFR upped their
respective MSW estimates to 55 kts at 0600 UTC 8 March. Diwa by this
time was tracking southeastward at 15 kts along the southwestern
periphery of a mid-level ridge to the east. The tropical storm was
beginning to interact with a baroclinic zone to the south, but enhanced
poleward outflow was leading to an increase in convection. Based upon
MFR's analysis, Severe Tropical Storm Diwa reached its peak intensity
of 60 kts (10-min avg) at 08/1200 UTC while centered approximately
475 nm south-southeast of Reunion Island. MFR maintained Diwa at
60 kts for the next warning at 1800 UTC, but JTWC issued their final
warning at that time, deeming extratropical transition to be well
under way and estimating the intensity at only 35 kts. Six hours later
MFR classified Diwa as a 55-kt extratropical storm but continued to
issue warnings for the next 36 hours as ex-Diwa continued to track off
into the subtropical South Indian Ocean. The final MFR warning, issued
at 10/1200 UTC, placed a weakening 40-kt center a little more than
1300 nm southeast of Reunion Island.
A graphic depicting the track of Severe Tropical Storm Diwa may be
found at the following link:
<http://www.tropicalcyclone2005.com/database/2006/SOHEM/BT-IMAGES/2006-16S-DIWA.gif>
C. Damage and Casualties
------------------------
No reports of damage or casualties resulting from Tropical Storm Diwa
have been received.
(Report written by Gary Padgett)
*************************************************************************
NORTHWEST AUSTRALIA/SOUTHEAST INDIAN OCEAN (AUW) - From 90E to 135E
Activity for March: 2 tropical LOWs
2 severe tropical cyclones (hurricanes)
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 March
------------------------------------------
After a rather quiet February in which only one minor tropical cyclone
(Emma) formed, the tropical seas off northern and northwestern Australia
became quite active during March. Four tropical LOWs were tracked by
the Darwin and Perth TCWCs with two of these becoming the very intense
cyclones Floyd and Glenda. Reports on these two severe tropical
cyclones follow.
A weak tropical LOW formed late on 28 February just west of the
Indonesian island of Jamdena, where the Arafura and Banda Seas meet.
During the first week of March this system drifted southwestward, then
erratically westward, crossing the island of Timor and passing south
of Sumba. By 5 March the westward motion ceased and the LOW turned
toward the southeast toward the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The highest MSW estimated for this LOW was 30 kts briefly on 2 March;
the remainder of the time peak winds were estimated at only 25 kts.
Gale warnings were issued by Darwin and Perth in the anticipation that
the LOW would strengthen into a tropical cyclone. This failed to
materialize, however, and the final gale warning by BoM Perth was issued
at 0400 UTC on 7 March. By 0400 UTC on 8 March the weakening LOW was
inland in the Kimberley region.
A graphic depicting the operational track of this tropical LOW may
be found at the following link:
<http://www.tropicalcyclone2005.com/database/2006/SOHEM/BT-IMAGES/2006-01D-NONAME.gif>
The Perth TCWC also issued several gale warnings in late March for a
tropical LOW which formed over waters southwest of Christmas Island and
east of the Cocos Islands. The first warning was issued at 0300 UTC on
26 March and the system subsequently drifted pretty much due southward.
The final gale warning was issued by Perth at 27/0600 UTC, but the
remnant LOW continued to generate some Dvorak ratings of T2.5/2.5 by
various agencies until early on the 29th. A very broad cyclonic
circulation existed in the area with possible multiple LLCCs, and there
were considerable differences in the center fixes from the satellite
analysis agencies. Disturbed weather continued in the region for
several days, and during the first week of April another LOW developed
which ultimately became Tropical Storm Elia in the Southwest Indian Ocean
basin. There does not appear to be, however, any direct continuity
between the late March tropical LOW and the LLCC which became Elia.
A graphic depicting the operational track of the late March tropical
LOW may be found at the following link:
<http://www.tropicalcyclone2005.com/database/2006/SOHEM/BT-IMAGES/2006-01U.gif>
SEVERE TROPICAL CYCLONE FLOYD
(TC-19S)
19 - 27 March
-------------------------------------------------
(Editor's Note: The following report on Severe Tropical Cyclone Floyd
is based largely on a preliminary report on this storm written and sent
to the author by Joe Courtney, a forecaster at the Perth TCWC. A very
big thanks to Joe for sending the report.)
A. Introduction
---------------
Floyd was a midget tropical cyclone that reached top-end Category 4
(Australian cyclone scale) intensity before rapidly weakening under
northwesterly shear. Tropical cyclone advices were issued for the
western Pilbara region and for upper western coastal areas of Western
Australia as Floyd approached, but the system weakened and remained
offshore and did not impact coastal parts. Floyd did have an economic
impact as some resource companies evacuated offshore oil and gas
installations.
B. Origins and Synoptic History
-------------------------------
A tropical LOW developed on 18 March south of the Indonesian island
of Sumba and moved to the west to southwest, gradually strengthening.
The LOW is estimated to have reached cyclone intensity around 2100 UTC
on 20 March while located roughly 450 nm west-northwest of Cape
Leveque. The moderate easterly shear on the 21st gradually eased and
Floyd developed rapidly later on the 22nd, reaching Category 3 (65 kts)
intensity around 23/0000 UTC while located about 560 nm north-northwest
of Exmouth. Infrared satellite imagery on the 22nd had revealed very
cold cloud tops.
Severe Tropical Cyclone Floyd reached its maximum intensity of 105 kts
at 24/0000 UTC, centred approximately 530 nm northwest of Exmouth. The
cyclone at the time was making a turn to the south due to the approach
of a mid-latitude trough. The eye of the system was very small with a
diameter of about 10-15 nm, and the minimum CP was estimated at 915 hPa.
JTWC's peak 1-min avg MSW was a comparable 115 kts, and hurricane-force
winds extended outward from the center only about 20 nm. Arguably
Floyd may have reached Category 5 intensity on the basis of an infrared
image at 23/2330 UTC showing a Data T-number of 6.5. However, images
at 23/2130 and 24/0130 UTC showed Data T-numbers of only 5.5 and 5.0,
respectively.
Floyd slowly weakened as it moved on a southeasterly track towards the
northwestern coastline of Western Australia. Microwave imagery showed
that Floyd underwent an eyewall replacement cycle on the 24th,
culminating around 25/0000 UTC. The cyclone's intensity at that time
was still estimated at 90 kts, but Floyd continued to weaken more rapidly
thereafter as it encountered increasing upper-level northwesterlies. The
storm reached a point about 155 nm northwest of Exmouth at 26/1200 UTC,
but had encountered cooler SSTs and strong upper-level winds. A post-
cyclone analysis revealed that likely winds were below gale force by
26/1800 UTC, but operationally Floyd was maintained as a tropical cyclone
until 0200 UTC on the 27th when it was downgraded to a tropical LOW.
A QuikScat image at 26/0925 UTC had indicated that peak winds were barely
of gale force. The final advice, issued at 27/0200 UTC, placed the
center of the former tropical cyclone to the west-northwest of Exmouth,
near 20.9N/111.6E. The remnant LOW continued to drift southwards off
the Western Australian coast for a few more days.
A graphic depicting the track of Severe Tropical Cyclone Floyd may be
found at the following link:
<http://www.tropicalcyclone2005.com/database/2006/SOHEM/BT-IMAGES/2006-19S-FLOYD.gif>
C. Damage and Casualties
------------------------
There are no impacts from Tropical Cyclone Floyd, although some
economic losses were incurred with the evacuation of some offshore
oil and gas installations.
(Report based largely on a report received from Joe Courtney of the
BoM Perth TCWC)
SEVERE TROPICAL CYCLONE GLENDA
(TC-20S)
23 - 31 March
--------------------------------------------------
A. Introduction and Storm Origins
---------------------------------
Glenda was a severe tropical cyclone which followed closely on the
heels of Floyd in waters off Western Australia. Whereas Floyd dissipated
offshore, Glenda made landfall near Onslow as a Category 3 cyclone
(Australian scale) with peak 10-min avg winds estimated near 95 kts.
The storm had peaked a couple of days earlier as a Category 5 cyclone but
fortunately weakened some as it approached the coast.
Glenda had its origins over the Northern Territory. On 20 March a
1004-hPa tropical LOW was located over the Top End near Katherine. This
LOW subsequently moved westward and by early on the 22nd had moved out
over the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf about 55 nm west of Port Keats. BoM
Darwin initiated tropical cyclone advices on the developing system at
2130 UTC on 23 March with the LOW centered on the coast about 45 nm
east-northeast of Wyndham. The LOW moved very slowly for a couple of
days, remaining in the extreme southern portion of the Joseph Bonaparte
Gulf before commencing a westerly heading which took it inland across the
extreme northeastern portion of Western Australia. Environmental
conditions were very favorable for intensification with a developing
anticyclone over the disturbance, providing low vertical shear and
good radial outflow.
Emerging into the Timor Sea on 26 March, the LOW began to slowly
strengthen and BoM Perth began issuing shipping warnings at 26/1500 UTC.
The system was then centered approximately 200 nm northeast of Broome
and moving west-southwestward at about 4 kts. Associated convection
continued to consolidate and JTWC issued their first warning on TC-20S
at 27/0000 UTC. Three hours later, Perth upgraded the system to Tropical
Cyclone Glenda, centered about 140 nm north of Derby and moving westward
at 5 kts.
B. Synoptic History
-------------------
Once named as a cyclone, Glenda intensified very rapidly. At 27/1200
UTC, only nine hours after being upgraded, Glenda had reached severe
tropical cyclone (i.e., hurricane) status with 65-kt winds. The storm
embarked on a west-southwesterly track which gradually became more
southwesterly. Environmental conditions were very favorable for
intensification and Glenda continued to strengthen, reaching its peak
intensity of 115 kts at 28/1200 UTC while centered about 245 nm north-
northeast of Port Hedland, moving southwestward at 10 kts. (JTWC's
peak 1-min avg MSW was 140 kts at 28/1200 UTC.) Glenda's estimated
lowest CP was 910 hPa. The storm was being steered by a 500-mb ridge
to the southwest over Australia, and as a mid-latitude trough over the
west coast of Australia began to create a weakness in the ridge, the
cyclone turned to a more southwesterly track toward the northwestern
coastline of Western Australia.
Fortunately Glenda's strength began to ebb as the dangerous storm
neared the coast. By 0800 UTC on 30 March the center of Severe
Tropical Cyclone Glenda was beginning to cross the coastline between
Onslow and Dampier. The CP was then estimated at 930 hPa and peak
gusts near the center were estimated at 135 kts, which translates into
a 10-min mean wind of 95 kts. At 30/1200 UTC Glenda's center was
located only 20 km east of Onslow and moving south-southwestward at
11 kts. Once inland Glenda's track became more southerly with hints
of a recurvature to the south-southeast by the time the final advice
was issued at 31/0300 UTC. As is typical with landfalling tropical
cyclones, Glenda began to quickly weaken after the center had moved
inland. The final BoM advice placed the center of the former tropical
cyclone about 250 km south-southeast of Exmouth with a MSW of 30 kts.
(Interestingly, JTWC issued their final warning on Glenda with the
center barely inland and with the MSW (1-min avg) estimated at 90 kts.)
A report on Severe Tropical Cyclone Glenda may be found on BoM's
website at the following URL:
<http://www.bom.gov.au/announcements/sevwx/wa/watc20060315.shtml>
A graphic depicting the track of Tropical Cyclone Glenda may be found
at the following link:
<http://www.tropicalcyclone2005.com/database/2006/SOHEM/BT-IMAGES/2006-20S-GLENDA.gif>
C. Damage and Casualties
------------------------
The weakening of the cyclone, coupled with the preparedness of the
city of Onslow, helped to avert major damage. The BoM report referenced
above seems to be a work in progress, and it is likely that further
information will be added after a post-storm analysis is completed.
(Report written by Gary Padgett)
*************************************************************************
NORTHEAST AUSTRALIA/CORAL SEA (AUE) - From 135E to 160E
Activity for March: 1 hybrid storm
2 severe tropical cyclones (hurricanes) **
** - one of these originated in Fiji's AOR east of 160E
NOTE!!! The Northeast Australia/Coral Sea basin will be covered in the
second installment of the March summary.
*************************************************************************
SOUTH PACIFIC (SPA) - South Pacific Ocean East of Longitude 160E
Activity for March: 1 tropical depression
1 tropical cyclone of hurricane intensity **
** - system spent part of its life west of 160E in Brisbane's AOR
NOTE!!! The South Pacific basin will be covered in the second installment
of the March 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.
Additional tropical satellite imagery, along with looping ability for
composite microwave imagery for the Western Hemisphere north of the
equator, can be found at:
(1) For the Eastern North Pacific:
<http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/trop-epac.html>
(2) For the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea:
<http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/trop-atl.html>
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 2005 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific
tropical cyclones; also, storm reports for all the 2005 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
Simon Clarke (Northeast Australia/Coral Sea, South Pacific)
E-mail: saclarke@iprimus.com.au
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
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