MONTHLY GLOBAL TROPICAL CYCLONE SUMMARY
SEPTEMBER, 2007
Part 2 of 3
(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.)
NOTE!!! The September summary is being issued in three installments. The
first covered the Atlantic basin. The second covers the Northeast
Pacific and North Indian Ocean basin, plus contains an extra feature.
The third will cover the Northwest Pacific basin.
*************************************************************************
SEPTEMBER HIGHLIGHTS
--> Destructive Category 5 hurricane strikes Nicaragua
--> Typhoons strike Korea and China
--> Eight Atlantic tropical storms in September ties record for month
*************************************************************************
WIKIPEDIA TROPICAL CYCLONE REPORTS
Short reports with satellite pictures and small-scale maps for all
tropical cyclones may be found at the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Atlantic_hurricane_season
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Pacific_hurricane_season
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Pacific_typhoon_season
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_North_Indian_cyclone_season
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007-08_Southern_Hemisphere_tropical_cyclone_se
ason
For some storms more detailed reports have been prepared. In those cases
I will include the specific links in the reports for the applicable
tropical cyclones.
*************************************************************************
!!!!!!!!!!!! EXTRA FEATURE !!!!!!!!!!!!!
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMES
2007 - 2008 SEASON
TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMES for the AUSTRALIAN REGION
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology maintains three Tropical
Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWC): Perth, Western Australia; Darwin,
Northern Territory; and Brisbane, Queensland. Each centre is allotted
a separate list of tropical cyclone names for tropical cyclones forming
within its area of responsibility (AOR). In addition a TCWC located at
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG)--a former Australian territory--
maintains a list of native names to assign to the very rare tropical
cyclones which form within its AOR.
The AORs of the respective centres are:
(1) Perth - 125E westward to 90E and south of 10S. Currently, and for
at least the next few years, the Perth TCWC will issue warnings for
any systems north of 10S and south and west of the Indonesian
islands.
(2) Darwin - 125E eastward to 138E and extending northward to the
equator. There is a little irregularity with the eastern border
in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Darwin TCWC issues High Seas
Warnings for the entire Gulf of Carpentaria, but Brisbane issues
Tropical Cyclone Advices and names cyclones in the eastern portion
of the Gulf. Also, currently, and for at least the next few years,
the Darwin TCWC will issue warnings for any systems west of 125E
and within the Indonesian archipelago in the Banda, Flores, and
Java Seas.
(3) Brisbane - 138E eastward to 160E and generally south of 10S. The
northern border with the Port Moresby AOR is somewhat irregular.
(4) Port Moresby, PNG - immediate vicinity of the island of New Guinea
and eastward to 160E generally north of 10S although the southern
border is somewhat irregular.
Names for the 2007-2008 season (** indicates name has already been
assigned):
Perth Darwin Brisbane Port Moresby
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lee ** Helen Rebecca Guba **
Melanie Ira Sebastian Hibu
Nicholas Jasmine Tania Ila
Ophelia Kim Vernon Kama
Pancho Laura Whitney Lobu
Rosie Matt Alfred
Selwyn Narelle Blanch
Tiffany Oswald Caleb
Victor Penny Denise
Zelia Russell Ernie
Alison Frances
Billy Greg
Cathy Hilda
Damien Ivan
Ellie Joyce
TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMES for the SOUTHWEST INDIAN OCEAN
and the SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN
The Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre (TCWC) at Nadi, Fiji, has
tropical cyclone warning responsibility for the South Pacific east of
160E and from the equator to 25S. The Meteorological Service of New
Zealand at Wellington has warning responsibility for waters south of
25S, but almost all tropical cyclones in this basin form north of 25S.
When a rare cyclone forms in the Wellington area of responsibility
(AOR), it usually will be assigned a name from the Fiji list (such as
was done for Tropical Cyclone Gita in February, 1999.)
Tropical cyclone warning responsibility for South Indian waters west
of 90E are shared by several TCWCs. The Regional Specialty
Meteorological Centre (RSMC) for the region is the office of Meteo
France on the island of La Reunion. However, following a long-standing
practice, the Sub-regional Tropical Cyclone Advisory Centres at Mauritius
and Madagascar share the responsibility for actually naming tropical
storms with Mauritius naming systems east of 55E and Madagascar covering
the area west of 55E. RSMC La Reunion issues warnings for the basin
independently of Mauritius and Madagascar, but only advises regarding
when or when not to assign a name to a developing cyclone.
Names for the 2007-2008 season (** indicates name has already been
assigned):
Southwest Indian South Pacific
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ariel ** Nungu Daman ** Nisha
Bongwe ** Ofelia Elisa Oli
Celina Pulane Funa Pat
Dama Qoli Gene Rene
Elnus Rossana Hettie Sarah
Fame Sama Innis Tomas
Gula Tuma Joni Vania
Hondo Uzale Ken Wilma
Ivan Vongai Lin Yasi
Jokwe Warona Mick Zaka
Kamba Xina
Lola Yamba
Marabe Zefa
***********************************************************************
ACTIVITY BY BASINS
ATLANTIC (ATL) - North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico
Activity for September: 1 tropical depression
4 tropical storms
3 hurricanes **
1 intense hurricane
** - one of these was treated operationally as a strong tropical storm
but was upgraded to hurricane status during post-storm analysis
NOTE!!! The Atlantic basin was covered in the first installment of the
September summary.
*************************************************************************
NORTHEAST PACIFIC (NEP) - North Pacific Ocean East of Longitude 180
Activity for September: 1 tropical depression
1 tropical storm
2 hurricanes **
** - one of these formed in August and was covered in the August summary
Sources of Information
----------------------
Most of the information presented below was obtained from the
various tropical cyclone products issued by the Tropical Prediction
Center/National Hurricane Center (TPC/NHC) in Miami, Florida (or the
Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) in Honolulu, Hawaii, for
locations west of longitude 140W): discussions, public advisories,
forecast/advisories, tropical weather outlooks, special tropical
disturbance statements, etc. Some additional information may have
been gleaned from the monthly summaries prepared by the hurricane
specialists and available on TPC/NHC's website. All references to
sustained winds imply a 1-minute averaging period unless otherwise
noted.
Northeast Pacific Tropical Activity for September
-------------------------------------------------
As the month of September began, Tropical Depression Gil was weakening
well to the southwest of Baja California, while Tropical Storm Henriette,
later to become a hurricane, was gathering strength just off the Mexican
coast. Henriette later struck the southern Baja Peninsula and mainland
Mexico as a Category 1 hurricane. The reports on Gil and Henriette can
be found in the August summary.
As was the case with most months during the 2007 season, tropical
cyclone activity in the Northeast Pacific basin was below normal. The
September averages for the period 1971-2006 are 3.5 NS, 2.2 H, and
1.1 IH. September of 2007 produced two named storms with one of these
becoming a Category 1 hurricane. Both Hurricane Ivo and Tropical Storm
Juliette formed far to the south of the southern tip of Baja California
and moved northwestward. Ivo began the process of recurvature and at
one point was considered a potential threat to the Peninsula, but it
began to weaken and dissipated just west of Cabo San Lucas. Tropical
Storm Juliette moved north-northwestward to a position west of the
southern Baja Peninsula, but stalled and weakened with the remnant LOW
drifting southeastward.
One other tropical cyclone formed during the month, Tropical
Depression 13E. This depression originated from a tropical wave which
left the western coast of Africa on 27 August and reached the Eastern
North Pacific on 7 September. It continued to move westward with little
development until 18 September, when the associated thunderstorm activity
became better organized. A tropical depression formed on the 19th about
1040 nm west-southwest of Cabo San Lucas. The cyclone moved slowly
westward and weakened to a remnant LOW the next day about 1185 nm west-
southwest of Cabo San Lucas. The remnant LOW meandered around for
several days with occasional flare-ups of convection, but never became
re-organized enough to warrant the resumption of advisories. By early
on 25 September the remnant LOW had opened up into a trough from 14N to
21N along 130W.
The official TPC/NHC reports for all 2007 Northeast Pacific basin
tropical cyclones except for Hurricane Flossie are now available on
NHC's website at the following URL:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/2007epac.shtml
HURRICANE IVO
(TC-12E)
18 - 24 September
-------------------------------------
Hurricane Ivo formed from disturbed weather associated with a tropical
wave which had left the coast of Africa on 1 September and eventually
moved into the Eastern North Pacific on the 15th. The system had
acquired sufficient convective organization that advisories were
initiated on Tropical Depression 12E at 1500 UTC on 18 September,
locating the center approximately 390 nm south-southwest of Manzanillo,
Mexico. The depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Ivo on the
afternoon of 18 September as it moved west-northwestward. Ivo reached
hurricane intensity during the afternoon of 20 September while centered
approximately 450 nm south-southwest of Cabo San Lucas on the southern
tip of the Baja California Peninsula. Rounding the periphery of a mid-
level high pressure ridge, Ivo turned northwestward and then northward,
reaching its peak intensity of 70 kts around midday on the 20th while
located about 370 nm southwest of Cabo San Lucas.
Ivo subsequently turned north-northeastward on 21 September and began
to weaken under the influence of westerly shear. Ivo had weakened to a
tropical storm by 22/0000 UTC and continued moving slowly toward the
north-northeast for the next couple of days. The cyclone weakened into
a tropical depression early on the 23rd about 130 nm west-southwest of
Cabo San Lucas. Turning eastward Ivo continued to weaken and degenerated
into a remnant LOW later that day about 80 nm southwest of the southern
tip of Baja California. The remnant LOW continued to linger in the same
area for another day or so as it continued to weaken.
No damage or casualties are known to have resulted from Hurricane Ivo.
The official TPC/NHC report on Hurricane Ivo, authored by James
Franklin, is now available on NHC's website.
(Report written by Gary Padgett)
TROPICAL STORM JULIETTE
(TC-14E)
29 September - 2 October
--------------------------------------------
A tropical wave departed the west coast of Africa on 12 September,
trekked westward across the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean Sea, and
eventually entered the Eastern North Pacific on 23 September. Convective
organization gradually improved and an area of low pressure formed on
27 September approximately 300 nm southwest of Acapulco, Mexico. The
convection continued to become better organized and a depression is
estimated to have formed at 0000 UTC 29 September about 365 nm south-
west of Manzanillo, Mexico. (The first advisory on TD-14E was issued
at 0900 UTC on the 29th.) The depression intensified to a tropical
storm later that day and reached its peak intensity of 50 kts at
1200 UTC on 30 September. Operationally, the MSW at 30/1200 UTC was
estimated at 40 kts, and the peak operational MSW of 45 kts was reached
at 30/1800 UTC when Juliette was centered about 300 nm southwest of
Cabo San Lucas.
After reaching its peak, Tropical Storm Juliette turned more to the
north-northwest as strong vertical shear, cooler SSTs, and a more
stable air mass resulted in weakening. The final advisory on Juliette
was issued at 0300 UTC on 2 October with the center located about 330 nm
west of Cabo San Lucas. The remnant LOW remained quasi-stationary for
a day or so following issuance of the last advisory, then began drifting
toward the south or southeast. By the morning of 4 October it had become
quite weak and diffuse.
The official TPC/NHC report on Tropical Storm Juliette, authored by
Robert Berg and Jamie Rhome, is now available on NHC's website.
(Report written by Gary Padgett)
*************************************************************************
NORTHWEST PACIFIC (NWP) - North Pacific Ocean West of Longitude 180
Activity for September: 3 tropical depressions **
3 tropical storms
2 typhoons ++
1 super typhoon
** - two of these classified as tropical depressions by JMA only
++ - one of these formed in August and was covered in the August summary
NOTE!!! The Northwest Pacific basin will be covered in the third
installment of the September summary.
*************************************************************************
NORTH INDIAN OCEAN (NIO) - Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea
Activity for September: 1 depression **
** - no warnings issued on this system by JTWC
Sources of Information
----------------------
Most of the information presented below is based upon tropical
cyclone warnings and significant tropical weather outlooks issued
by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center of the U. S. Air Force and
Navy (JTWC), located at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Occasionally some
information may be gleaned from the daily tropical weather outlooks
and other bulletins issued by the Indian Meteorological Department
(IMD), which is the World Meteorological Organization's Regional
Specialised Meteorological Centre (RSMC) for the basin.
The reported maximum sustained winds (MSW) are based on a 1-minute
averaging period, which is used by all U. S. civilian and military
weather services for tropical cyclone warnings. For synoptic
observations in the North Indian Ocean region, both 10-minute and
3-minute average winds are employed, but IMD makes no attempt to
modify the Dvorak scale for estimating tropical cyclone intensity;
hence, a 1-minute average MSW is implied. In the North Indian Ocean
basin JTWC usually does not initiate warnings until a system has
become well-organized and likely to attain tropical storm status
within 48 hours.
North Indian Ocean Tropical Activity for September
--------------------------------------------------
A disturbance in the Bay of Bengal in late September was designated
a depression by the IMD, but no warnings were issued on the system by
JTWC. An area of convection persisted on 21 September approximately
180 nm east of Visakhapatnam, India. Multi-spectral satellite imagery
revealed a broad area of turning with monsoon depression characteristics.
A 21/1512 UTC AMSU pass showed a developing LLCC in the western portion
of the larger area. Convective banding was wrapping into the center
from the northern and western quadrants. An upper-level anticyclone
was near the developing disturbance, and with low to moderate vertical
shear and good diffluence aloft, JTWC assessed the development potential
as 'fair'. The IMD classified the system as a depression (implying winds
around 25 kts), and by the morning of the 22nd it lay centered about
25 nm southeast of Puri at 0600 UTC. By 0900 UTC the depression was
crossing the coastline near Puri with the potential for heavy rainfalls
of up to 250 mm forecast for some locations. Early on the 23rd the
system was located over interior Orissa near Angul and gradually
weakening. Twenty-four hours later the system was still moving
northwestward and farther inland over north Chhattisgarh near Ambikapur.
Some notable 24-hour rainfall amounts are as follows:
(1) 24 hours ending at 23/0300 UTC:
-----------------------------------
Canning 160 mm
Balasore 140 mm
Kolkata 130 mm
Cuttack 100 mm
(2) 24 hours ending at 24/0300 UTC:
-----------------------------------
Canning 190 mm
Sambalpur 180 mm
Kolkata 160 mm
Hirakud 150 mm
Ranch 100 mm
During the final days of September another tropical disturbance formed
in the eastern Arabian Sea off the west coast of India. This system was
not classified as a depression by IMD, but based on SAB satellite fix
bulletins, could have possibly been a weak depression. The system formed
just off the northwest coastline of India and eventually moved northward
over the Kathiawar Peninsula. On 23 and 24 September, SAB's Dvorak
ratings reached T2.0/2.0 for the system, which was identified on NRL's
website as Invest 94A.
*************************************************************************
SOUTHWEST INDIAN OCEAN (SWI) - South Indian Ocean West of Longitude 90E
Activity for September: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
NORTHWEST AUSTRALIA/SOUTHEAST INDIAN OCEAN (AUW) - From 90E to 135E
Activity for September: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
NORTHEAST AUSTRALIA/CORAL SEA (AUE) - From 135E to 160E
Activity for September: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
SOUTH PACIFIC (SPA) - South Pacific Ocean East of Longitude 160E
Activity for September: No tropical cyclones
*************************************************************************
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 Monterrey 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
(4) Cyclone Tracking Information
--------------------------------
There is a U. S. Navy site that tracks tropical cyclones at 6-hourly
intervals which often includes pre and post-advisory positions. The
link to the site is:
http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/atcf_web/doc_archives/
Steve Young has compiled many of these tracks onto a single webpage
which is very user-friendly:
http://home.earthlink.net/~shy9/tc1.htm
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://www.typhoon2000.ph/>
http://mpittweather.com <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 2005 (2004-2005 season for the Southern Hemisphere).
ATCRs for earlier years are available also.
The URL is: http://metocph.nmci.navy.mil/jtwc.php
Also, TPC/NHC has available on its webpage nice "technicolor"
tracking charts for the 2006 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific
tropical cyclones; also, storm reports for all the 2006 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 <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 (Northwest Pacific)
E-mail: newchapelobservatory@btinternet.com
Simon Clarke (Northeast Australia/Coral Sea, South Pacific)
E-mail: scla4255@bigpond.net.au
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
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