Portal:Tropical cyclones

The Tropical Cyclones Portal

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A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center, a closed low-level circulation and a spiral arrangement of numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rainfall. Tropical cyclones feed on the heat released when moist air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor contained in the moist air. They are fueled by a different heat mechanism than other cyclonic windstorms such as Nor'easters, European windstorms and polar lows, leading to their classification as "warm core" storm systems. Most tropical cyclones originate in the doldrums, approximately ten degrees from the Equator.

The term "tropical" refers to both the geographic origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively in tropical regions of the globe, as well as to their formation in maritime tropical air masses. The term "cyclone" refers to such storms' cyclonic nature, with anticlockwise rotation in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise rotation in the Southern Hemisphere. Depending on its location and intensity, a tropical cyclone may be referred to by names such as "hurricane", "typhoon", "tropical storm", "cyclonic storm", "tropical depression" or simply "cyclone".

Types of cyclone: 1. A "Typhoon" is a tropical cyclone located in the North-west Pacific Ocean which has the most cyclonic activity and storms occur year-round. 2. A "Hurricane" is also a tropical cyclone located at the North Atlantic Ocean or North-east Pacific Ocean which have an average storm activity and storms typically form between May 15 and November 30. 3. A "Cyclone" is a tropical cyclone that occurs in the South Pacific and Indian Oceans.

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Typhoon Pongsona near peak intensity on December 8

Typhoon Pongsona was the last typhoon of the 2002 Pacific typhoon season, and was the second costliest United States disaster in 2002, only behind Hurricane Lili. The name "Pongsona" was contributed by North Korea for the Pacific tropical cyclone list and is the Korean name for the garden balsam. Pongsona developed out of an area of disturbed weather on December 2, and steadily intensified to reach typhoon status on December 5. On December 8 it passed through Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands while at peak intensity, with 10-minute sustained winds of 175 km/h (110 mph). It ultimately turned to the northeast, weakened, and became extratropical on December 11.

Typhoon Pongsona produced strong wind gusts peaking at 285 km/h (175 mph), which left the entire island of Guam without power and destroyed about 1,300 houses. With strong building standards and experience from repeated typhoon strikes, there were no fatalities directly related to Pongsona, although there was one indirect death from flying glass. Damage on the island totaled over $730 million (2002 USD, $1.28 billion 2025 USD), making Pongsona among the five costliest typhoons on the island. The typhoon also caused extreme damage on Rota and elsewhere in the Northern Mariana Islands, and as a result of its impact the name was retired. (Full article...)

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Tropical cyclones are ranked on one of five tropical cyclone intensity scales, according to their maximum sustained winds and which tropical cyclone basins they are located in. Only a few classifications are used officially by the meteorological agencies monitoring the tropical cyclones, but other scales also exist, such as accumulated cyclone energy, the Power Dissipation Index, the Integrated Kinetic Energy Index, and the Hurricane Severity Index.

Tropical cyclones that develop in the Northern Hemisphere are classified by the warning centres on one of three intensity scales. Tropical cyclones or subtropical cyclones that exist within the North Atlantic Ocean or the North-eastern Pacific Ocean are classified as either tropical depressions or tropical storms. Should a system intensify further and become a hurricane, then it will be classified on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, and is based on the estimated maximum sustained winds over a 1-minute period. In the Western Pacific, the ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee uses four separate classifications for tropical cyclones that exist within the basin, which are based on the estimated maximum sustained winds over a 10-minute period. (Full article...)

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Cyclone Inigo near peak intensity, as a Category 5 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian region scale, with 10-minute sustained winds of 150 miles per hour (240 km/h) and 1-minute sustained winds of 160 miles per hour (260 km/h). This image was taken from by one of NASA's EOSDIS satellites on April 4, 2003, while the cyclone was to the south of Indonesia.

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The 2003 Pacific hurricane season was the first season to feature no major hurricanes (storms of Category 3 intensity or higher on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale) since 1977. The season officially began on May 15, 2003 in the Eastern North Pacific (east of 140°W), and on June 1 in the Central (between 140°W and the International Date Line); both ended on November 30. These dates, adopted by convention, historically describe the period in each year when most tropical cyclogenesis occurs in these regions of the Pacific. The season featured 16 tropical storms, 7 of which intensified into hurricanes, which was then considered an average season. Damage across the basin reached US$129 million, and 23 people were killed by the storms.

Despite the overall lack of activity, the season produced an unusually large number of tropical cyclones that affected Mexico, with eight tropical cyclones making landfall on either side of Mexico, which was the second highest on record. Tropical Storm Carlos struck Oaxaca in late June, resulting in nine fatalities. In late August, Hurricane Ignacio struck the Baja California Peninsula, killing four people and inflicting US$21 million in damage. In September, Hurricane Marty affected the same areas as Ignacio, and was responsible for 12 casualties and US$100 million in damage, making Marty the costliest and deadliest storm of the season. In October, Hurricanes Olaf and Nora struck western Mexico as tropical depressions, causing slight damage and one casualty. (Full article...)

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Currently active tropical cyclones

Italicized basins are unofficial.

North Atlantic (2025): No active systems

East and Central Pacific (2025): No active systems

West Pacific (2025): No active systems

North Indian Ocean (2025): No active systems

Mediterranean (2024–25): No active systems

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

Australian region (2024–25): No active systems

South Pacific (2024–25): No active systems

South Atlantic (2024–25): No active systems

Last updated: 11:23, 23 April 2025 (UTC)

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Tropical cyclone anniversaries

April 27

1974 - Tropical Storm Babe passed just to the east of Guam before hitting Saipan as a developing system.
1995 - As a tropical depression, Tropical Storm Chuck (pictured) develops out over in the Marshall Islands causing only minor damage.

April 28

1973 - An unnamed cyclone, sometimes called Cyclone Flores, rapidly strengthened into a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone in the Banda Sea of Indonesia. The storm killed 1,653 people, becoming the deadliest tropical cyclone recorded in the Southern Hemisphere.
2006 - Cyclone Mala (pictured) reached its peak intensity, with a minimum central pressure of 954 hPa (mbar) in the Bay of Bengal. Mala struck Burma soon after, killing 22 people.

April 29

1892 - A cyclone struck Mauritius with gusts to 216 km/h (134 mph); much of the island was destroyed, with 1,200 fatalities and 50,000 people left homeless.
1991 - A powerful cyclone (pictured) made landfall near Chittagong, Bangladesh killing 138,866 people and causing $1.5 billion worth of damage.
2014 - Typhoon Tapah reached peak intensity with 1-minute sustained winds of 130 km/h (80 mph) while affecting the Mariana Islands.

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Did you know…

…that the Joint Typhoon Warning Center considers that Typhoon Vera (pictured) of 1986 is actually two distinct systems, formed from two separated low-level circulations?
…that Cyclone Freddy (track pictured) in 2023 was the longest-lasting tropical cyclone recorded?
…that the typhoons of 2024—Yinxing, Toraji, Usagi, and Man-yi (pictured)—made history as the first recorded instance since 1951 of four tropical cyclones coexisting in November?
…that Hurricane Otis (pictured) in 2023 was the first Pacific hurricane to make landfall at Category 5 intensity and surpassed Hurricane Patricia as the strongest landfalling Pacific hurricane on record?

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

Image 1The dangerous semicircle is the upper-right corner, with the arrow marking the direction of motion of a Northern Hemisphere storm. Note that typhoons, etc. are asymmetrical, and semicircle is a convenient misnomer. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 2The number of $1 billion Atlantic hurricanes almost doubled from the 1980s to the 2010s, and inflation-adjusted costs have increased more than elevenfold. The increases have been attributed to climate change and to greater numbers of people moving to coastal areas. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 3Broken concrete utility pole in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017, which ranks fourth in costliest US tropical cyclones. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 4
South Pacific cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 5An example of a chart for Matthew showing its five-day forecast track (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 6Several cyclones on the dynamic north pole of Jupiter, imaged by Juno (from Cyclone)
Image 7An extratropical cyclone near Iceland (from Cyclone)
Image 8Radar image of Hurricane Erika making landfall over Northeastern Mexico (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 9
South-West Indian Ocean cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 10
Pacific hurricane
(from Cyclone)
Image 11Personnel and equipment from the National Guard of the United States en route to Hurricane Florence response efforts in 2018
Image 12Percentages of hurricane deaths in the United States from 1970 to 1999. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 13Hurricane Isabel (2003)'s effect on the North Carolina Outer Banks (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 14Aerial image of destroyed houses in Tacloban, following Typhoon Haiyan (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 15Flooding in Port Arthur, Texas caused by Hurricane Harvey. Harvey was the wettest and second-costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 16Tropical cyclones form when the energy released by the condensation of moisture in rising air causes a positive feedback loop over warm ocean waters. (from Cyclone)
Image 17The initial extratropical low-pressure area forms at the location of the red dot on the image. It is usually perpendicular (at a right angle to) the leaf-like cloud formation seen on satellite during the early stage of cyclogenesis. The location of the axis of the upper level jet stream is in light blue. (from Cyclone)
Image 18Hurricane response involves working in hazardous conditions, including contamination and electrocution hazards from floodwater.
Image 192017 Atlantic hurricane season summary map (from Cyclone)
Image 20The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. Katrina was the costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 21The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 22
Atlantic hurricane
(from Cyclone)
Image 23
Australian region cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 24Subtropical Storm Alex in the north Atlantic Ocean in January 2016 (from Cyclone)
Image 25All but the most expensive bottles of water were sold out at this Publix supermarket before Hurricane Irma; in the week preceding the storm, water sold out soon after shipments arrived (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 26Chart with concurrent information for Hurricane Arlene and Tropical Storm Bret logged and plotted (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 27
North Indian Ocean cyclone
(from Cyclone)
Image 28
Pacific typhoon
(from Cyclone)
Image 29Cyclone on Mars, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (from Cyclone)
Image 30Hurricane Catarina, a rare South Atlantic tropical cyclone viewed from the International Space Station on March 26, 2004 (from Cyclone)
Image 31Comparison between extratropical and tropical cyclones on surface analysis (from Cyclone)
Image 32Surface weather map of the 1935 Labor Day hurricane moving up the west coast of Florida (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 33A fictitious synoptic chart of an extratropical cyclone affecting the UK and Ireland. The blue arrows between isobars indicate the direction of the wind, while the "L" symbol denotes the centre of the "low". Note the occluded, cold and warm frontal boundaries. (from Cyclone)
Image 34A polar low over the Sea of Japan in December 2009 (from Cyclone)

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

The 2018 Pacific hurricane season was an event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation, in which tropical cyclones form in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The season officially started on May 15 in the eastern Pacific—east of 140°W—and began on June 1 in the central Pacific—the region between the International Date Line and 140°W, and ended on November 30. These dates typically cover the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the eastern Pacific basin. The season began with the formation of Tropical Depression One-E, which developed on May 10, and ended with the dissipation of the season's final storm, Tropical Storm Xavier, which dissipated as a tropical cyclone on November 5.

The 2018 hurricane season was exceptionally active and featured the highest Accumulated Cyclone Energy since reliable records began in 1971. Throughout the season, 26 tropical depressions developed, 23 of which became tropical storms. A total of 13 tropical storms reached hurricane strength, and 10 hurricanes achieved major hurricane intensity.^[1] The basin saw above-average activity across all regions from the International Date Line to the west coast of Mexico and Central America. Activity peaked from early August to early October, with several long-lived and powerful hurricanes developing in that time period. Several storms severely affected land, such as Hurricane Lane in Hawaii and Hurricane Willa in Mexico. In contrast to the similarly active 2015 Pacific hurricane season, 2018 was not significantly influenced by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation. Instead, low pressures and increased sea surface temperatures associated with the Pacific Meridional Mode supported the development of these intense and long-lived storms. (Full article...)

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Related WikiProjects

WikiProject Tropical cyclones is the central point of coordination for Wikipedia's coverage of tropical cyclones. Feel free to help!

WikiProject Weather is the main center point of coordination for Wikipedia's coverage of meteorology in general, and the parent project of WikiProject Tropical cyclones. Three other branches of WikiProject Weather in particular share significant overlaps with WikiProject Tropical cyclones:

The Non-tropical storms task force coordinates most of Wikipedia's coverage on extratropical cyclones, which tropical cyclones often transition into near the end of their lifespan.
The Floods task force takes on the scope of flooding events all over the world, with rainfall from tropical cyclones a significant factor in many of them.
WikiProject Severe weather documents the effects of extreme weather such as tornadoes, which landfalling tropical cyclones can produce.

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