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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Tropical Storm Vera on September 13, 1989 with winds of 60 mph and a pressure of 985 mbar

Tropical Storm Vera, known in the Philippines as Severe Tropical Storm Pining, originated from a system that began to develop within a monsoon trough several hundred kilometers north of Guam on September 10. The JTWC issued a TCFA early on September 11, and the system was classified as a tropical depression later that day. The depression moved slowly and erratically at first, but then it was steered west-northwest by a subtropical ridge. It strengthened into a tropical storm, being named Vera, and reached its peak intensity with winds of 95 km/h (60 mph). The storm then weakened due to increasing wind shear and made landfall in China. It weakened further and became an extratropical cyclone on September 16. The remnants of the storm moved east-northeast over South Korea and Japan before dissipating on September 19.

Vera caused widespread flooding throughout Eastern China, with the worst damage occurring in Zhejiang Province, which reached $351 million (1989 USD), and at least 162 people were killed in and 354 were missing. 882 people were injured, and 3.1 million homes were damaged or destroyed. Additionally, significant losses also occurred in nearby Jiangsu Province, where 34 people were killed and an estimated 2,000 more were injured. Throughout eastern China, approximately 5.86 million households (23 million people) were affected by flooding triggered by the storm. According to news estimates, a total of 500–700 people died as a result of Vera. (Full article...)

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The ITOS 1 weather satellite image of the cyclone making landfall in East Pakistan on 12 November

The 1970 Bhola cyclone (also known as the Great Cyclone of 1970) was a catastrophic and extremely deadly tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) and India's West Bengal on 12 November 1970. It remains the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded and one of the world's deadliest humanitarian disasters. At least 300,000 people died in the storm, possibly as many as 450,000, primarily as a result of the storm surge that flooded much of the low-lying islands of the Ganges Delta. Bhola was the sixth and strongest cyclonic storm of the 1970 North Indian Ocean cyclone season.

The cyclone formed over the central Bay of Bengal on 8 November and traveled northward, intensifying as it did so. It reached its peak with winds of 185 km/h (115 mph) on 10 November, and made landfall on the coast of East Pakistan on the following afternoon. The storm surge devastated many of the offshore islands, wiping out villages and destroying crops throughout the region. In the most severely affected upazila Tazumuddin, over 45% of the population of 167,000 were killed by the storm. (Full article...)

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Hurricane Elida as a Category 5 hurricane on July 25, 2002. The hurricane is located in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico.

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The 1988 Atlantic hurricane season was a near average season that proved costly and deadly, with 15 tropical cyclones directly affecting land. The season officially began on June 1, 1988, and lasted until November 30, 1988, although activity began on May 30 when a tropical depression developed in the Caribbean. The June through November dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. The first cyclone to attain tropical storm status was Alberto on August 8, nearly a month later than usual. The final storm of the year, Tropical Storm Keith, became extratropical on November 24. The season produced 19 tropical depressions of which 12 attained tropical storm status. One tropical storm was operationally classified as a tropical depression but was reclassified in post-analysis. Five tropical cyclones reached hurricane status of which three became major hurricanes reaching Category 3 on the Saffir–Simpson scale. It was later surpassed 34 years later until the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season, to have Atlantic-Pacific crossover.

There were two notable cyclones of the season, the first one being Hurricane Gilbert, which at the time was the strongest Atlantic hurricane on record. The hurricane tracked through the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and caused devastation in Mexico and many island nations, particularly Jamaica. Its passage caused $2.98 billion in damage (1988 USD) and more than 300 deaths, mostly in Mexico. The second one was Hurricane Joan, which struck Nicaragua as a Category 4 hurricane and caused about US$1.87 billion in damage and more than 200 deaths. The hurricane crossed into the eastern Pacific Ocean and was reclassified as Tropical Storm Miriam. Hurricane Debby also successfully crossed over, becoming Tropical Depression Seventeen-E, making the 1988 season the first on record in which more than one tropical cyclone has crossed between the Atlantic and Pacific basins intact. (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: 21:58, 25 May 2025 (UTC)

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Tropical cyclone anniversaries

May 26

1953 - Tropical Storm Alice made landfall in Nicaragua as a minimal tropical storm.
2011 - Typhoon Songda (pictured) reaches peak intensity as a Category 5 super typhoon to the northeast of the Philippines. Songda mainly affected Japan, killing 17 people with damages of about ¥23.2 billion (US$287 million).

May 27

2003 - Tropical Storm Linfa (pictured) made landfall on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Linfa killed 41 people in total.
2020 - Tropical Storm Bertha rapidly forms and makes landfall in South Carolina. Only one person died form the storm and damages were only estimated at around US$130,000.

May 28

1960 - Tropical Storm Lucille and a non-tropical low merged just off Luzon in the Philippines. The non-tropical disturbance killed nearly 300 people in the Manila area.
2018 - Tropical Storm Alberto (pictured) makes landfall over Laguna Beach, Florida. Alberto becomes the most damaging pre-season Atlantic tropical cyclone, with estimated damages of US$125 million.

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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?

Did you know archive

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

Image 1A 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 2Aerial image of destroyed houses in Tacloban, following Typhoon Haiyan (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 3An example of a chart for Matthew showing its five-day forecast track (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 4Comparison between extratropical and tropical cyclones on surface analysis (from Cyclone)
Image 5All 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 6Percentages of hurricane deaths in the United States from 1970 to 1999. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 7The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 8Hurricane Isabel (2003)'s effect on the North Carolina Outer Banks (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 9Broken concrete utility pole in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017, which ranks fourth in costliest US tropical cyclones. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 10Chart with concurrent information for Hurricane Arlene and Tropical Storm Bret logged and plotted (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 11Cyclone on Mars, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (from Cyclone)
Image 12Several cyclones on the dynamic north pole of Jupiter, imaged by Juno (from Cyclone)
Image 13Hurricane Florence viewed from the International Space Station (from Cyclone)
Image 14An extratropical cyclone near Iceland (from Cyclone)
Image 15Personnel and equipment from the National Guard of the United States en route to Hurricane Florence response efforts in 2018
Image 16The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. Katrina was the costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 17Flooding 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 18Subtropical Storm Alex in the north Atlantic Ocean in January 2016 (from Cyclone)
Image 19A polar low over the Sea of Japan in December 2009 (from Cyclone)
Image 20Radar image of Hurricane Erika making landfall over Northeastern Mexico (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 21The 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 22Hurricane response involves working in hazardous conditions, including contamination and electrocution hazards from floodwater.
Image 23Tropical 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 24Surface weather map of the 1935 Labor Day hurricane moving up the west coast of Florida (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 25The 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 26The 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)

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

Approximately 500 tropical and subtropical cyclones have affected the state of Florida. More storms hit Florida than any other U.S. state, and since 1851 only eighteen hurricane seasons passed without a known storm impacting the state. Collectively, cyclones that hit the region have resulted in over 10,000 deaths, most of which occurred prior to the start of hurricane hunter flights in 1943. Additionally, the cumulative impact from the storms has totaled over US$300 billion in damage (2018 dollars), primarily from Hurricane Andrew, Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Ian in the 1992, 2017, and 2022 seasons respectively. The most recent hurricane to make landfall in Florida was Hurricane Milton in 2024. (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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