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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Komen approaching the Bangladesh coast on July 30

Cyclonic Storm Komen was an unusual tropical cyclone that originated near the southern coast of Bangladesh and later struck the same country while drifting over the northern Bay of Bengal. The second named storm of the 2015 season, Komen brought several days of heavy rainfall to Myanmar, Bangladesh, and India. It formed as a depression on July 26 over the Ganges delta and moved in a circular motion around the northern Bay of Bengal. Komen intensified into a 75 km/h (45 mph) cyclonic storm and moved ashore southeastern Bangladesh on July 30. The system turned westward over land and was last noted over eastern India on August 2.

Across its path, Komen dropped torrential rainfall, primarily in northwestern Myanmar where the precipitation totaled at 840 mm (33 in) in Paletwa. The rains compounded ongoing flooding and contributed to the worst flooding in the country in a century. About 1.7 million people were forced to evacuate as flood waters inundated houses to their rooftops. About 510,000 houses in the country were damaged or destroyed, and many residents lost their source of income as 667,221 acres (270,015 hectares) of crop fields were damaged. The floods killed 132 people, with at least 39 fatalities directly related to Komen. The government requested assistance from the international community to cope with the disaster, considered the worst in the country since Cyclone Nargis in 2008. Elsewhere, the storm's flooding damaged 88,900 houses in Bangladesh and covered crop fields for a week; Komen killed 45 people in the country, some of them due to illnesses spread following the storm. Later, floodwaters affected southeastern India, killing 103 people and damaging or destroying 476,046 houses. (Full article...)

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Hurricane Dorian between the islands of St. Croix and St. Thomas on August 28

Hurricane Dorian caused relatively minor damage across the eastern Caribbean in late August 2019. Originating from a westward moving tropical wave, Dorian organized into a tropical cyclone on August 24 and reached the Lesser Antilles on August 26 as a tropical storm. Turning northwest, the system unexpectedly intensified to a hurricane as it struck the Virgin Islands on August 27. Antecedent to the storm's arrival, local governments across the archipelago issued tropical cyclone warnings and watches, readied public shelters, closed airports, and placed emergency crews on standby. Many of the threatened islands were still reeling from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria in September 2017 and fears arose over embattled power grids. In the areas first affected, impacts were limited to gusty winds and modest rainfall. Effects were greater in the Virgin Islands where wind gusts reached 111 mph (179 km/h); however, damage was light. Multiple landslides occurred across the islands and Puerto Rico with only a handful of structures suffering damage. One person died in Puerto Rico while preparing for the storm. (Full article...)

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A boarded up flooded out home in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, 2005

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The 2020 Pacific hurricane season was a near average Pacific hurricane season in terms of named storms, featuring 17 (including one unnamed tropical storm which was operationally classified as a tropical depression), but well below average season for hurricanes and major hurricanes, with only 4 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes forming. Additionally, no tropical cyclones formed in the Central Pacific basin for the first time since 2017. The season officially began on May 15 in the East Pacific Ocean (east of 140°W), and on June 1 in the Central Pacific (from 140°W to the International Date Line, north of the equator; they both ended on November 30. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the respective regions. However, the formation of tropical cyclones is possible at any time of the year, as illustrated in 2020 by the formation of the season's first system, Tropical Depression One-E, on April 25. This was the earliest formation of a tropical cyclone on record in the eastern Pacific basin proper. The final system of the season was Tropical Storm Polo, which dissipated on November 19.

The most significant storms of the season were Tropical Storm Amanda and Hurricane Genevieve. Amanda developed near Central America in late May and struck Guatemala, causing widespread damage in neighboring El Salvador and killing 40 people amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the latter country. Genevieve passed closely to the tip of the Baja California Peninsula in August, bringing hurricane-force winds and heavy rainfall, killing six and causing an estimated $50 million in damage. Otherwise, impact from other storms was minimal. In late July, Hurricane Douglas made an extremely close pass to Hawaii, with its weak southern eyewall crossing Oahu, causing minor effects. The remnant moisture of Tropical Storm Fausto contributed to the thunderstorms that brought about the August 2020 California lightning wildfires, and the remnants of Genevieve dropped heavy rainfall in Arizona and Southern California. Tropical Storm Hernan moved very near the coast of southwestern Mexico, causing an additional fatality and several millions of dollars' worth of damage. Collectively, the tropical cyclones of this season caused about US$301.4 million in damage and 47 deaths.

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Currently active tropical cyclones

Italicized basins are unofficial.

North Atlantic (2026): No active systems

East and Central Pacific (2026): No active systems

West Pacific (2026): Typhoon Dolphin; Tropical Storm Kujira (Luis–Maymay); Tropical Storm Chan-hom

North Indian Ocean (2026): No active systems

Mediterranean (2026–27): No active systems

South-West Indian Ocean (2026–27): No active systems

Australian region (2026–27): No active systems

South Pacific (2026–27): No active systems

South Atlantic (2026–27): No active systems

Last updated: 07:36, 5 August 2026 (UTC)

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Tropical cyclone anniversaries

August 4,

2002 - Tropical Storm Kammuri made landfall to the east of Shanwei, China killing over 100 people.
2015 - Typhoon Soudelor (pictured) reaches peak intensity with 10-minute sustained winds of 215 km/h (130 mph) and a pressure of 900 hPa. Soudelor impacted China and caused $3.72 billion in damages and killed 40 people.

August 5,

1982 - Hurricane John (pictured) reaches Category 3 major hurricane intensity with winds of 185 km/h (115 mph) while entering the Central Pacific basin.
1990 - Hurricane Diana made its first landfall on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula as a tropical storm. Diana killed 139 people and caused about $90 million of damage in Mexico.

August 6,

1959 - Hurricane Dot made landfall on the island of Kauai, Hawaii as a Category 1 hurricane, causing about $6 million of damage throughout the state.
2009 - Hurricane Felicia (track pictured) reaches peak intensity with winds of 230 km/h (145 mph) and a minimum pressure of 935 hPa. Felicia affected Hawaii after a few days causing minor damages.

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Did you know…

…that the first recorded instance of two tropical cyclones holding category 5 status, on the Saffir–Simpson scale, simultaneously was on September 11th of the 1961 Pacific typhoon season, with typhoons Pamela and Nancy (pictured)?
…that the Australian region have three distinct lists of names for tropical storms, each one of them being administered by agencies in Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, respectively?
…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?

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

Image 1Subtropical Storm Alex in the north Atlantic Ocean in January 2016 (from Cyclone)
Image 2The 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 3Cyclone on Mars, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope (from Cyclone)
Image 4Hurricane Florence viewed from the International Space Station (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 6Radar image of Hurricane Erika making landfall over Northeastern Mexico (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 7Surface weather map of the 1935 Labor Day hurricane moving up the west coast of Florida (from Tropical cyclone observation)
Image 8The 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 9Effects in Buncombe County, North Carolina after Hurricane Helene passed through the area in September 2024. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 10A polar low over the Sea of Japan in December 2009 (from Cyclone)
Image 11Hurricane Isabel (2003)'s effect on the North Carolina Outer Banks (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 12Percentages of hurricane deaths in the United States from 1970 to 1999. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 13Broken 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 14The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. Katrina was the costliest tropical cyclone in United States history. (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 15A 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 16Personnel and equipment from the National Guard of the United States en route to Hurricane Florence response efforts in 2018
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 18An example of a chart for Matthew showing its five-day forecast track (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 19Comparison between extratropical and tropical cyclones on surface analysis (from Cyclone)
Image 20Hurricane response involves working in hazardous conditions, including contamination and electrocution hazards from floodwater.
Image 21Wind damage varies exponentially with wind speed, so that small increases in wind strength can dramatically increase damage. Damages rise by about a factor of four for every category increase in the Saffir–Simpson scale. (from Cyclone)
Image 22Aerial image of destroyed houses in Tacloban, following Typhoon Haiyan (from Effects of tropical cyclones)
Image 23The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Gulfport, Mississippi. (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)
Image 24An extratropical cyclone near Iceland (from Cyclone)
Image 25Tropical 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 26Chart with concurrent information for Hurricane Arlene and Tropical Storm Bret logged and plotted (from Tropical cyclone preparedness)

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

Arizona has been affected by hurricanes on numerous occasions. Usually, these storms originate in the eastern Pacific Ocean, make landfall in the Mexican states of Baja California or Sonora, and dissipate before crossing into the United States. Thus, in most cases, it is only the tropical cyclones' remnant moisture that produces heavy rainfall—and in some occasions, flooding—in portions of Arizona. However, approximately every five years, a tropical cyclone retains sufficient strength to enter the state as a tropical storm or a tropical depression. Arizonans can expect indirect flash floods caused by the remnants of tropical cyclones to occur about every two years.

Tropical cyclones in Arizona are not common, since the predominant wind pattern steers most storms that form in the Eastern Pacific either parallel or away from the Pacific coast of northwestern Mexico. As a result, most storms that could affect Arizona are carried away from the United States, with only 6% of all Pacific hurricanes entering US territory. Not all Arizona hurricanes originate from the Pacific Ocean, however; in July 2008, an Atlantic hurricane named Hurricane Dolly produced rainfall in the eastern portion of the state, and another Atlantic storm reached Arizona as a tropical depression. Many, but not all, of these systems also impacted California. (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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