Pacific typhoon

A Pacific typhoon or tropical storm is a tropical cyclone that forms in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The basin is demarcated within the Pacific Ocean from Asia, north of the equator, and west of the international date line.[1] Storms from the Eastern and Central Pacific crossing the date line are re-designated as typhoons. This basin features the strongest cyclones on record.

Typhoon seasons include the entirety of the calendar year. Most storms tend to form between May and November.

Contents

Etymology

The word "typhoon" comes from the convergence of several unrelated words with similar sound and meaning. One origin is the Greek Typhon, the god of the winds, who personifies storm winds. Another origin is the Chinese 大風/大风, literally "big wind", pronounced in Cantonese as daai6fung1, borrowed by Venetian merchants visiting the East Indies to describe cyclonic storms in the South China Seas. The Arabic, Persian, and Hindi terms tufan may have been borrowed from the Greek.[2]

The modern terms for typhoon in Chinese (traditional Chinese: 颱風; simplified Chinese: 台风; pinyin: táifēng; Jyutping: toi4fung1) and Japanese (台風 taifū?) do not seem to be related.

Climatology

Nearly one-third of the world's tropical cyclones form within the Western Pacific. This makes this basin the most active.[3] Pacific typhoons have formed year round, with peak months from August to October. The peak months correspond to that of the Atlantic hurricane seasons. Along with a high storm frequency, this basin also features the most globally intense storms on record. Typhoon occurs in Japan & Phillipines.

Storm Frequency
Tropical storms and Typhoons by month,
for the period 1959-2005 (Northwest Pacific)
Month Count Average
Jan 28 0.6
Feb 15 0.3
Mar 26 0.6
Apr 39 0.8
May 64 1.4
Jun 96 2.0
Jul 215 4.6
Aug 312 6.6
Sep 262 5.6
Oct 219 4.7
Nov 134 2.9
Dec 75 1.6
Annual 1484 31.6
Source: JTWC[4]
Record Intensity
Storms reaching an intensity of 878 mbar (25.9 inHg) or below
Rank Name Pressure Location Years
1 Typhoon Tip 870 mbar Western Pacific 1979
2 Typhoon Gary 872 mbar Western Pacific 1992‡
2 Typhoon Ivan 872 mbar Western Pacific 1997‡
2 Typhoon Joan 872 mbar Western Pacific 1997‡
2 Typhoon Keith 872 mbar Western Pacific 1997‡
2 Typhoon Zeb 872 mbar Western Pacific 1998‡
7 Typhoon June 875 mbar Western Pacific 1975
8 Typhoon Ida 877 mbar Western Pacific 1958
8 Typhoon Nora 877 mbar Western Pacific 1973
10 Typhoon Rita 878 mbar Western Pacific 1978
10 Typhoon Yvette 878 mbar Western Pacific 1992‡
10 Typhoon Damrey 878 mbar Western Pacific 2000‡
‡ Minimum central pressure of these storms was estimated based
on satellite data rather than directly measured.


Paths

Tracks of all tropical cyclones in the northernwestern Pacific Ocean between 1980 and 2005. The vertical line to the right is the International Date Line.

Typhoon paths follow three general directions.[3]

Basin monitoring

The following agencies monitor typhoons:

Name sources

The list of names consist of entries from 17 East Asian nations and the United States who have territories directly affected by typhoons. The submitted names are arranged into five lists; and each list is cycled with each year. Unlike hurricanes, typhoons are not named after people. Instead, they generally refer to animals, flowers, astrological signs, and a few personal names. However, PAGASA retains its own naming list, which does consist of human names.[1] Therefore, a typhoon can possibly have two names. Storms that cross the date line from the Central Pacific retain their original name, but the designation of hurricane becomes typhoon. However in Japan, Taifun are simply numbered in sequence to their occurance in the calendar year. "Taifun Number 3", for example.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "How typhoons are named". USA Today. Retrieved on 2008-08-18.
  2. ↑ Online Etymology Dictionary - typhoon
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Examining the ENSO". James B Elsner, Kam-Biu Liu (2003-10-08). Retrieved on 2007-08-18.
  4. ↑ "2005 Annual Tropical Cyclone Report: Western Pacific". JTWC (2005). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.

External links