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Super Typhoon HAIYAN Crossed the Philippines with High Intensity in November 2013 Dr

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Super Typhoon HAIYAN Crossed the Philippines with High Intensity in November 2013 Dr Super typhoon HAIYAN crossed the Philippines with high intensity in November 2013 Dr. Susanne Haeseler, Christiana Lefebvre; updated: 13 December 2013 Introduction Super typhoon HAIYAN, on the Philippines known as YOLANDA, crossed the islands between the 7th and 9th November 2013 (Fig. 1 to 3). It is classified as one of the strongest typhoons ever making landfall. The storm surge, triggering widespread floods, and winds of hurricane force caused by HAIYAN wreaked havoc. In this connection, HAIYAN bears much resemblance to a typhoon in the year 1912, even with respect to the effects (see below). Fig. 1: Infrared satellite image of typhoon HAIYAN being located across the Philippines, acquired on 8 November 2013, 09 UTC. Up to 5 m high waves hit the coastal areas. Ships capsized, sank or ran aground. In Tacloban, the capital of the province of Leyte, even three bigger cargo ships were washed on the land. Numerous towns were partly or totally destroyed. Trees were blown down. There were power outages and the communication was knocked out. Destroyed streets and airports hampered the rescue work and further help. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their homes. Although many people sought shelter, thousands lost their lives. 1 The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) of the Philippines provided the following information about the effects of the typhoon in the Situational Report No. 61 of 13 December 2013, 6:00 AM, which changed daily even 5 weeks after the event: ▪ 6 009 were reported dead (as of 13 December 2013, 6 AM) ▪ 27 022 injured (as of 13 December 2013, 6 AM) ▪ 1 779 are still missing (as of 13 December 2013, 6 AM) ▪ 3 424 190 families / 16 076 360 persons were affected ▪ out of the total affected, 838 811 families / 3 927 827 persons were displaced and served by evacuation centres ▪ 1 139 731 houses (550 904 totally / 588 827 partially) were damaged. Fig. 2: Map of the Philippines. Josh Morgerman from iCyclone.com, chasing HAIYAN at Tacloban City, has published an impressive video (12:34 minutes) of the events on 8 November 2013, showing the enormous strength of the typhoon. Development and wind speeds Typhoon HAIYAN formed out of a tropical depression over the north-western Pacific, east of the Philippines. Sea surface temperatures of about 30 °C and low vertical wind shear promoted the development to the typhoon. Just before HAIYAN made landfall in the Philippines, the highest wind speeds were recorded. According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), the sustained winds reached 314 km/h with gusts up to 379 km/h. The Philippine meteorological service PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical & Astronomical Services Administration) noted that HAIYAN’s maximum sustained winds at its first landfall in Eastern Samar on 8 November at about 4:40 AM were near 234 km/h. During 2 and after the crossing of the Philippines the wind decreased slightly, but it still blew with hurricane force. Fig. 3: Track of typhoon HAIYAN alias YOLANDA in the area of the Philippines from 6 to 9 November 2013. [Source: PAGASA] Table 1 shows the reports about sustained winds and gusts caused by HAIYAN as they were stated in the bulletins of PAGASA. Generally, these bulletins are published just every 3 to 5 hours, so it is assumed that the wind speeds in between were higher. no. coordinates maximum sustained winds gusts up to near the storm centre 1 8.1°N, 135.5°E 195 km/h 230 km/h 2 8.4°N, 133.8°E 215 km/h 250 km/h 3 8.9°N, 132.1°E 215 km/h 250 km/h 4 9.7°N, 130.5°E 215 km/h 250 km/h 4a 9.9°N, 129.7°E 225 km/h 260 km/h 5 10.3°N, 128.3°E 225 km/h 260 km/h 5a 10.5°N, 127.2°E 225 km/h 260 km/h 6 10.8°N, 126.2°E 235 km/h 275 km/h 7 11.28°N, 124.1°E 215 km/h 250 km/h 8 11.4°N, 121.7°E 215 km/h 250 km/h 9 12.0°N, 119.9°E 195 km/h 230 km/h 10 12.4°N, 117.3°E 175 km/h 210 km/h 11 12.6°N, 116.0°E 175 km/h 210 km/h 12 13.6°N, 114.5°E 185 km/h 220 km/h Tab. 1: Data out of the bulletins of the Philippine meteorological service. Positions across the Philippines are marked in green. [Data source: PAGASA] 3 The track of HAIYAN is illustrated in Figure 4. The different colours mark different intensities according to the Saffir-Simpson scale. Fig. 4: Track of HAIYAN from 3 to 11 November 2013. [Source: Unisys] The following colour code is used (category based on Saffir-Simpson scale): type winds (km/h) line colour depression < 62 km/h green tropical storm 62-118 km/h yellow hurricane, category 1 119-153 km/h red hurricane, category 2 154-177 km/h light red hurricane, category 3 178-208 km/h magenta hurricane, category 4 209-249 km/h light magenta hurricane, category 5 > 249 km/h white HAIYAN made landfall in the Philippines with intensity comparable to a category 5 hurricane. And the typhoon maintained that strength during almost the entire crossing of the island country. The air pressure fell notably during the passage of the typhoon, especially at locations near the storm centre as at the weather station of Roxas in the north of the island of Panay (Fig. 5). There has been a decrease of almost 28 hPa within 4 hours from 02 to 06 UTC to a value of 972.5 hPa on 8 November. 4 ROXAS 1020 1010 1000 990 980 970 air pressure(hPa) 960 950 9 12 15 18 21 0 3 6 9 12 7 November 2013 8 November 2013 Fig. 5: Development of air pressure (hourly values in hPa) at the weather station of Roxas on the Philippine island of Panay from 7 November 2013, 09 UTC, to 8 November 2013, 12 UTC. Though HAIYAN weakened slightly on its further way across the South China Sea in the direction of northern Vietnam, it kept the status of a typhoon. Not till 11 November 2013, when the centre of the storm was already located over land in the border area of Vietnam and China, HAIYAN was downgraded to a tropical storm and subsequently it further weakened. Precipitation Typhoon HAIYAN led to precipitation amounts of locally more than 200 mm (Tab. 2; Fig. 6). 24-hour station measured till precipitation total (mm) Butuan 66.6 8 Nov. 2013, 06 UTC Surigao 253 8 Nov. 2013, 06 UTC Maasin 163 8 Nov. 2013, 06 UTC Masbate 50 8 Nov. 2013, 06 UTC Legaspi 59 8 Nov. 2013, 18 UTC Roxas 94 9 Nov. 2013, 00 UTC San Jose 67.2 9 Nov. 2013, 00 UTC Alabat 92.6 9 Nov. 2013, 00 UTC Sangley Point 66.6 9 Nov. 2013, 00 UTC Tanay 96.6 9 Nov. 2013, 00 UTC Virac 55.6 9 Nov. 2013, 00 UTC Tayabas 93 9 Nov. 2013, 06 UTC Calapan 201 9 Nov. 2013, 06 UTC Daet 88 9 Nov. 2013, 06 UTC Baler Radar 58 9 Nov. 2013, 06 UTC Ambulong 59 9 Nov. 2013, 06 UTC Infanta 64 9 Nov. 2013, 06 UTC Casiguran 53 9 Nov. 2013, 06 UTC Tuguegarao 90 9 Nov. 2013, 06 UTC Tab. 2: 24-hour precipitation totals at stations on the Philippines for different periods. [Data source: WMO] 5 Fig. 6: 24-hour precipitation totals (in mm) at weather stations in the Philippines. Top: from 7 November 2013, 00 UTC to 8 November 2013, 00 UTC. Bottom: from 8 November 2013, 00 UTC to 9 November 2013, 00 UTC. On 8 November 2013 between 06 and 12 UTC, i.e. within 6 hours, regionally more than 40 mm of precipitation were recorded (Fig. 7). 6 Fig. 7: 6-hour precipitation totals (in mm) at weather stations in the Philippines from 8 November 2013, 06 to 12 UTC. Climatological evaluation of HAIYAN HAIYAN was characterised by exceptionally high wind speeds at landfall in the Philippines and by keeping of these hurricane force winds while crossing the island country. As mentioned above, HAIYAN reached its highest intensity with sustained winds of 314 km/h and peak gusts up to 379 km/h offshore, not far from the Philippine coast. The so far highest sustained wind speed for a typhoon in the northwest Pacific was recorded during typhoon NANCY in September 1961. It was estimated to be 95 m/s (342 km/h), but today it is recognized that the maximum sustained winds estimated for typhoons during the 1940s to 1960s were too strong (WMO). Typhoon NANCY, reaching a minimum central pressure of 888 hPa, weakened before making landfall, and while making landfall in southern Japan it only had an intensity of category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Referring to the WMO, the so far maximum surface wind gust caused by a tropical cyclone was recorded during the tropical cyclone OLIVIA with 113 m/s (407 km/h) on 10 April 1996 at Barrow Island / Australia. The strength of a tropical storm can not only be rated by the highest wind speeds but also by the lowest central pressure. The world record of the lowest measured air pressure for a tropical cyclone is held by typhoon TIP with 870 hPa recorded on 12 October 1979 over the northwest Pacific.
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