DOCSLIB.ORG

L.* /J Analysis of Northeast Pacific Hurricane Tico and Its Associated Heavy Rain Event Over the South Plains of Texas and Oklah

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
L.* /J Analysis of Northeast Pacific Hurricane Tico and Its Associated Heavy Rain Event Over the South Plains of Texas and Oklah L.* /J ANALYSIS OF NORTHEAST PACIFIC HURRICANE TICO AND ITS ASSOCIATED HEAVY RAIN EVENT OVER THE SOUTH PLAINS OF TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA by JOEL LEE TUMBIOLO, B.S. A THESIS IN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Approved Accepted May, 1989 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to extend my sincere thanks to Dr. Richard E. Peterson for his encouragements, assistance, and understanding during the preparation of this thesis. I would also like to thank Dr. Colleen A. Leary and Dr. Chia Bo Chang for their assistance and advice during the course of this work. A special thanks goes to Dr. Gerald M. Jurica for his advice during my years at Texas Tech. Special thanks also go out to Debbie Kerr for her assistance in preparing this thesis, Mark Oberfield for his assistance in generating the computer programs, and to Teresa Bals for her moral support. Finally, a special thanks goes to my wife, Becke for her understanding and support during the long hours I spent closed-in, writing text and drawing figures. Sincere thanks also go out to my parents, John and JoAnn Tumbiolo for their financial and moral support throughout my college years. Without this support, I could never have reached this educational goal. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii LIST OF FIGURES v I. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Data Sources 8 II. THE SYNOPTIC SETTING 12 2.1 17 October 1983 12 2.2 18 October 1983 23 2.3 19 October 1983 33 2.4 20 October 1983 43 2.5 21 October 1983 53 111. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 64 3.1 Precipitation Analysis 18-21 October 64 3.2 Relative Humidity Analysis 17-21 October 96 3.3 Instability Analysis 17-21 October 102 3.4 Objective Analysis of Mixing Ratio 19-20 October. 104 3.5 Objective Analysis of Divergence 19-20 October ... 113 3.6 Objective Analysis of Moisture Convergence 19-20 October 132 3.7 Objective Analysis of Absolute Vorticity 19-20 October 137 3.8 Vertical Motion Analysis 19-20 October 145 3.9 Streamline Analysis 19-20 October 152 li IV. CONCLUSIONS 164 LIST OF REFERENCES 167 APPENDICES 168 A. RAWINSONDESTATIONSFORU.S. AND MEXICO 169 B. DEFINITION OF K-INDEX AND LIFTED INDEX 170 LIST OF FIGURES 1.1. Number of Northeast Pacific tropical storms and hurricanes occurring between 1955-1986. o 1.2. Accumulated precipitation totals for Texas and Oklahoma heavy rain event between 17-21 October 1983 4 1.3. Track of Hurricane Tico from 12-21 October 1983. Dark circles represent 0000 GMT times, open circles representl200 GMT times 6 1.4. (a) Monthly mean surface temperatures for the Eastern Pacific Ocean for October 1983 and (b) monthly deviation. Isotherms are in 'C 7 1.5. Tracks of Northeast Pacific hurricanes that produced heavv rains in Texas. From left to right; W (Waldo, 1985); P (Paine, 1986); N (Norma, 1981); D (Doreen, 1977); T (Tico, 1983); and N (Newton, 1986) 9 1.6. Rawinsonde network of 43 stations for U.S. and Mexico . 11 2.1. a) Surface, b) 850 mb, and c) 700 mb synoptic analyses at 0000 GMT 17 October 1983. Striped areas represent low-level moisture, (surface dew point i 60'F, 850 mb dew point i 15'C) 14 2.2. a) 500 mb synoptic analysis, and b) 200 mb isotach analysis at 0000 GMT 17 October 1983 15 2.3. a) Surface, b) 850 mb, and c) 700 mb synoptic analysis at 1200 GMT 17 October 198J. Striped areas represent low-level moisture (Surface dew point i 60'F(15'C) and 850 mb dew points 15'C) 19 2.4. a) 500 mb synoptic analysis, and b) 200 mb isotach analysis at 1200 GMT 17 October 1983 20 2.5. a) Surface, b) 850 mb, and c) 700 mb synoptic analyses at 0000 GMT 18 October 1983. Striped areas represent low-level moisture. (Surface dew point i 60'F(16'C) and 850 mb dew point H5'C) 24 2.6. a) 500 mb synoptic analysis, and b) 200 mb isotach analysis at 0000 GMT 18 October 1983 25 V 2.7. a) Surface, b) 850 mb, and c) 700 mb synoptic analyses at 1200 GMT 18 October 1983. Striped areas represent low-level moisture (surface dew point i 60*F (16*C) and 850 mb dew points 15'C) 29 2.8. a) 500 mb synoptic analysis, and b) 200 mb isotach analysis at 1200 IBCJCtober 1983. Striped area represents 500 mb moisture (dew point i-10*C) 30 2.9. a) Surface, b) 850 mb, and c) 700 mb synoptic analyses at 0000 GMT 19 October 1983. Striped areas represent low-level moisture (surface dew point i 60*F(16'C) and 850 dew point i 15'C) 34 2.10. a) 500 mb synoptic analysis, and b) 200 mb isotach analysis at 0000 GMT 19 October 1983. Striped area represents 500 mb moisture (dew point i-10*C) 35 2.11. a) Surface, b) 850mb, andc) 700 mb synoptic analysis at 1200 GMT 19 October 1983. Striped represent low-level moisture (surface dew point i 60'F (16'C) and 850 mb dew point i 15'C) 39 2.12. a) 500 mb synoptic analysis, and b) 200 mb isotach analysis at 1200 19 October 1983. Striped area represents 500 mb moisture (dew point i-lO'C) 40 2.13. a) Surface, b) 850 mb, and c) 700 mb synoptic analysis at 0000 GMT 20 October 1983. Striped areas represent low-level moisture (surface dew point i 60'F (16'C) and 850 mb dew point i 15'C) .... 44 2.14. a) 500 mb synoptic analysis, and b) 200 mb isotach analysis at 0000 GMT 20 October 1983. Striped area represents 500 mb moisture (dew point i -10'C). 45 2.15. a) Surface, b) 850 mb, and c) 700 mb synoptic analysis at 1200 GMT 20 October 1983. Striped areas represent low-level moisture (surface dew point l 60"F (16'C) and 850 mb dew point i 10'C) 49 2.16. a) 500 synoptic analysis, and b) 200 mb isotach analysis at 12(J0 GMT 20 October 1983. Striped area represents 500 mb moisture (dew point i-lO'C) 50 2.17. a) Surface, b) 850 mb, and c) 700 mb synoptic analysis at 0000 GMT 21 October 1983. Striped areas represent low-level moisture (surface dew point i 60°F (16'C) and 850 mb dew point HO'C) 55 vi 2.18. a) 500 mb synoptic analysis, and b) 200 mb isotach analysis at 0000 GMT 21 October 1983. Striped area represents 500 mb moisture (dew point i-lO'C) . 56 2.19. a) Surface, b) 850 mb, andc) 700 mb synoptic analysis at 1200 GMT 21 October 1983. Striped areas represent low-level moisture (surface dew point i60'F( 16'C) and 850 mb dew point nO'C) 60 2.20. a) 500 synoptic analysis, and b) 200 mb isotach analysis at 1200 GMT 2100 GMT 21 October 1983 61 3.1. The Texas-Oklahoma rain gauge network 65 3.2. Radar summary at a) 0135 GMT, b) 0435, GMT 17 October 1983 66 3.3. a) Radarsummary at 0135GMT 18 October, b) 0000 GMT to 1200 GMT 18 October observed rainfall (inches) 68 3.4. a) Radar summary at 1435 GMT 18 October, b) visible imagery at 1515 GMT 18 October 69 3.5. Radar summary at a) 2035 GMT and b) 2335 GMT 18 October 70 3.6. Observed rainfall (inches) from 0000 GMT 18 October to 0000 GMT 19 October 72 3.7. a) Radar summary at 0235 GMT 19 October b) enhanced infrared imagery at 0300 GMT 19 October 73 3.8. a) Enhanced infrared imagery at a) 0600 GMT and b) 0900 GMT 19 October 75 3.9. Radar summary at 1135 GMT 19 October 76 3.10. Observed rainfall (inches) from a) 0000 GMT to 1200 GMT 19 October and b) 0000 GMT 18 October to 1200 GMT 19 October 73 3.11. a) Visible imagery at 1431 GMT 19 October and b) Radar Summary 1435 GMT 19 October 79 3 12. a) Radar summary at 1735 GMT 19 October and b) visible imagery at 2031 GMT 19 October 81 vii 3.13. a) Enhanced infrared imagery at 2101 GMT 19 October andb) Radar summary at 2135 GMT 19 October 82 3.14. Enhanced infrared imagery at 2303 GMT 19 October 84 3.15. Observed rainfall (inches) from a) 1200 GMT 19 October to 0000 GMT 20 October and b) 0000 GMT 18 October to 0000 GMT 20 October 85 3.16. a) Enhanced infrared imagery at 0001 GMT 20 October and b) radar summary at 0135 GMT 20 October 87 3.17. a) Ehanced infrared imagery at 0300 GMT 20 October and b) radar summary 0435 GMT 20 October. 88 3.18. Enhanced infrared imagery at a) 0600 GMT and b) 0900 GMT 20 October 90 3.19. Radar summary at 1135 GMT 20 October 91 3.20. Observed rainfall (inches) from a) 0000 GMT to 1200 GMT 20 October and b) 0000 GMT 18 October to 1200 GMT 20 October 92 3.21. a) Enhanced infrared imagery at 1200 GMT 20 October and b) Radar summary at 1435 GMT 20 October 94 3.22. a) Visible imagery at 1835 GMT 20 October and b) Radar summary at 2035 GMT October 95 3.23. Observed rainfall (inches) from a) 1200 GMT 20 October to 0000 GMT 21 October and b) 0000 GMT 18 October to 0000 GMT 21 October 97 3.24.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Eastern North Pacific Hurricane Season of 1997
    2440 MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW VOLUME 127 Eastern North Paci®c Hurricane Season of 1997 MILES B. LAWRENCE Tropical Prediction Center, National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Miami, Florida (Manuscript received 15 June 1998, in ®nal form 20 October 1998) ABSTRACT The hurricane season of the eastern North Paci®c basin is summarized and individual tropical cyclones are described. The number of tropical cyclones was near normal. Hurricane Pauline's rainfall ¯ooding killed more than 200 people in the Acapulco, Mexico, area. Linda became the strongest hurricane on record in this basin with 160-kt 1-min winds. 1. Introduction anomaly. Whitney and Hobgood (1997) show by strat- Tropical cyclone activity was near normal in the east- i®cation that there is little difference in the frequency of eastern Paci®c tropical cyclones during El NinÄo years ern North Paci®c basin (east of 1408W). Seventeen trop- ical cyclones reached at least tropical storm strength and during non-El NinÄo years. However, they did ®nd a relation between SSTs near tropical cyclones and the ($34 kt) (1 kt 5 1nmih21 5 1852/3600 or 0.514 444 maximum intensity attained by tropical cyclones. This ms21) and nine of these reached hurricane force ($64 kt). The long-term (1966±96) averages are 15.7 tropical suggests that the slightly above-normal SSTs near this storms and 8.7 hurricanes. Table 1 lists the names, dates, year's tracks contributed to the seven hurricanes reach- maximum 1-min surface wind speed, minimum central ing 100 kt or more. pressure, and deaths, if any, of the 1997 tropical storms In addition to the infrequent conventional surface, and hurricanes, and Figs.
    [Show full text]
  • Fall 2006 OKLAHOMA CLIMATE
    OKLAHOMA CLIMATE Fall 2006 Anything But Pacific Loss Mitigation Conference 2006 EarthStorm Teachers on the Road Cloud Seeding MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR Table of Contents Hurricanes are the most destructive weather phenomenon on the Earth, with Anything But Pacific..........................................3 apologies to our own little terrors of Mother Nature, tornadoes. The awful Oklahoma Climate & Loss Mitigation Conf. .......6 destruction wrought upon the Gulf Coast by Katrina silenced any arguments on that subject. But in one of the great ironies for a state that has suffered greatly Answers to the Classroom Activity.................7 due to hazardous weather, Oklahoma has actually benefited in the past from the arrival of those monster cyclones. They are no longer Hurricanes by the time they Photos From the Field.....................................8 pass over Oklahoma soil, of course, merely remnants of their former powerful selves. When they do arrive, however, they bring with them a sizable amount of EarthStorm Teachers On the Road...............10 tropical moisture. Imagine a gigantic sponge floating over the state, waiting to be squeezed. And if there is ever a time that the state could use a good wallop Summer 2006 Climate Summary.................14 of moisture, it’s during the type of drought we’ve experienced the last couple of Agriculture Weather Watch............................19 years. Urban Farmer..................................................20 We decided to concentrate this issue of “Oklahoma Climate” on hurricanes and their effects on the state. Our historical perspective delves right into the issue Classroom Activity...........................................21 with a look back at Oklahoma’s previous brushes with tropical cyclones and how they’ve helped to end droughts.
    [Show full text]
  • Climatology, Variability, and Return Periods of Tropical Cyclone Strikes in the Northeastern and Central Pacific Ab Sins Nicholas S
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School March 2019 Climatology, Variability, and Return Periods of Tropical Cyclone Strikes in the Northeastern and Central Pacific aB sins Nicholas S. Grondin Louisiana State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Climate Commons, Meteorology Commons, and the Physical and Environmental Geography Commons Recommended Citation Grondin, Nicholas S., "Climatology, Variability, and Return Periods of Tropical Cyclone Strikes in the Northeastern and Central Pacific asinB s" (2019). LSU Master's Theses. 4864. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/4864 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CLIMATOLOGY, VARIABILITY, AND RETURN PERIODS OF TROPICAL CYCLONE STRIKES IN THE NORTHEASTERN AND CENTRAL PACIFIC BASINS A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Nicholas S. Grondin B.S. Meteorology, University of South Alabama, 2016 May 2019 Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my family, especially mom, Mim and Pop, for their love and encouragement every step of the way. This thesis is dedicated to my friends and fraternity brothers, especially Dillon, Sarah, Clay, and Courtney, for their friendship and support. This thesis is dedicated to all of my teachers and college professors, especially Mrs.
    [Show full text]
  • Lang Hurricane Basic Information Flyer
    LANG FLYER INFORMATION BASIC LANG HURRICANE HURRICANE BASIC INFORMATION FLYER FLYER This flyer will try to explain what actions to take when you receive a hurricane watch or warning alert from the INFORMATION INFORMATION National Weather Service for your local area. It also provides tips on what to do before, during, and after a hurricane. https://www.ready.gov/hurricane-toolkit LANG EM WEB PAGE: LANG HURRICANE BASIC BASIC LANG HURRICANE http://geauxguard.la.gov/resources/emergency-management/ 1 Hurricane Basics What Hurricanes are massive storm systems that form over the water and move toward land. Threats from hurricanes include high winds, heavy rainfall, storm surge, coastal and inland flooding, rip currents, and tornadoes. These large storms are called typhoons in the North Pacific Ocean and cyclones in other parts of the world. Where Each year, many parts of the United States experience heavy rains, strong winds, floods, and coastal storm surges from tropical storms and hurricanes. Affected areas include all Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastal areas and areas over 100 miles inland, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Hawaii, parts of the Southwest, the Pacific Coast, and the U.S. territories in the Pacific. A significant per cent of fatalities occur outside of landfall counties with causes due to inland flooding. When The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30, with the peak occurring between mid- August and late October. The Eastern Pacific hurricane season begins May 15 and ends November 30. Basic Preparedness Tips •Know where to go. If you are ordered to evacuate, know the local hurricane evacuation route(s) to take and have a plan for where you can stay.
    [Show full text]
  • The Climatology and Nature of Tropical Cyclones of the Eastern North
    THE CLIMATOLOGY AND NATURE OF TROPICAL CYCLONES OF THE EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC OCE<\N Herbert Loye Hansen Library . U.S. Naval Postgraduate SchdOl Monterey. California 93940 L POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL Monterey, California 1 h i £L O 1 ^ The Climatology and Nature of Trop ical Cy clones of the Eastern North Pacific Ocean by Herbert Loye Hansen Th ssis Advisor : R.J. Renard September 1972 Approved ^oh. pubtic tidLixu, e; dLitnAhiLtlon anturuJitd. TU9568 The Climatology and Nature of Tropical Cyclones of the Eastern North Pacific Ocean by Herbert Loye Hansen Commander, United 'States Navy B.S., Drake University, 1954 B.S., Naval Postgraduate School, 1960 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN METEOROLOGY from the b - duate School y s ^594Q Mo:.--- Lilornia ABSTRACT Meteorological satellites have revealed the need for a major revision of existing climatology of tropical cyclones in the Eastern North Pacific Ocean. The years of reasonably good satellite coverage from 1965 through 1971 provide the data base from which climatologies of frequency, duration, intensity, areas of formation and dissipation and track and speed characteristics are compiled. The climatology of re- curving tracks is treated independently. The probable structure of tropical cyclones is reviewed and applied to this region. Application of these climatolo- gies to forecasting problems is illustrated. The factors best related to formation and dissipation in this area are shown to be sea-surface temperature and vertical wind shear. The cyclones are found to be smaller and weaker than those of the western Pacific and Atlantic oceans. TABLE OF CONTENTS I.
    [Show full text]
  • An Observational and Modeling Analysis of the Landfall of Hurricane Marty (2003) in Baja California, Mexico
    JULY 2005 F ARFÁN AND CORTEZ 2069 An Observational and Modeling Analysis of the Landfall of Hurricane Marty (2003) in Baja California, Mexico LUIS M. FARFÁN Centro de Investigación Científica y de Educación Superior de Ensenada B.C., Unidad La Paz, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico MIGUEL CORTEZ Servicio Meteorológico Nacional, Comisión Nacional del Agua, México, Distrito Federal, Mexico (Manuscript received 20 July 2004, in final form 26 January 2005) ABSTRACT This paper documents the life cycle of Tropical Cyclone Marty, which developed in late September 2003 over the eastern Pacific Ocean and made landfall on the Baja California peninsula. Observations and best-track data indicate that the center of circulation moved across the southern peninsula and proceeded northward in the Gulf of California. A network of surface meteorological stations in the vicinity of the storm track detected strong winds. Satellite and radar imagery are used to analyze the structure of convective patterns, and rain gauges recorded total precipitation. A comparison of Marty’s features at landfall, with respect to Juliette (2001), indicates similar wind intensity but differences in forward motion and accumu- lated precipitation. Official, real-time forecasts issued by the U.S. National Hurricane Center prior to landfall are compared with the best track. This resulted in a westward bias of positions with decreasing errors during subsequent forecast cycles. Numerical simulations from the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model were used to examine the evolution of the cyclonic circulation over the southern peninsula. The model was applied to a nested grid configuration with hori- zontal resolution as detailed as 3.3 km, with two (72- and 48-h) simulations.
    [Show full text]
  • The Contribution of Eastern North Pacific Tropical Cyclones to The
    AUGUST 2009 C O R B O S I E R O E T A L . 2415 The Contribution of Eastern North Pacific Tropical Cyclones to the Rainfall Climatology of the Southwest United States KRISTEN L. CORBOSIERO Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California MICHAEL J. DICKINSON Weather Predict Consulting, Inc., Narragansett, Rhode Island LANCE F. BOSART Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York (Manuscript received 26 August 2008, in final form 6 March 2009) ABSTRACT Forty-six years of summer rainfall and tropical cyclone data are used to explore the role that eastern North Pacific tropical cyclones (TCs) play in the rainfall climatology of the summer monsoon over the southwestern United States. Thirty-five TCs and their remnants were found to bring significant rainfall to the region, representing less than 10% of the total number of TCs that formed within the basin. The month of September was the most common time for TC rainfall to occur in the monsoon region as midlatitude troughs become more likely to penetrate far enough south to interact with the TCs and steer them toward the north and east. On average, the contribution of TCs to the warm-season precipitation increased from east to west, accounting for less than 5% of the rainfall in New Mexico and increasing to more than 20% in southern California and northern Baja California, with individual storms accounting for as much as 95% of the summer rainfall. The distribution of rainfall for TC events over the southwest United States reveals three main categories: 1) a direct northward track from the eastern Pacific into southern California and Nevada, 2) a distinct swath northeastward from southwestern Arizona through northwestern New Mexico and into southwestern Col- orado, and 3) a broad area of precipitation over the southwest United States with embedded maxima tied to terrain features.
    [Show full text]
  • 9. East Pacific Easterly Wave Genesis Experiment
    9. East Pacific Easterly Wave Genesis Experiment Principle Investigators: Ghassan Alaka (HRD) Adam Rydbeck (NRL) Eric Maloney (CSU) Links to IFEX Goals: Goal 1: Collect observations that span the TC life cycle in a variety of environments for model initialization and evaluation; Goal 3: Improve understanding of the physical processes important in intensity change for a TC at all stages of its lifecycle. Significance & Background: Many studies have hypothesized that African easterly waves (EWs) serve as seed disturbances for East Pacific tropical cyclones (TCs) (e.g., Avila and Pasch 1992). However, it is often difficult to track African EWs crossing Central America and entering the East Pacific basin. In addition, African EWs may not be necessary to initiate EWs in the East Pacific. Several mechanisms for the in situ generation of EWs in the East Pacific have been proposed: 1) breakdown of the inter-tropical convergence zone (Ferriera and Schubert 1997), 2) barotropically unstable gap jets (Mozer and Zehnder 1996), 3) inertial instabilities from cross-equatorial pressure gradients (Toma and Webster 2010), 4) growth of vorticity noise by barotropic conversion in favorable basic states (Maloney and Hartmann 2001, Hartmann and Maloney 2001), and 5) upscale vorticity organization from diurnal convection in the Panama Bight (Rydbeck et al. 2016). This last mechanism for EW generation, proposed by Rydbeck et al. (2016), is the focus of this experiment. East Pacific EW initiation can occur near the coasts of Panama and Colombia, with little or no preceding signal propagating from the Atlantic Ocean (Rydbeck and Maloney 2014). The Panama Bight has the highest occurrence of organized deep convection on the planet based on the NOAA Highly Reflective Cloud dataset (Kilonsky and Ramage 1976).
    [Show full text]
  • HURRICANE OLAF (EP192015) 15 – 27 October 2015
    NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER TROPICAL CYCLONE REPORT HURRICANE OLAF (EP192015) 15 – 27 October 2015 Eric S. Blake National Hurricane Center Jon Jelsema Central Pacific Hurricane Center 1 6 September 2016 NOAA GOES-15 INFARED SATELLITE IMAGE OF HURRICANE OLAF AT 0630 UTC 20 OCTOBER 2015. Olaf was an unusually long-lasting October hurricane that formed much farther southwest than average and stayed out at sea. Olaf has the distinction of being the only tropical cyclone on record to move from the eastern Pacific to the central Pacific and back again. 1 Original report date 9 February 2016. Report updated to include CPHC verification 6 September 2016. Hurricane Olaf 2 Hurricane Olaf 15 – 27 OCTOBER 2015 SYNOPTIC HISTORY The genesis of Olaf can be traced to a wave that left the west African coast on 24 September. The wave produced a fair amount of convection for a few days, but lost all thunderstorm activity in the central Atlantic on 27 September. After moving slowly westward during the next several days, the wave entered the eastern Pacific on 7 October. Convection greatly increased the next day, and a broad low formed by late on 9 October at a low latitude south of 10°N. The thunderstorm activity, however, was generally limited over the next several days, and the low remained broad while it moved westward. On 14 October, convection increased and the low became better defined, leading to the formation of a tropical depression by 0000 UTC 15 October about 860 n mi south-southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The “best track” chart of the tropical cyclone’s path is given in Fig.
    [Show full text]
  • Hurricane Preparedness Guide (PDF)
    hurricanes... Unleashing Nature’s Fury FEMA Hurricane Floyd, 1999/NOAA A PREPAREDNESS GUIDE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service Revised August 2001 What is a Hurricane? The term hurricane has its origin in the indigenous religions of old civilizations. The Mayan storm god A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone–an organized was named Hunraken. A god considered evil by rotating weather system that develops in the tropics. the Taino people of the Caribbean was called Huracan. Hurricanes rotate counterclockwise in the Northern Hurricanes may not be considered evil but they Hemisphere. Tropical cyclones are classified as follows: are one of nature’s most powerful storms. Their ■ Tropical Depression—An organized system of potential for loss of life and destruction of property persistent clouds and thunderstorms with a closed is tremendous. Those in hurricane-prone areas low-level circulation and maximum sustained winds need to be of 38 mph (33 knots) or less. prepared for hurricanes and ■ Tropical Storm—An organized system of strong tropical storms. thunderstorms with a well defined circulation and Even inland areas, maximum sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph well away from (34-63 knots). the coastline, ■ Hurricane—An intense tropical weather system can experience with a well defined circulation and sustained winds destructive winds, of 74 mph (64 knots) or higher. In the western North tornadoes and Pacific, hurricanes are called typhoons, and similar floods from storms in the Indian Ocean are called cyclones. tropical storms and hurricanes. Hurricane Iniki/NOAA 1998 Atlantic Ocean Hurricane Season Summary/NOAA 2 Tropical depressions and tropical storms, while generally less dangerous than hurricanes, still can be deadly.
    [Show full text]
  • Anomalous Oceanic Conditions in the Central and Eastern North Pacific Ocean During the 2014 Hurricane Season and Relationships T
    Journal of Marine Science and Engineering Article Anomalous Oceanic Conditions in the Central and Eastern North Pacific Ocean during the 2014 Hurricane Season and Relationships to Three Major Hurricanes 1, , 1 2 Victoria L. Ford * y , Nan D. Walker and Iam-Fei Pun 1 Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Coastal Studies Institute Earth Scan Laboratory, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA 2 Graduate Institute of Hydrological and Oceanic Sciences, National Central University, Taoyuan 320, Taiwan * Correspondence: [email protected] Current institution: Climate Science Lab, Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, y College Station, TX 77845, USA. Received: 27 February 2020; Accepted: 14 April 2020; Published: 17 April 2020 Abstract: The 2014 Northeast Pacific hurricane season was highly active, with above-average intensity and frequency events, and a rare landfalling Hawaiian hurricane. We show that the anomalous northern extent of sea surface temperatures and anomalous vertical extent of upper ocean heat content above 26 ◦C throughout the Northeast and Central Pacific Ocean may have influenced three long-lived tropical cyclones in July and August. Using a variety of satellite-observed and -derived products, we assess genesis conditions, along-track intensity, and basin-wide anomalous upper ocean heat content during Hurricanes Genevieve, Iselle, and Julio. The anomalously northern surface position of the 26 ◦C isotherm beyond 30◦ N to the north and east of the Hawaiian Islands in 2014 created very high sea surface temperatures throughout much of the Central Pacific. Analysis of basin-wide mean conditions confirm higher-than-average storm activity during strong positive oceanic thermal 2 anomalies.
    [Show full text]
  • Weather and Forecasting Challenges in the Pacific
    SEPTEMBER 1998 KODAMA AND BUSINGER 523 Weather and Forecasting Challenges in the Paci®c Region of the National Weather Service KEVIN R. KODAMA* Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Honolulu, Hawaii STEVEN BUSINGER Department of Meteorology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii (Manuscript received 10 April 1997, in ®nal form 2 October 1997) ABSTRACT The large area of responsibility covered by the Paci®c Region of the National Weather Service provides a unique set of challenges to operational forecasters. Extratropical, subtropical, and tropical meteorological phe- nomena on a wide range of temporal and spatial scales must be considered on a daily basis. Compounding the problems of forecasting diverse weather for such a large area of responsibility is the fact that the Paci®c Ocean is a data-sparse region. Recent improvements in data collection platforms and the continued progress made by researchers have helped increase the understanding of weather throughout the region, ultimately resulting in improved forecast services. This article provides an overview of some of the weather phenomena encountered in the Paci®c Region and helps set the stage for the accompanying articles that focus on speci®c weather forecasting problems. Some discussion is provided on the impact of the National Weather Service's modernization program on operational forecasting in the region. 1. Introduction weather support under the auspices of the Compact of Free Association with the U.S. government. Although it is the smallest of the six administrative Because of its size, the Paci®c Region's forecasters regions, the Paci®c Region of the National Weather Ser- are frequently challenged with a wide range of mete- vice (NWS), hereafter the ``Paci®c Region,'' covers by orological phenomena that include extratropical, sub- far the largest geographic area of responsibility (AOR).
    [Show full text]