Largest and Most Intense Tropical Cyclone On Record Hits the Philippines 160
mrspoonsi writes "A monstrous storm has arisen in the Western Pacific. The storm, called 'Supter-Typhoon Haiyan', has become the year's most intense. It bore down on the central Philippines this morning, packing winds up to 195 mph (314 km/h), with gusts up to 235 mph (378 km/h), threatening massive damage and sending over 100,000 people into evacuation centers. (Animation of landfall.) Flood waters went as high as 10 feet. The secretary general of the Philippine National Red Cross said, 'About 90% of the infrastructure and establishments were heavily damaged.'"
Typhoons are ranked my pressure, not winds (Score:5, Informative)
It's estimated central pressure is 899 mb but it could be lower. The lower the pressure the stronger the storm. Since 1987, there have been only four storms in the western Pacific with a central pressure below 899 mb (Megi in 2010, 885 mb; Flo in 1990 890 mb; Ruth in 1991 895 mb; and Yuri in 1991 895 mb)
Re:Name (Score:5, Informative)
Haiyan is the name given to the super typhoon by the World Meteorological Organization (source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24863480 [bbc.co.uk] )
What I understood is that the Philippines counts the number of storms that hit the country (this is the 25th this year!!), so in their counting, it gets a name with a Y. (Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2013/11/08/from-haiyan-to-yolanda-how-the-philippines-names-its-storms/ [wsj.com] )
Re:Not Climate Change (Score:0, Informative)
Actually climate is just weather over time. This is the largest typhoon to hit land in MEASURED HUMAN HISTORY OF WINDSPEED.
So you don't actually know enough to say it's a "natural" oscillation. This is why you shouldn't pretend to understand climatology.
Re:Typhoons are ranked my pressure, not winds (Score:5, Informative)
Tornado the size of a hurricane (Score:4, Informative)
Some relief agencies (Score:5, Informative)
I'm sure that the relief agencies would be happy to take a donation. I think these are correct, but double check for yourself. I apologize for not including everybody, please don't let that stop you from making a donation.
American Red Cross [redcross.org]
British Red Cross [redcross.org.uk]
Canadian Red Cross [redcross.ca]
Australian Red Cross [redcross.org.au]
New Zealand Red Cross [redcross.org.nz]
Irish Red Cross [redcross.ie]
Deutsches Rotes Kreuz [www.drk.de]
Croix-Rouge Francaise [croix-rouge.fr]
Röda Korset [redcross.se]
Røde Kors [rodekors.no]
Røde Kors [rodekors.dk]
Rode Kruis [rodekruis.nl]
Schweizerisches Rotes Kreuz [redcross.ch]
Croce Rossa Italiana [cri.it]
Cruz Roja Española [cruzroja.es]
Polski Czerwony Krzyz [www.pck.pl]
Salvation Army donations [salvationarmy.org]
Re:Typhoons are ranked my pressure, not winds (Score:5, Informative)
There's only been ONE hurricane to ever make landfall in the US with that low a pressure, the 1935 labor day hurricane. To put the numbers in perspective Sandy made landfall at 945mb and Katrina at 920mb.
followup to recent 7.1 earthquake (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Typhoons are ranked my pressure, not winds (Score:5, Informative)
There's only been ONE hurricane to ever make landfall in the US with that low a pressure, the 1935 labor day hurricane.
Hurricanes (and typhoons) lose strength when they move over cooler water, so the strongest storms are those that stay in the tropics as they proceed westward. So the most intense Atlantic storms make landfall in Central America rather than the US coast. Wilma (2005) was the most intense Atlantic storm ever recorded, at 882 mbar, and Gilbert was a close second at 882 mbar. Both made landfall in Central America.
Re:Typhoons are ranked my pressure, not winds (Score:2, Informative)
Let's also be clear that no direct measurements were took. Everything about the storm from its windspeed to minimum pressure is an estimate based on meteorological theory. Only in the Atlantic basin do they fly aircraft into cyclones and actually figure out what the pressure and wind-speed actually are.
Re:Typhoons are ranked my pressure, not winds (Score:5, Informative)
The diameter (extent of tropical storm-force winds) of hurricane Katrina was about 600 km, which is rather large for a storm. Hurricane Sandy (largest on record in the Atlantic) was about 1500 km across. I have to remind my European friends about this when they comment about the long recovery time from these storms for a "so-called" first-world nation. These storms were as large or larger than entire European countries - recovery efforts in an area that large are going to be slow even in a first-world country.
The rate of travel and rainfall amounts matter too. Hurricane Mitch [wikipedia.org] was only a category 1 when it made landfall and a tropical storm or tropical depression most of its time over land, but it's the second deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record because it lingered for almost two weeks dropping torrential rain causing massive flooding and landslides.
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)