|
| |
 Storm
Center
FAQ
| "I myself have experienced only one real disaster, Hurricane Andrew, and it was considerably different from the disaster movies that I've seen. For one thing, in the movies, there's always some kind of romance interest; whereas after Hurricane Andrew, nobody in the affected area was able to take a shower for approximately two months. Everybody smelled like a cologne named Eau de Dead Goat. The most romantic thing people did during that time was refuel each other's generators." --- Dave Barry, 1997 | *******************************************************
FAQ: HURRICANES, TYPHOONS, AND TROPICAL CYCLONES
*******************************************************
OUTLINE
Part I:
Section A : BASIC DEFINITIONS
Section B : TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMES
Section C : TROPICAL CYCLONE MYTHS
Part II
Section D : TROPICAL CYCLONE WINDS
Section E : TROPICAL CYCLONE RECORDS
Part III
Section F : TROPICAL CYCLONE FORECASTING
Section G : TROPICAL CYCLONE CLIMATOLOGY
Section H : TROPICAL CYCLONE OBSERVATION
Part IV:
Section I : Real-Time Information
Section J : Historical Information
Section K : Preparedness Information
I : REAL TIME INFORMATION
- I1) Where can I get real-time advisories for tropical cyclones?
- I2) Where can I get real-time tropical weather analyses and forecast fields?
- I3) Where can I get real-time ship and buoy data?
- I4) Where can I get real-time sea surface temperature data?
- I5) Where can I get real-time satellite pictures and satellite products?
- I6) Where can I get real-time radar data?
- I7) Where can I get real-time hurricane aircraft reconnaissance data?
- I8) Where can I get real-time model forecasts of tropical cyclone motion?
- I9) Where can I get tropical cyclone preparedness information?
- I10) What computer software is available for tracking tropical cyclones?
- J1) Where can I get historical data on tropical cyclones ?
- J2) What journals have regular articles on tropical cyclones ?
- J3) What books have been written about tropical cyclones ?
- J4) What refereed articles were written in recent years about tropical cyclones ?
- (updated to include social science articles on hurricanes 1997-99)
Section K: Preparedness Information
- K1) What steps should I take when a hurricane watch/warning is posted?
- K2) What can I do to make my home/business more disaster resistant?
- K3) What kind of hurricane shutters are available ?
I1) Where can I get
real-time advisories for tropical cyclones?
There are three good ways to get these. Either
telnet to a site and
peruse the advisories you would like to see via a menu, have the advisories
sent directly to you via email, or visit sites via the World Wide Web.
Option 1: Telnet to a site
---------------------------
The site that has a very comprehensive listing is the
Weather
Underground at University of Michigan. Simply telnet to:
downwind.sprl.umich.edu 3000
Make sure to include the '3000' at the end of the
command. From
there you have a simple menu driven system to get to the USA National
Hurricane Center, the USA Central Pacific Hurricane Center, and the
USA Joint Typhoon Warning Center products.
Option 2: Advisories automatically sent to you
-----------------------------------------------
WX-TROPL was created for people who want to receive, as an
email,
tropical bulletins originating from the US National Hurricane Center, the
Central Pacific Hurricane Center, and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. To
get information as to how to sign up onto WX-TROPL, ftp to po.uiuc.edu and
use anonymous FTP to retrieve the file WX-TALK.DOC from the directory
"wx-talk". If you don't have ftp access, contact either Chris
Novy
<chris@siu.edu> or Charley Kline <cvk@uiuc.edu>.
Option 3: Get the advisories via surfing the Web
-------------------------------------------------
The World Wide Web is a great source for real-time tropical cyclone advisories. For brevity here are some reliable http sites
(provided by Gary Gray):
- gopher://twister.sbs.ohio-state.edu:70/1/Tropical/Atlantic-Ocean/
Ohio State Gopher (Advisories, discussion, recon, model data, etc.)
- http://banzai.neosoft.com/citylink/blake/tropical.html
Atlantic Tropical Weather Center (Everything)
- http://www.wunderground.com:80/tropical/
Weather Underground (Everything)
- http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/us/hurricane.html
IWIN Tropical Page (Full advisory list)
- http://lumahai.soest.hawaii.edu/Tropical_Weather/tropical.shtml
U-Hawaii (Forecast maps for Atlantic and Pacific)
- http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/products.html
Tropical Prediction Center Products (Advisories, discussions, and analyses)
- http://www.atms.unca.edu/%7Efarr/hurricane98.html
Hurricane '98 Page (Advisories, discussions, and imagery)
- http://www.ih2000.net/ira/bmt-wth.htm
IH2000 (Advisories, discussions, images, links, TX info)
- http://www.weather.brockport.edu/cgi-bin/hurricane
SUNY Brockport Hurricane Page (Search tool for text products)
- http://hurricane.terrapin.com/
Terrapin Associates (JAVA animated storm tracking)
- http://www.gopbi.com/weather/storm/
Storm '99 (News, advisories, images, etc.)
- http://www.upr.clu.edu/nws/tropical.html
Puerto Rico NWS (Advisories in English & Spanish)
- http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/tropical.html
U-Hawaii (Advisories, probabilities, maps - all basins)
- http://hurricane.weathercenter.com/
Tampa Bay Online (Local info and advisories)
Back to Questions
I2) Where can I get real-time tropical weather analyses and forecast fields?
(Provided by Gary Gray.)
- gopher://twister.sbs.ohio-state.edu:70/1/Tropical/Atlantic-Ocean/
Ohio State Tropical Page (General text info)
- http://banzai.neosoft.com/citylink/blake/tropical.html
Atlantic Tropical Weather Center (Sfc plots, text data, imagery, etc.)
- http://www.hurricanecity.com/
Hurricane City (News and information concerning Atlantic tropical weather)
- http://gobeach.com/hurr.htm
The Caribbean Hurricane Page (News and info from the Caribbean)
- http://www.wunderground.com:80/tropical/
Weather Underground (Surface reports and sat pix)
- http://grads.iges.org/pix/trop.00hr.html
GRADS Tropical Page (Tropical analysis graphics)
- http://lumahai.soest.hawaii.edu/Tropical_Weather/tropical.shtml
U-Hawaii (Sfc wind and pressure over sat pix)
- http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/products.html
Tropical Prediction Center Products (Many analyses - .TIF format)
- http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/forecast.html
Tropical Prediction Center Products (More analyses and forecasts - .TIF format)
- http://weather.noaa.gov/fax/marine.shtml
NWS Marine Fax Charts (Many charts - .TIF format)
- http://flhurricane.com/
Central Florida Hurricane Center (News on current storms and conditions)
Back to Questions
I3) Where can I get real-time ship and buoy data?
(Provided by Gary Gray.)
- http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/Maps/wrldmap.shtml
NDBC (Interactive buoy data site)
- http://www.ems.psu.edu/cgi-bin/wx/offshore.cgi
PSU Offshore Wx Data (Full text source of ship and buoy data)
- http://banzai.neosoft.com/citylink/blake/tropical.html
Atlantic Tropical Wx Center (Links to various ship and buoy data sources)
- http://www.nws.fsu.edu/buoy
NWS Tallahassee (Interactive buoy data site)
Back to Questions
I4) Where can I get real-time sea surface temperature data?
(Provided by Gary Gray.)
- http://www.wunderground.com:80/tropical/
Weather Underground (Basic SST map)
- http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/sst/latest_sst.gif
SSEC (Global SST image)
- http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/images.html
RSMAS (Various localized SST images)
- http://www.fnoc.navy.mil/otis/otis.shtml
FNOC OTIS(SST and anomaly maps)
- http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/realtime/realtime.html#gesst
U-Wisc SSEC (GOES SST estimate)
- http://www.weathercenter.com/marine.htm
Tampa Bay Online (Regional SST data)
- http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsst.html
Tropical Prediction Center (SST and anomaly maps)
- http://nlmoc1.nlmoc.navy.mil/prods/oceans/gulfstream.html
NLMOC (Numeric data for Gulf and W Atlantic)
Back to Questions
I5) Where can I get real-time satellite pictures and satellite products?
(Provided by Gary Gray.)
- http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/realtime/realtime.html
SSEC (GOES products, including SST)
- http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/projects/sat_products.html
NRL Monterey (Various satellite winds)
- http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/
FPDT (GOES products)
- http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/soundings/
FPDT Soundings (CAPE, LI, TPW, temps from GOES)
- http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/soundings/skewt/html/skewtatl.html
FPDT Skew-Ts (GOES skew-t diagrams)
- http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/sdpi/
FPDT DPI (GOES Derived Product Imagery)
- http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/winds
FPDT Winds (Several GOES winds products)
- http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/projects/sat_products.html
NRL Monterey (Various sat pix, all basins)
- http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~dbaron/sat/
Intn'l Weather Satellite Images (Ultimate page to satellite links)
- gopher://twister.sbs.ohio-state.edu:70/1/wxascii/gophergrafx/satpix
OSU Gopher (GOESEast and West imagery)
- http://banzai.neosoft.com/citylink/blake/tropical.html
Atlantic Tropical Wx Center (Links to many sat sources, including loops)
- http://www.wunderground.com:80/tropical/
Weather Underground (Links to key satellite images)
- http://lumahai.soest.hawaii.edu/Tropical_Weather/tropical.shtml
U-Hawaii (A few sat pix, with model and surface overlays)
- http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/
SSEC U-Wisconsin (An original [non-link] site for GOES images)
- http://antares.csi.lsu.edu/htmls/current.html
LSU Earth Scan Laboratory (GOES-East imagery)
- http://www.met.fsu.edu/explores/canesat.html
FSU Explores! (Excellent Atlantic pix, linked from other sites)
- http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/index.html
UNISYS (GOES-East and West satellite imagery)
- http://www.orlandosentinel.com/hurricane/
Orlando Sentinel (Atlantic and Gulf sat pix)
- http://www.goes.noaa.gov/
NOAA GOES site (Official NOAA GOES web page)
- http://www.storm98.com/satellite
Storm '99 (Tropical sat pix - courtesy of AccuWeather)
- http://www.upr.clu.edu/nws/
Puerto Rico NWS (PR image, and links to others)
- http://www.skywarn-texas.org/GOES.htm
Texas Skywarn (Several sat pix links, and two mpeg loops)
- http://www.rap.ucar.edu/weather/satellite/
UCAR (Large source of general satellite data)
- http://www.cira.colostate.edu/Special/CurrWx/currwx.htm
CIRA (Another major source of general satellite imagery)
- http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~cczsteve/graphif.shtml
Nottingham (Primary source for Meteosat - Eastern Atlantic sat pix)
- http://www.intellicast.com/LocalWeather/content.shtml
Intellicast (Various satellite images)
Back to Questions
I6) Where can I get real-time radar data?
(Provided by Gary Gray.)
- http://banzai.neosoft.com/citylink/blake/tropical.html
Atlantic Tropical Wx Center (Some coastal radar shots)
- http://www.wunderground.com:80/US/Region/US/Radar.html
Weather Underground (Regional radar pix)
- http://tuna@www.alw.nih.gov/weather.html
Mid-Atlantic Weather (Mid-Atlantic radar images)
- http://www.ih2000.net/ira/bmt-wth.htm
TexNet (Coastal TX radar only)
- http://weather.unisys.com/radar/index.html
UNISYS (Coarse U.S. radar image)
- http://www.storm98.com/satellite
Storm '99 (U.S. regional radar images - Courtesy of AccuWeather)
- http://www.weathercenter.com/directry/radar8.htm
Tampa Bay Online (Tampa Bay doppler)
- http://www.skywarn-texas.org/doppler.htm
Texas Skywarn (Several radar images, mainly Texas)
- http://www.intellicast.com/LocalWeather/content.shtml
Intellicast (Primary internet radar site)
- http://www.cna.gob.mx/radares/radares.html
Mexican Water Commission (Mexican radar sites)
Back to Questions
I7) Where can I get real-time hurricane aircraft reconnaissance data?
(Provided by Gary Gray.)
- gopher://twister.sbs.ohio-state.edu:70/1/Tropical/Atlantic-Ocean/
Ohio State Gopher (All standard recon info/data)
- http://banzai.neosoft.com/citylink/blake/tropical.html
Atlantic Tropical Wx Center (Links to all recon data)
- http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/reconlist.html
Tropical Prediction Center (Full set of recon data)
- http://www.funet.fi/pub/dx/text/utility/Hurricane
FUNET (Decoding info)
- ftp://metlab1.met.fsu.edu/pub/weather/tropical/
FSU Explores! (All recon reports and information)
- http://www.hurricanehunters.com/
Hurricane Hunters (History, decoding info, and links to current data)
Back to Questions
I8) Where can I get real-time
model forecasts of tropical cyclone motion?
(Provided by Gary Gray.)
-
http://tropical.atmos.colostate.edu/forecasts/index.html
Colorado State (Dr. William Gray's seasonal forecasts)
-
http://www.millenniumweather.com
Millennium Weather (TRANTECH model)
-
http://weather.noaa.gov/fax/marine.shtml
NWS Marine Products (Forecast charts in .TIF format)
-
http://www1.nlmoc.navy.mil:83/wxmap/web/wx.htm
NLMOC (NOGAPS, MRF, and AVN)
-
http://metoc-u1.fnmoc.navy.mil/wxmap/web/index.html
FNMOC (NOGAPS, MRF, and AVN)
- http://weather.unisys.com/
UNISYS (ETA, MesoETA, NGM, AVN, RUC, MRF, and ECMWF)
-
http://twister.sbs.ohio-state.edu/models.html
OSU (MM5, ETA, NGM, AVN, MRF, and ECMWF, meso-ETA, FOUS)
-
http://grads.iges.org/pix/wx.html
COLA/IGES (RUC, ETA, AVN, and MRF)
-
http://www.atmos.albany.edu/das/nwp.html
Albany (NGM, ETA, and Meso-ETA)
-
http://itg1.meteor.wisc.edu/wxp_images/
U-Wisc (ETA, NGM, AVN, and MRF)
-
http://www.met.tamu.edu/weather.shtml
TAMU (ETA, NGM, AVN, MRF, ECMWF)
-
http://sgi62.wwb.noaa.gov:8080/erl/hur/prod/
EMC (Primary GFDL site.)
-
gopher://twister.sbs.ohio-state.edu:70/1/severe/tropical/atl_trop_models/
OSU-text (BAM, LBAR, A90E, SHIPS, SHIFOR, and GFDL)
-
http://www.met.fsu.edu/Data/archive/weather/HURR/
FSU-text (UKMET, BAM, LBAR, A90E, SHIPS, SHIFOR, and GFDL)
Back
to Questions
I9) Where can I get tropical
cyclone preparedness information?
(Provided by Gary Gray.)
-
http://www.fema.gov/fema/trop.htm
=> FEMA (general preparedness info)
- http://www.redcross.org/
=> Red Cross (general preparedness info search)
-
http://xenocide.nando.net/nao/hurricane
=> Hurricane Watch (prep. info and NC Flood/Evac map!!)
-
http://www.shadow.net/~mdcc01/hurricane.html
=> Dade Co. BCCO (building code info and S FL Evac map!)
-
http://www.vdot.state.va.us/traf/hurricane.html
=> Virginia DOT (VA evacuation maps!!)
- http://www.swfrpc.org/hurr.htm
=> SW Florida RPC (flood maps and study!!)
-
http://www.tcpalm.com/specials/hurricane/guide/
=> WPTV Hurricane Survival
Guide (general preparedness info)
-
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/hurricane/
=> Orlando Sentinel (general preparedness info)
- http://www.upr.clu.edu/nws/
=> Puerto Rico NWS (general preparedness info)
Back
to Questions
I10) What computer software is
available for tracking tropical cyclones?
(Descriptions kindly provided by Tom Berg and via the authors. Note
that this does not constitute an endorsement of any product. "Low $"
indicates less than $50, "Medium $" indicates between $50-$100, and
"High $" indicates more than $100.)
1. HURRTRAK (Windows-based) --- shareware, semi-functional available on
Compuserve in Aviation and Weather Channel forums. Also on AOL. It is
also available through the WeatherNet at:
http://cirrus.sprl.umich.edu/wxnet/software.html
The company is
PC Weather Products
P.O. Box 72723
Marietta, GA 30007-2723
770-953-3506 or
800-605-2230
Email: wxperson@pcwp.com
or
Web: http://www.pcwp.com
They primarily market their professional versions (high $), but still
provide a hobbyist edition (medium $). The professional software allows
for many additional capabilities such as plotting county lines & roadways,
more detailed charts, detailed impact reports as well as animation and
strike probabilities. See their WEB site at http://www.pcwp.com
for more
information
2. STORM (DOS-based) - shareware, semi-functional available on AOL. The company is
Utopia Software
P.O. Box 420324
Houston, TX 77242
They offer a regular (low $) and enhanced version (medium $). What the
enhanced offers special is the ability to enter and plot the forecasted
positions from the NHC and to include offshore platforms or ships
positions on the charts.
3. FORCE12 (Windows) ---- shareware, semi-functional available on Compuserve
in Aviation and Weather Channel forums and AOL. The company is
Epperson Computing
P.O. Box 1094
Baytown, TX 77522-1094
There is only one version (low $).
4. MERLIN (DOS) ----- shareware, semi-functional available on Compuserve in
Aviation and Weather Channel forums. The company is
T.M.
Parker
P.O. Box 1431
La Porte, TX 77572
There is only one version (low $).
5. GCANES (DOS) ----- shareware, semi-functional available on Compuserve in
Aviation
forum. The company is
Robert Terwilliger
2398 SW 22nd Ave.
Miami, FL 33145
There is only one version (low $).
6. HURRICANE FORECASTER (DOS) - shareware, semi-functional available on AOL. The company is
Craig Rorrer
3809 Iola Ct.
Virginia Beach, VA 23456
There is only one version (low $).
7. HURRICANE TRACKER (Windows) -- shareware, semi-functional available on
Compuserve forum Aviation. The
company is
Nicheware
P.O. Box 1312
Summerville,SC 29484-1312
There is only one version (low $).
8. HURRICANE WATCH! (Windows) --- shareware, semi-functional available on
Compuserve forum Aviation and AOL. The company is
SeaBorne
Systems
414 Long Leaf Acres Dr.
Wilmington, NC 28405
There is only one version (low $).
9. TRACKEYE (Windows) - shareware, semi-functional available on
Compuserve forums Aviation and Weather Channel. The company is
GenCode Technologies
7907 N. Rome Ave.
Tampa, FL 33604
There is only one version (low $).
10. TRAKHUR (DOS) - I only found it advertised in Weatherwise magazine. The company is
Bryan Lambeth, PE
Hurricane Research Srvc
P.O. Box 181032
Austin, TX 78718
There is a regular version (low $) and the TRAKHUR PRO version (medium $).
11. TRACKER (DOS) - again, I found it through Weatherwise. The company is
OceanSoft Inc.
P.O. Box 1224
Largo, FL 34649
TRACKER (medium $) also includes something unique called Mapper, this
allows you to build your own maps of any ocean and will show the map in
Mercator, Azimuthal, and spread types.
12. WINSTORM - shareware (no cost), semi-functional available on
Compuserve forum Aviation and AOL. The company
is
Ingramation
2437 Bay Area Blvd.
Suite 349
Houston, TX 77058
13. MCHURRICANE - a hurricane tracking program for the Macintosh,
posted on AOL, along with several shareware (low $) CDs. The company is
William I. Chenault
149 Country Club Rd
Shalimar, FL 32579
(904)-651-2276
Back
to Questions
Historical Information
J1) Where can I get historical
data of tropical cyclones?
FREE DATA - ftp hrd-type42.nhc.noaa.gov [140.90.176.206]
Atlantic basin tropical storm and hurricane best track data, 1886-1998. Every 6
hour intensity and position information in an ASCII file including a README
documentation file (tra86to98.atl and README.atl) in the subdirectory
"data". Also, Northeast/North-central Pacific tropical storm and
hurricane data (1949-1998) are also provided (tra49to98.epc and README.epc).
Provided by landsea@aoml.noaa.gov
(Chris Landsea).
http://wxp.atms.purdue.edu/hur_atlantic/
This best track information for the Atlantic has provided in
separate images for each years by some people at Purdue University. The
tracks for the individual years have been provided in a color coded (for
intensity) format.
NOT-FREE DATA
World Weather Disc ($295):
Monthly temp, precip, pressure, sunshine data for about 2000 world
stations for period of record. Daily weather data at hundreds of US
stations. Data for some stations on temp, precip, freeze, drought, soil
moisture, wind, storms. Frequency and movement of tropical cyclones.
Contact: Cliff Mass, Dept. of Atmos. Sci. (AK40), University of
Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. 206/685-0910.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Global Tropical and Extratropical Cyclone Climatic Atlas (GTECCA) 2.0 CD-ROM:
This single volume CD-ROM contains global historic tropical storm track data
for five tropical storm basins. Period of record vary for each basin,
beginning as early as the 1870's, with 1995 as the latest year. Northern
hemispheric extratropical storm track data are included from 1965 to 1995
Tropical track data includes time, position, storm stage (maximum wind,
central pressure when available). The user has the capability to display
tracks, and to track data for any basin or user-selected geographic area. The
user is also able to select storm tracks passing within a user-defined radius of
any point. Narratives for all tropical storms for the 1980-1995 period are
included along with basin-wide tropical storm statistics.
Contact: National Climatic Data Center, Federal Building,
Asheville, NC 28801, USA. 704/271-4800, email orders@ncdc.noaa.gov.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Web Site Historical Data: -
(Provided by Gary Gray.)
-
http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/index.html
UNISYS (Maps for every modern year)
-
http://www.earthwatch.com/hurricane.html
EarthWatch (Some past satellite images)
-
http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/tropical.html
U-Hawaii (Storm archives for past few years)
-
http://hurricane.weathercenter.com/guide/history.htm
Tampa Bay Online (Worst storms, and FL frequency)
-
http://www.shadow.net/~mdcc01/hurricane.html
Dade Co. BCCO (Andrew aftermath pictures)
-
http://hamptonroads.digitalcity.com/hurricane/main.htm
WAVY-TV 10 (500 year highlights)
-
http://www.vic.com/~mikmoody/index.htm
Hurricane History (Impressive history of major storms)
-
http://www.netsense.net/~sbrown
Mr. Hurricane's Storm Center (History and current info)
- http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
Tropical Prediction Center (Extensive overall summaries)
-
http://www.firstmedia.net/Content/Venv_we.htm
First Media (Several MPG satellite loops)
Back
to Questions
J2) What journals have regular
articles on tropical cyclones
The American Meteorological Society publishes the
_Monthly Weather Review_ which has annual summaries of Atlantic basin
tropical cyclones, Atlantic basin tropical disturbances, and Northeast Pacific
(east of 140W) basin tropical cyclones. These summaries have a substantial
amount of data and analysis of the storms.
- _Weatherwise_ prints annual summaries of both the
Atlantic and
Northeast Pacific basins which are less technical that the _Monthly
Weather Review_ articles, but come out months earlier.
- For just the tropical cyclones of the Southeast
Indian/Australia and
the Australia/Southwest Pacific basins, the _Australia Meteorological
Magazine_ has a very thorough annual summary.
- The Indian journal _Mausam_ carries an annual
summary of tropical
cyclone activity over the North Indian Ocean.
- Mariner's Weather
Log_ has articles from all of the
global basins
in annual summaries. These are descriptive and non-technical.
Back
to Questions
J3) What books have been written
about tropical cyclones?
************************* _
BEST NON-TECHNICAL BOOKS:
*************************
Hurricanes: Their Nature and Impacts on Society_
and
_Meteorology Today for Scientists and
Engineers_
- ____Hurricanes: Their Nature and Impacts on
Society____
An excellent introductory text into hurricanes (and
tropical cyclones in general), this book by R.A. Pielke, Jr. and R.A. Pielke,
Sr. provides the basics on the physical mechanisms of hurricanes without getting
into any mathematical rigor. The book also discusses hurricane policy,
vulnerability and societal responses and ends with an in-depth look at Hurricane
Andrew's forecast, impact and response. Roger A. Pielke, Jr. is a Sociologist at
the Environmental and Societal Impacts Group at the National Center for
Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, USA. Roger A. Pielke, Sr. is a
Professor of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University (USA). The
book's 1997 edition is available through John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.
- ____Meteorology Today for Scientists and
Engineers____
For a concise mathematical description of hurricanes
that has NO calculus and NO differential equations, then I would suggest
obtaining a copy of this book by Rolland B. Stull (West Publ. Co.,
Minneapolis/St. Paul, 385 pp - Chapter 16 Hurricanes p289-304). This
paperback book is designed to accompany C. Donald Ahrens' introductory book
_Meteorology Today_.
********************
BEST TECHNICAL BOOK:
Global Perspectives
on Tropical Cyclones_
********************
This is the revised version of _A Global View of
Tropical Cyclones_ and is the most current, detailed book available on the
subject. This book provides the state of the science as of 1994.
Improvements over the previous version include a chapter on the ocean response
to tropical cyclones. This paperback book is written in 1995 by G.R.
Foley, H.E. Willoughby, J.L. McBride, R.L. Elsberry, I. Ginis, and L. Chen with
Elsberry serving as Editor and is available from the World Meteorological
Organization as Report No. TCP-38. Their address is:
World Meteorological Organization
Publications Sales Unit
Case Postale 2300
CH-1211 Geneva 2
Switzerland
************************
BEST FORECASTING MANUAL:
_Global Guide to Tropical Cyclone
Forecasting_
************************
For the tropical cyclone forecaster and also of
general interest for anyone in the field and those with a non-technical interest
in the field, the loose-leaf book - _Global Guide to Tropical Cyclone
Forecasting_ (1993) by G.J. Holland (ed.), World Meteorological Organization,
WMO/TD-No. 560, Report No. TCP-31 is a must get. (See above for address of
the WMO.)
**********************
BEST HISTORICAL BOOK: _North Carolina's Hurricane
History_
Florida's Hurricane History_
**********************
These two books are an amazing documentaries of the
hurricanes which have struck the states of North Carolina and Florida from 1526
until 1996 and 1546-1995, respectively. The author Jay Barnes - Director
of the North Carolina Aquarium - tells the stories of the hurricanes and their
effects upon the people of the state in an easily readable style with numerous
photographs. These 1998 books are available through the University of
North Carolina Press.
**********************
OTHER BOOKS AVAILABLE:
**********************
- ________Hurricanes, Their Nature and
History______
Before Dunn and Miller's book, Ivan Ray Tannehill came
out with an authoritative reference on the history, structure, climatology,
historical tracks, and forecasting techniques of Atlantic hurricanes as was
known by the mid-1930s. This is one of the first compilations of yearly
tracks of Atlantic storms - he provides tracks of memorable tropical cyclones
all the way back to the 1700s and shows all the storm tracks yearly from 1901
onward. The first edition came out in 1938 and the book went through at
least nine editions (my book was published in 1956). Mr. Tannehill was
engaged in hurricane forecasting for over 20 years and also lead the Division of
Synoptic Reports and Forecasts of the U.S. Weather Bureau. Princeton
University Press, 308 pp (in 1956 version).
- ______Atlantic
Hurricanes_______
A classic book describing tropical cyclones primarily
of the Atlantic basin, but also covering the physical understanding of tropical
cyclone genesis, motion, and intensity change at the time is _Atlantic
Hurricanes_ by Gordon E. Dunn and Banner I. Miller. Written in 1960,
published by the Louisiana State Press, this book gives provides good insight
into the knowledge of tropical cyclones as of the late 1950s. It is
interesting to observe that much of what we know was well understood at this
pre-satellite era. Gordon E. Dunn was the Director of the U.S. National
Hurricane Center and Banner I. Miller was a research meteorologist also at the
National Hurricane Center.
- ________A Global View of Tropical
Cyclones_______
A very thorough book dealing with the technical issues
of tropical cyclones for the state of the science in the mid-1980s: _A
Global View of Tropical Cyclones_ (1987) by Elsberry, Holland, Frank, Jarrell,
and Southern; University of Chicago Press, 195 pp. A revised version
of this book has recently become available, see _Global
Perspectives on Tropical Cyclones_ above.
- ________Tropical Cyclones of the North Atlantic
Ocean, 1871-1992_______
Researchers and those who follow Atlantic hurricanes
should all have a copy of the atlas: _Tropical Cyclones of the North
Atlantic Ocean, 1871-1992_, by C.J. Neumann, B.R. Jarvinen, C.J. McAdie, J.D.
Elms; Asheville, NC, (1993), Prepared by the National Climatic Data Center,
Asheville, NC, in cooperation with the National Hurricane Center, Coral Gables,
FL, 193 pp.
- ________Hurricanes___________
An introductory text book for young readers on
hurricanes by Sally Lee, Franklin Watts Publishing, New York, 63 pp
(1993).
- ________Cyclone Tracy, Picking up the
Pieces_______
Twenty years after Cyclone Tracy, this book recreates,
by interviews with survivors, the events during and after the cyclone that
nearly destroyed Darwin, Australia: _Cyclone Tracy, Picking up the
pieces_, B. Bunbury, (1994), Fremantle Arts Centre Press, South Fremantle,
Australia, 148 pp.
- ________Beware the
Hurricane!________
This book tells "the story of the cyclonic
tropical storms that have struck Bermuda and the Islanders' folk-lore regarding
them" by Terry Tucker. It is published by The Island Press Limited,
Bermuda in 1995, 180 pp.
- ________The Hurricane________
A very good introductory text into hurricanes (and
tropical cyclones in general), this book by R.A. Pielke provides the basics on
the physical mechanisms of hurricanes without getting into any mathematical
rigor. This first version is just 100 pages of text with another 120 pages
devoted toward all of the tracks of Atlantic hurricanes from 1871-1989.
Roger A. Pielke is a professor of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State
University (USA). The book's 1990 edition is available through Routledge
Publishing, New York. An updated version of this book is available in 1997
as _Hurricanes: Their Nature and Impacts on Society_ by Pielke and Pielke.
- ________Florida Hurricanes and Tropical Storms, Revised
Edition_
This recent book provides a historical perspective of
Florida Hurricanes
extending from 1871 to 1996 by J.M. Williams and I. W. Duedall, (1997),
Florida Sea Grant College Program, University of Florida Press, Gainesville,
Florida, USA, 146 pp.
- ________Hurricanes of the North
Atlantic_______
This book by J. B. Elsner and A. B. Kara focuses on the
statistics and variability of Atlantic hurricanes as well as detailed
discussions on how hurricanes impact the insurance industry and how integrated
assessments can be made regarding these storms. The book provides very
valuable information on hurricane frequencies, intensities and return periods
that are not easily available elsewhere. Also sections are devoted on the
development of seasonal (and longer) hurricane forecast models and their
performance. This 1999 book is available through Oxford University Press,
New York/Oxford, 488 pp.
Back
to Questions
J4) What refereed articles were
written in recent years about tropical cyclones?
At the ftp site: - ftp hrd-type42.nhc.noaa.gov [140.90.176.206]
The files - TCpubs.1993, TCpubs.1994, TCpubs.1995, TCpubs.1996,
TCpubs.1997, TCpubs.1998 - in the subdirectory "papers" contain
all
known refereed publications concerning tropical cyclones that were in
journals around the world with a print date for those years.
The file - hurr-societal.9799 - in the subdirectory
"papers" contains a listing of peer-reviewed social science journal
articles on hurricanes.
Maintained by landsea@aoml.noaa.gov
(Chris Landsea).
*********************************************************
K1)
What steps should I take when a hurricane watch/warning is posted?
- Hurricanes
- Sneads Ferry Group's
Compilation of Hurricane Preparedness Guidelines & Tips
-
http://www.redcross.org/disaster/safety/hurrican.html
Red Cross Hurricane Info
-
http://www.redcross.org/disaster/safety/hurrspn.html
Preparado para un hurican - Red Cross en espanol
- http://www.fema.gov/fema/trop.htm
FEMA - Federal Emergency Management Agency
- http://xenocide.nando.net/nao/hurricane
Hurricane Watch (prep. info and NC Flood/Evac map)
-
http://www.vdot.state.va.us/traf/hurricane.html
Virginia DOT (VA evacuation maps)
-
http://www.tcpalm.com/specials/hurricane/guide/
WPTV Hurricane Survival Guide (general preparedness info)
- http://www.orlandosentinel.com/hurricane/
Orlando Sentinel (general preparedness info)
K2)
What can I do to make my home/business more disaster resistant?
- http://www.fema.gov/mit/how2.htm
How to Protect Your Home (FEMA)
- http://www.ibhs.org
Institute for Business & Home Safety
- http://www.swfrpc.org/hurr.htm
SW Florida RPC (flood maps and study)
K3)
What kind of hurricane shutters are available ?
Look at this Website for hurricane shutter information : http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/shutters/
NHC/HRD shutter site
By Christopher W. Landsea
NOAA AOML/Hurricane Research
Division
4301 Rickenbacker Causeway
Miami, Florida 33149
landsea@aoml.noaa.gov
3 August, 1999 - Updated 5/25/2002
This is currently a four-part
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions report) that is in its second full incarnation
(version 2.8). However, there may be some errors or discrepancies that
have not yet been found. If you do see an item that needs correction,
please contact me directly. Part I contains various definitions, answers
for questions about names, myths, winds, records, forecasting, climatology and
observation of tropical cyclones. This section (Part II) provides sites
that you can access both real-time information about tropical cyclones, what is
available on-line for historical storms, as well as good books to read and
various references for tropical cyclones. Keep in mind that this FAQ is
not considered a reviewed paper to reference. Its main purpose is to
provide quick answers for (naturally) frequently asked questions as well as to
be a pointer to various sources of information.
Much of the on-line
information is pulled from Ilana Stern's wonderful "Sources of
Meteorological Data FAQ" and I acknowledge the time and effort she has put
in in originally compiling this information. Also Gary Gray has put
together a very comprehensive listing of tropical cyclone Web sites that I've
included here with his permission.
Where can I get the latest version of this
document?????
--------------------------------------------------------
ASCII VERSION: An ascii edition of the two portions for this FAQ are
posted monthly on sci.geo.meteorology and on sci.environment usually early in
each month. One can also ftp to retrieve the latest files
at: hrd-type42.nhc.noaa.gov. Login as 'anonymous' and password as
your email address. The files are available the sub-directory
"papers" (TCfaqI and TCfaqII). If you do not have ftp access,
you can request copies from me directly via email.
FANCY VERSION: Neal Dorst has created a
much enhanced World Wide Web version that is starting to include in helpful
pictures as well. This user friendly site is available via your favorite
web server at: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/tcfaqHED.html
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