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Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Newsletter February 2009
[Summaries and Track Data] [Prepared by Gary Padgett]

                   MONTHLY TROPICAL CYCLONE NEWSLETTER

                              FEBRUARY, 2009

  (For general comments about the nature of these summaries, as well as
  information on how to download the tabular cyclone track files, see
  the Author's Note at the end of this summary.)

  *************************************************************************

                            FEBRUARY HIGHLIGHTS

  --> A rather quiet month--one intense cyclone in Southwest Indian Ocean

  *************************************************************************

                   !!!!!!!!!!  EXTRA FEATURE !!!!!!!!!!

             WESTERN HEMISPHERE TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMES for 2009

     Tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and
  Caribbean Sea are assigned names by the Tropical Prediction Center/
  National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.   A separate alphabetical
  set of alternating male/female names is used each year with the name
  of the first tropical storm beginning with the letter "A".  Names are
  repeated every six years.  The names of hurricanes which cause a lot
  of damage and/or fatalities are usually retired from the list with
  another name of the same alphabetical rank and gender replacing it.
  Following the 2008 season, the names Gustav, Ike, and Paloma were
  retired and have been replaced with Gonzalo, Isaias, and Paulette,
  respectively.

     The list of names for 2009 is the same one used during the active
  hurricane season of 2003 when sixteen tropical cyclones were named with 
  seven reaching hurricane intensity.  The names Fabian, Isabel, and Juan
  were retired and have been replaced with Fred, Ida, and Joaquin in this
  year's list.

     TPC/NHC also has warning responsibility for the Eastern North
  Pacific Ocean from the west coast of Mexico out to longitude 140W.
  Six separate alphabetical sets of names are used for this basin in
  the same manner as in the Atlantic.  Initially, the Eastern Pacific
  name sets contained only 21 names, omitting "Q" and "U" and ending
  with the letter "W", as in the Atlantic.  When the active 1985 season
  threatened to exhaust the list, the names Xina, York and Zelda were
  drafted to accommodate any additional storms which might develop.
  (Hurricane Xina was named in late October, 1985.)  The decision was
  made sometime in the latter 1980s to extend the list with these three
  names in odd-numbered years, and to add the names Xavier, Yolanda and
  Zeke in even-numbered years (to preserve the alternating gender
  scheme).  During the Northeast Pacific's year of record activity in
  1992, all 24 names were allotted to tropical cyclones forming east of
  140W, ending with Tropical Storm Zeke in late October.  Had more storms
  developed, they would have been named with the letters of the Greek
  alphabet (Alpha, Beta, etc), which is also the backup plan for the
  Atlantic basin in case more than 21 tropical storms develop in a single
  season.

     Due to the fact that few Eastern Pacific cyclones significantly
  affect populated areas, names are rarely retired from the list.
  However, the following the 2008 season, the name Alma was retired and
  has been replaced with Amanda in the set for 2014.

     The list of names for this year was last used in 2003 when sixteen
  tropical cyclones were named.  No names were retired following that
  season so the 2009 list is identical to that used six years ago.

     The Central Pacific Hurricane Center, located in Honolulu, has
  tropical cyclone warning responsibility for that portion of the North
  Pacific Ocean lying between longitudes 140W and 180.  The majority of
  the tropical storms and hurricanes seen in that region are visitors
  from east of 140W, but on the average about one tropical storm forms
  in the Central Pacific each year, and when this happens, the storm is
  given a Hawaiian name.   The list consists of four sets of twelve
  names each, using only the letters of the Hawaiian alphabet.  All the
  names are used--the first storm to form in a given year is assigned
  the next available name on the list.  The last tropical cyclone named
  by CPHC was Kika in 2008.

     Names for 2009 are (** indicates name has already been assigned):


            ATLANTIC                EASTERN PACIFIC        CENTRAL PACIFIC

    Ana            Larry         Andres         Marty           Lana
    Bill           Mindy         Blanca         Nora            Maka
    Claudette      Nicholas      Carlos         Olaf            Neki
    Danny          Odette        Dolores        Patricia        Omeka
    Erika          Peter         Enrique        Rick            Pewa
    Fred           Rose          Felicia        Sandra          Unala
    Grace          Sam           Guillermo      Terry           Wali
    Henri          Teresa        Hilda          Vivian          Ana
    Ida            Victor        Ignacio        Waldo           Ela
    Joaquin        Wanda         Jimena         Xina            Halola
    Kate                         Kevin          York            Iune
                                 Linda          Zelda           Kilo

  *************************************************************************

                             ACTIVITY BY BASINS

  ATLANTIC (ATL) - North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico

  Activity for February:  No tropical cyclones

  *************************************************************************

  NORTHEAST PACIFIC (NEP) - North Pacific Ocean East of Longitude 180

  Activity for February:  No tropical cyclones

  *************************************************************************

  NORTHWEST PACIFIC (NWP) - North Pacific Ocean West of Longitude 180

  Activity for February:  1 tropical depression **
                       
  ** - treated as a tropical depression by PAGASA only


              Northwest Pacific Tropical Activity for February
              ------------------------------------------------

     Over the past 11 seasons (since 1998), the NWP basin has produced a
  tropical storm or depression in February on four occasions, the last
  being in 2004.  February is the month of minimal tropical cyclone
  activity in the NWP basin.  Neither JTWC nor JMA classified any system 
  as a tropical depression, but PAGASA elevated a low-pressure area to 
  depression status, naming it Bising.  TD Bising affected Mindanao and
  the Visayas; also, the remnants brought scattered rainshowers to southern
  Luzon and the Bicol region.   Information on TD Bising may be found on
  the Wikipedia website at the following link:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Pacific_typhoon_season>
  
     Since no agency elevated the depression's MSW to 30 kts, I did not
  create a track for the system in the companion cyclone tracks file.
  Michael Padua's storm log for Bising, containing PAGASA's track, may
  be accessed at:

  http://www.typhoon2000.ph/stormarchives/2009/stormlogs/02bising09_log.htm>

  *************************************************************************

  NORTH INDIAN OCEAN (NIO) - Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea

  Activity for February:  No tropical cyclones

  *************************************************************************

  SOUTHWEST INDIAN OCEAN (SWI) - South Indian Ocean West of Longitude 90E

  Activity for February:  1 severe tropical storm
                          1 intense tropical cyclone


                         Sources of Information
                         ----------------------

     The primary sources of tracking and intensity information for
  Southwest Indian Ocean tropical cyclones are the warnings issued by
  the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre on La Reunion Island, part of
  Meteo France (MFR), and the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre
  for the basin.    However, tropical cyclones in this region are named 
  by the Sub-regional Tropical Cyclone Advisory Centres in Mauritius and 
  Madagascar with longitude 55E being the demarcation line between their 
  respective areas of naming responsibility.  The La Reunion centre only 
  advises these agencies regarding the intensity of tropical systems.  
  References to sustained winds imply a 10-minute averaging period unless
  otherwise stated.

     In the companion tropical cyclone tracks file, I occasionally
  annotate positions from warnings issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning
  Center (JTWC) of the U. S. Air Force and Navy, located at Pearl
  Harbor, Hawaii, when they differ from MFR's coordinates by usually
  40-50 nm or more.  The JTWC warnings are also the source of the
  1-minute average maximum sustained wind values included in the
  tracks file.    Additionally, information describing details of
  satellite imagery and atmospheric circulation features included in
  the narratives is often gleaned from the JTWC warnings.


            Southwest Indian Ocean Tropical Activity for February
            -----------------------------------------------------

  A. Climatological Information
  -----------------------------

     Tropical cyclone activity was slightly below normal in the South
  Indian Ocean west of 90E during February, 2009.  Two disturbances were
  numbered by MFR, and both were named as tropical storms.  Gael became
  an intense tropical cyclone, rather sharply recurving east of
  Madagascar and passing between that large island and Reunion Island.
  Severe Tropical Storm Hina later moved on a general southerly track
  through the central South Indian Ocean.  The two storms combined
  produced a total of 9.75 NSD, while Gael existed as a tropical cyclone
  (hurricane) for 4.25 days and as an intense cyclone for 2.00 days.
  Over the 1997-1998 through 2007-2008 period, the averages for the SWI
  basin are:

  NS - 2.09 / H - 1.27 / IH - 1.18 / NSD - 12.77 / HD - 5.50 / IHD - 1.95

  Relating the monthly totals for these parameters to the averages for the
  past eleven seasons, February, 2009, had a NTC at 86% of normal for the
  month of February.  

     The Wikipedia page for the 2008-2009 cyclone season in the Southwest
  Indian Ocean may be found at the following URL:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008-09_South-West_Indian_Ocean_cyclone_season>


  B. Tropical Systems in February
  -------------------------------

  Both Gael and Hina are adequately covered by Wikipedia, so my comments 
  will be brief.  A special report is available for Tropical Cyclone
  Gael, though it covers only the formative stages of the storm in
  detail.

  (1) Gael   1 - 12 February
  --------------------------

     Intense Tropical Cyclone Gael (MFR-08/13S) began developing on
  1 February from an area of disturbed weather about 1000 miles to the
  northeast of Reunion Island.  The system embarked on a west-southwesterly
  track which it was to follow for almost a week.  MFR initiated bulletins
  on the LOW at 01/1200 UTC and upgraded it to a tropical depression at
  03/0000 UTC.  (JTWC had issued their first warning on TC-13S at 1800 UTC
  2 February.)   The depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Gael at
  03/0600 UTC, located near 17.2S/64.9E.   Intensification was slow at
  first and it was not until 1800 UTC on 5 February that Gael reached
  cyclone (i.e., hurricane) intensity near 18.3S/55.1E.    However, once
  having reached cyclone status, Gael intensified rather quickly into
  an intense tropical cyclone with 90-kt winds (10-min avg) at 06/1800
  UTC.  MFR's peak intensity for Gael was 95 kts at 07/0600 UTC, while
  JTWC estimated the peak 1-min avg MSW to be 120 kts.  The estimated
  minimum CP was 934 hPa.   MFR's and SAB's peak intensity estimate for
  Gael was T5.5/5.5.  JTWC alone rated the cyclone at T6.0/6.0.

     Gael reached its peak intensity a few hundred miles off the east coast
  of Madagascar near 20.0S/51.7E.     This point turned out to be the
  cyclone's point of recurvature.   Gael recurved rather sharply to the
  southeast, but remained an intense cyclone for another 24 hours before
  slow weakening set in.  Weakening became more rapid on the 9th with
  Gael being downgraded to a 60-kt tropical storm at 10/0000 UTC near
  31.4S/60.6E.  Six hours later MFR declared the system extratropical.
  The remnants of the former cyclone continued southeastward and slowly
  filled, being last located near 42.6S/72.3E at 1800 UTC 12 February.

     According to the Wikipedia report, there were two fatalities on
  Reunion Island as a result of heavy rain produced by Gael.

  (2) Hina   21 - 26 February
  ---------------------------

     Severe Tropical Storm Hina (MFR-09/16S) formed in the central South
  Indian Ocean to the southeast of Diego Garcia and followed a generally
  southerly track.  MFR initiated bulletins on a disturbance at 0600 UTC
  21 February, and JTWC issued their first warning on TC-16S at 1800 UTC,
  placing the center near 14.6S/77.8E.  At the same time MFR upgraded
  the disturbance to a tropical depression, and Tropical Storm Hina
  was christened six hours later.   The storm intensified quickly, reaching
  its peak intensity of 55 kts by 22/1200 UTC near 16.8S/78.6E.  JTWC's
  peak 1-min avg MSW for Hina was 60 kts.  Interestingly, this came at
  23/0600 UTC, when MFR had already begun to decrease Hina's intensity.
  The storm initially followed a track to the south-southeast, but as it
  began to weaken the storm's motion turned toward the southwest.  Hina
  was downgraded to a tropical depression at 24/0000 UTC and to a tropical
  disturbance six hours later.    MFR issued their final bulletin on
  ex-Hina at 25/0600 UTC.   The remnant LOW could still be followed to
  27.7S/63.4E at 26/1800 UTC.   Tropical Storm Hina was a marine storm
  and no damage or casualties are known to have resulted from the
  system.

  *************************************************************************

  NORTHWEST AUSTRALIA/SOUTHEAST INDIAN OCEAN (AUW) - From 90E to 135E

  Activity for February:  1 tropical LOW
                          1 tropical cyclone


                          Sources of Information
                          ----------------------

     The primary sources of tracking and intensity information for
  Northwest Australia/Southeast Indian Ocean tropical cyclones are 
  the warnings and advices issued by the Tropical Cyclone Warning
  Centres at Perth, Western Australia, Darwin, Northern Territory,
  and less frequently, by the centre at Jakarta, Indonesia. 
  References to sustained winds imply a 10-minute averaging period
  unless otherwise stated.

     In the companion tropical cyclone tracks file, I occasionally
  annotate positions from warnings issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning
  Center (JTWC) of the U. S. Air Force and Navy, located at Pearl
  Harbor, Hawaii, when they differ from the Australian centres' coor-
  dinates by usually 40-50 nm or more.  The JTWC warnings are also the
  source of the 1-minute average maximum sustained wind values included
  in the tracks file.   Additionally, information describing details of
  satellite imagery and atmospheric circulation features included in
  the narratives is often gleaned from the JTWC warnings.


                 Northwest Australia/Southeast Indian Ocean
                       Tropical Activity for February
                 ------------------------------------------

  A. Climatological Information
  -----------------------------

     Tropical cyclone activity was well below normal in the Southeast
  Indian Ocean and off Western Australia during February, 2009.  Only one
  tropical cyclone, Freddy, formed, and it remained well offshore from
  the Australian coastline.  Another tropical LOW formed at the end of the
  month, and although initially forecast to strengthen into a tropical
  cyclone, made landfall in Western Australia without doing so.  Tropical
  Cyclone Freddy existed as a tropical cyclone of gale intensity or higher
  for 3.75 days.

     Over the 1997-1998 through 2007-2008 period, the averages for the
  Australian Region between longitudes 90E and 135E are:

  NS - 1.18 / H - 0.55 / IH - 0.27 / NSD - 4.59 / HD - 1.41 / IHD - 0.36

  Relating the monthly totals for these parameters to the averages for the
  past eleven seasons, February, 2009, had a NTC at only 28% of normal for
  the month of February.


     The Wikipedia page for the 2008-2009 cyclone season in the Australian
  Region may be found at the following URL:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008-09_Australian_region_cyclone_season>


  B. Tropical Systems in February
  -------------------------------

  (1) Freddy   3 - 15 February
  ----------------------------

     Tropical Cyclone Freddy (11U/14S) formed in early February in the
  monsoon trough in the north Kimberley region.  Gale warnings in
  anticipation of the system developing were initiated on the 3rd, but
  the LOW strengthened slowly and Freddy was not named until 1800 UTC
  on 6 February while located near 15.6S/113.3E.  The cyclone moved on a
  general westerly to west-southwesterly course away from the Australian
  mainland for the next few days, reaching a peak intensity of 50 kts with
  an estimated minimum CP of 983 hPa at 08/0000 UTC near 15.9S/110.4E.
  JTWC's peak estimated 1-min avg MSW was 55 kts, in excellent agreement
  with Perth's intensity.  Freddy began to weaken steadily on the 9th
  as it encountered cooler SSTs and increasing shear.  BoM Perth down-
  graded Freddy to a tropical LOW at 1800 UTC on the 10th, but the weak
  remnants could be followed westward to 18.0S/72.3E where it dissipated
  on the 15th.

     The Wikipedia report indicates that the outer bands of Freddy
  produced heavy rains in Indonesia, triggering a landslide which resulted
  in two fatalities.

  (2) Tropical LOW   26 - 28 February
  -----------------------------------

     A tropical LOW (15U) formed on 26 February north of the Kimberley
  coast of Western Australia.    The system initially moved west-
  southwestward, thence curving to the south and inland near Port Hedland
  on the 28th.   For a good portion of its history the LOW was forecast
  to reach tropical cyclone intensity, but landfall occurred before this
  happened.  According to the Wikipedia report upwards of 112 mm of rain
  fell along the Pilbara coast, causing minor flooding.
                   
  *************************************************************************

  NORTHEAST AUSTRALIA/CORAL SEA (AUE) - From 135E to 160E

  Activity for February:  No tropical cyclones **

  ** - No tropical cyclones formed during the month; Tropical Cyclone Ellie
       was in existence on the first day of February


                       Northeast Australia/Coral Sea
                       Tropical Activity for February
                       ------------------------------

  A. Climatological Information
  -----------------------------

     No tropical cyclones formed in the Gulf of Carpentaria and Coral Sea
  during February, 2009.  Tropical Cyclone Ellie was in existence on the
  first day of the month, but moved inland into Queensland late on the 1st
  and weakened below cyclone intensity.  Ellie was covered in the January
  newsletter.   A weak tropical LOW (12U) was present in the Coral Sea
  during the first week of the month, but failed to develop further.
  Around mid-month, the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Innis from the Fiji
  area briefly curved into the Australian Region where it was identified
  as Tropical LOW 14U, but the system later recurved back east of 160E.
  The only TC activity was 0.5 NSD generated by Ellie on 1 February.

     Over the 1997-1998 through 2007-2008 period, the averages for the
  Australian Region between longitudes 135E and 160E are:

  NS - 1.00 / H - 0.36 / IH - 0.00 / NSD - 1.61 / HD - 0.16 / IHD - 0.00

  Relating the monthly totals for these parameters to the averages for the
  past eleven seasons, February, 2009, had a NTC at only 5% of normal for
  the month of February. 

     The Wikipedia page for the 2008-2009 cyclone season in the Australian
  Region may be found at the following URL:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008-09_Australian_region_cyclone_season>


  B. Tropical Systems in February
  -------------------------------

     Other than Ellie, no other tropical cyclone or significant tropical
  LOW was active in waters between 135E and 160E during February.  A few
  weak tropical LOWs were identified during the month--brief summaries of
  these can be found on the Wikipedia website.

     Following is some information from Matthew Saxby regarding an East
  Coast LOW which brought heavy rainfall to portions of New South Wales:

     "After the fires...more floods.  Earlier this week a severe East 
  Coast LOW (Australia's answer to the ATL Subtropical Storms, I think, 
  though we don't name them) dumped some very heavy rain on the Mid North 
  Coast of New South Wales and as far south as Sydney.  Some serious 
  flooding occurred on the Bellinger River, with lesser floods on rivers 
  to the south, notably the Nambucca, Macleay, Hastings, Manning, and some
  tributaries of the Hunter."  Below are listed some links with further
  information on the flooding:

  http://www.smh.com.au/environment/water-issues/hundreds-stranded-and-storms-head-south-20090215-8880.html>
  http://www.smh.com.au/national/bourke-declared-a-disaster-zone-20090217-89z6.html>
  http://www.smh.com.au/national/torrential-rain-cuts-off-nsw-towns-20090217-89ke.html>
  http://www.smh.com.au/environment/water-issues/deluge-expected-to-double-the-flooding-20090217-8aaz.html>
  http://www.smh.com.au/environment/water-issues/floodwaters-isolate-bellingen-20090218-8as6.html>
  http://www.smh.com.au/national/rain-lashes-sydney-as-flood-levels-ease-20090218-8ak2.html>
  http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25071890-421,00.html>
  http://www.smh.com.au/environment/water-issues/flooded-regions-declared-disaster-zones-20090218-8bga.html>
  http://www.optuszoo.com.au/article/news/news_regional/news_regional_default/991>

  *************************************************************************

  SOUTH PACIFIC (SPA) - South Pacific Ocean East of Longitude 160E

  Activity for February:  1 tropical depression
                          1 tropical cyclone


                           Sources of Information
                           ----------------------

     The primary sources of tracking and intensity information for
  South Pacific tropical cyclones are the warnings and advisories
  issued by the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres at Nadi, Fiji (for
  waters north of latitude 25S), and Wellington, New Zealand (for
  waters south of latitude 25S).  References to sustained winds imply
  a 10-minute averaging period unless otherwise stated.

     In the companion tropical cyclone tracks file, I occasionally
  annotate positions from warnings issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning
  Center (JTWC) of the U. S. Air Force and Navy, located at Pearl
  Harbor, Hawaii, when they differ from the Southern Hemisphere
  centres' coordinates by usually 40-50 nm or more.  The JTWC warnings
  are also the source of the 1-minute average maximum sustained wind
  values included in the tracks file.    Additionally, information
  describing details of satellite imagery and atmospheric circulation
  features included in the narratives is often gleaned from the JTWC
  warnings.

                 South Pacific Tropical Activity for February
                 --------------------------------------------

  A. Climatological Information
  -----------------------------

     As was the case with January, tropical cyclone activity in the South
  Pacific Ocean east of 160E was well below normal during February, 2009.
  Only one minimal tropical cyclone, Innis, formed, and generated only
  1.00 NSD before weakening.  

     Over the 1997-1998 through 2007-2008 period, the averages for the
  South Pacific east of 160E are:

  NS - 1.73 / H - 0.91 / IH - 0.64 / NSD - 6.61 / HD - 2.98 / IHD - 1.20

  Relating the monthly totals for these parameters to the averages for the
  past eleven seasons, February, 2009, had a NTC at only 12% of normal for
  the month of February.

     The Wikipedia page for the 2008-2009 cyclone season in the South
  Pacific may be found at the following URL:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008-09_South_Pacific_cyclone_season>


  B. Tropical Systems in February
  -------------------------------

  (1) Tropical Depression   1 - 5 February
  ----------------------------------------

     A tropical disturbance formed on 1 February several hundred miles to
  the west of Vanuatu, embedded in a monsoon trough.  The system soon
  became better organized and was designated Tropical Depression 09F.
  Over the next few days TD-09F followed a south-southeasterly trajectory
  which carried it to the west of New Caledonia where it moved out of
  Fiji's AOR on the 5th.  Rather strong vertical shear prevented the system
  from attaining tropical cyclone status.    (Note: The Wikipedia report
  indicates that this system continued operating through 7 February before
  dissipating.  However, it moved out of RSMC Nadi's AOR after 05/1200 UTC
  and I did not save any gale warnings issued on the system by Wellington.
  After 2100 UTC on 4 February, Nadi dropped the adjective 'tropical' from
  their warnings, indicated that the system had likely taken on hybrid
  characteristics.)

  (2) Tropical Cyclone Innis   14 - 24 February
  ---------------------------------------------

     Tropical Cyclone Innis (10F/15P/14U) was a "one-day wonder" which
  affected some of the islands of Vanuatu and also northern New Caledonia.
  The Wikipedia website contains a detailed report on this cyclone.  The
  system moved across the southern islands of Vanuatu on 16 February while
  still a tropical depression, although warnings from RSMC Nadi indicated
  peripheral gales in the eastern semicircle.   JTWC designated the system
  as TC-15P at 0000 UTC 17 February, and Nadi upgraded TD-10F to Tropical
  Cyclone Innis at 0700 UTC, shortly after it had crossed northern New
  Caledonia and moved into a region of low vertical shear.   Innis reached
  a peak intensity of 40 kts at 17/1200 UTC and then began to weaken.
  The cyclone moved south of 25S and into Wellington's AOR, where it was
  downgraded to an extratropical LOW on that agency's first warning.
  Ex-Innis briefly moved west of 160E and was designated as Tropical LOW
  14U by BoM, but it soon recurved back east of 160E.  The cyclone caused
  only very minor damage in the areas affected.  The extratropical remnants
  of Innis could be followed to near 47.3S/179.8E on 24 February.

  *************************************************************************

         SPECIAL FEATURE - SOURCES OF TROPICAL CYCLONE INFORMATION

     The purpose of this section is to list some websites where many and
  varied types of tropical cyclone information are archived.  Many readers
  will know about these already, but for the benefit of those who don't,
  I wanted to include them. 

  (1) Aircraft Reconnaissance Information
  ---------------------------------------

     Various types of messages from reconnaissance aircraft may be
  retrieved from the following FTP site:

     ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/pub/products/nhc/recon/>

     Information regarding how to interpret the coded reconnaissance
  messages may be found at the following URL:

     http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/reconlist.shtml>

  Links are also included to websites with further information about the
  U. S. Air Force 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and the NOAA Air-
  craft Operations Center.

  (2) Archived Advisories
  -----------------------

     All the advisory products (public advisories, forecast/advisories,
  strike probabilities, discussions, various graphics) issued by TPC/NHC
  are archived on TPC's website.  For the current year (using 2004 as an
  example), the archived products can be found at:

     http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2004/index.shtml>

  Links to tropical products archives for earlier years are available at
  the following URL:

     http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastall.shtml>

  JTWC warnings for past storms are archived on the NRL Monterrey website:

     http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/tc_home.html>

  On the NRL site, the link to past years can be found in the upper left 
  corner of the screen.

     I am not aware at the moment of any other TCWC which archives all
  its tropical cyclone warning/advisory products for public access, but
  if I learn of any, I will add them to this list.

  (3) Satellite Imagery
  ---------------------

     Satellite images of tropical cyclones in various sensor bands are
  available on the NRL Monterrey and University of Wisconsin websites,
  courtesy of Jeff Hawkins and Chris Velden and their associates.  The
  links are:

     http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/tc_home.html>

     http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/tropic.html>

  On the NRL site, the link to past years can be found in the upper left 
  corner of the screen.  For the CIMSS site, a link to data archives is 
  located in the lower left portion of the screen.

     Additional tropical satellite imagery, along with looping ability for
  composite microwave imagery for the Western Hemisphere north of the
  equator, can be found at:

  (1) For the Eastern North Pacific:

     http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/trop-epac.html>

  (2) For the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea:

     http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/trop-atl.html>

  (4) Cyclone Tracking Information
  --------------------------------

     There is a U. S. Navy site that tracks tropical cyclones at 6-hourly
  intervals which often includes pre and post-advisory positions.  The
  link to the site is:

  http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/atcf_web/doc_archives/>

     Steve Young has compiled many of these tracks onto a single webpage
  which is very user-friendly:

  http://home.earthlink.net/~shy9/tc1.htm>


     I'm sure there are other sites with available imagery available, and
  as I learn of them, I will add the links to this list.

  *************************************************************************

                               EXTRA FEATURE

     In order to shorten the amount of typing in preparing the narrative
  material, I have been in the habit of freely using abbreviations and
  acronyms.   I have tried to define most of these with the first usage
  in a given summary, but I may have missed one now and then.  Most of
  these are probably understood by a majority of readers but perhaps a
  few aren't clear to some.  To remedy this I developed a Glossary of
  Abbreviations and Acronyms which I first included in the August, 1998
  summary.  I don't normally include the Glossary in most months in
  order to help keep them from being too long.  If anyone would like to
  receive a copy of the Glossary, please e-mail me and I'll be happy
  to send them a copy.

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  AUTHOR'S NOTE:  This summary should be considered a very preliminary 
  overview of the tropical cyclones that occur in each month. The cyclone
  tracks (provided separately) will generally be based upon operational
  warnings issued by the various tropical cyclone warning centers.  The
  information contained therein may differ somewhat from the tracking and
  intensity information obtained from a "best-track" file which is based
  on a detailed post-seasonal analysis of all available data. Information
  on where to find official "best-track" files from the various warning
  centers will be passed along from time to time.

    The track files are not being sent via e-mail.  They can be retrieved
  from the archive sites listed below.  (Note: I do have a limited e-mail
  distribution list for the track files.    If anyone wishes to receive
  these via e-mail, please send me a message.)

    Both the summaries and the track files are standard text files
  created in DOS editor.  Download to disk and use a viewer such as
  Notepad or DOS editor to view the files.

     The first summary in this series covered the month of October,
  1997.   Back issues can be obtained from the following websites
  (courtesy of Michael Bath, Michael V. Padua, Michael Pitt, and
  Chris Landsea):

    http://australiasevereweather.com/cyclones/>
    http://www.typhoon2000.ph>
    http://mpittweather.com>
    ftp://ftp.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/pub/landsea/padgett/>


     Another website where much information about tropical cyclones may
  be found is the website for the UK Meteorological Office.  Their site
  contains a lot of statistical information about tropical cyclones
  globally on a monthly basis.  The URL is:

    http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/tropicalcyclone>
    

                    TROPICAL CYCLONE REPORTS AVAILABLE

     JTWC now has available on its website the Annual Tropical Cyclone
  Report (ATCR) for 2007 (2006-2007 season for the Southern Hemisphere).
  ATCRs for earlier years are available also.

     The URL is:  http://metocph.nmci.navy.mil/jtwc.php>

     Also, TPC/NHC has available on its webpage nice "technicolor"
  tracking charts for the 2008 Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific
  tropical cyclones; also, storm reports for all the 2008 Atlantic
  and Eastern North Pacific cyclones are now available, as well as
  track charts and reports on storms from earlier years. 

     The URL is:  http://www.nhc.noaa.gov>


     A special thanks to Michael Bath of McLeans Ridges, New South Wales,
  Australia, for assisting me with proofreading the summaries.


  PREPARED BY

  Gary Padgett
  E-mail:  [email protected]
  Phone:  334-222-5327

  Kevin Boyle  (Northwest Pacific)
  E-mail:  [email protected]

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Document: summ0902.htm
Updated: 5th May 2009

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