La Niña and Scorching Oceans: A Recipe for Hurricane Disaster

The Atlantic hurricane season may not officially unfurl until June 1st, but long term forecasters are already sounding the alarm with “serious and growing concerns” about an impending behemoth. Two key factors are fueling this anxiety: La Niña’s anticipated arrival and historically warm water temperatures across the Atlantic. La Niña’s Hurricane Boost: The current El … Read more

2023 Tropical Storm and Hurricane Names

2021 Storm Names for the North Atlantic and Caribbean 2021 Names for Tropical Cyclones in the East Pacific When Does Hurricane Season Begin? In the North Atlantic and Caribbean, hurricane season basins begins on June 1. In the East Pacific, hurricane season begins on May 15. What is the Difference Between a Hurricane and Typhoon? … Read more

Ophelia becomes a rare major hurricane south of the Azores

On the morning of October 14th, 2017, at 11:00am AST, Hurricane Ophelia was upgraded to a rare major hurricane south of the Azores Islands in the far northeastern Atlantic. Ophelia is a Category-3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with maximum sustained winds of 115mph. Three days earlier, on October 11th, Ophelia became the 10th consecutive … Read more

Hurricane Matthew: One of the Atlantic’s Deadliest Since 2005

On September 27th, 2016, a tropical depression had formed in the eastern Atlantic Ocean that had traversed across the Atlantic Ocean as a disturbance of thunderstorms days prior. The next day on September 28th, a tropical storm formed. Its name: Matthew.  Over the next few days, Matthew would undergo a rapid intensification process and strengthened … Read more

Where is Hurricane Matthew headed?

Important Update #1 [Monday 10/3 at 3 pm EDT] Since this page was created 8 hours ago, new model data have continued to trend the track of Hurricane Matthew westward, closer to the eastern Florida coast, tracking northeast along the coasts of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.  If future data continue to show this … Read more

Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin: Interesting statistics

This page provides some basic, but very interesting statistics about category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic basin since 1851.  Category 5 storms are extremely rare.  In fact, for the Atlantic Basin (including the Gulf of Mexico and Carribbean Sea) only 34* category 5 storms (~4% of all hurricanes) are found in the historical record.  In … Read more

Super Typhoon Meranti: 2016’s Strongest Storm on Earth

Image of Super Typhoon Meranti

This is an amazing satellite loop of Super Typhoon Meranti tracking toward southern Taiwan, with the eye passing just south of Taiwan’s southern tip. Meranti is now headed for the northern Philippines & southeast China. As of late Tuesday afternoon (9/13/16), Super Typhoon Meranti had become the strongest storm on Earth so far in 2016, … Read more

Eleven Years Since Hurricane Katrina’s Dire Forecast

As the peak of the 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season nears, it was years ago today, on the morning of August 28, 2005, that the National Weather Service in Slidell, which has responsibility for New Orleans, Louisiana, issued a dire bulletin in advance of Hurricane Katrina as she headed towards the Gulf Coast. At the time … Read more

A tropical disturbance doesn’t need a name to be catastrophic

A strong mid-latitude cyclone over the southern U.S. resulted in widespread flash flooding from August 10th-14th, where rainfall totals were in excess of 30.00″ (inches) in some areas. Catastrophic flooding occurred across the Deep South, where over 1,000 motorists were stranded on Interstate 12 in eastern Louisiana. Since the flooding, everyone stranded on the interstate … Read more

Tropical Storm Colin Becomes Earliest “C” Storm on Record (June 5, 2016)

On Sunday June 5, 2016, Tropical Storm Colin formed in the Gulf of Mexico, making it the earliest “C” tropical storm on record.  View iWeatherNet’s tropical cyclone page for more information. See Also: January 2016 Hurricane Alex: Strongest Atlantic Winter Hurricane on Record The Earliest “C” Storms Found in the Historical Record For the Atlantic … Read more

Hurricane Alex: Strongest Atlantic Winter Hurricane on Record

January 14, 2016 (1 pm EST) Max-Sustained Wind: 75 kt / 85 mph / 981 mb / Category 1 View the list of active tropical cyclones Interesting Statistics about Hurricane Alex Alex is only the 2nd-known Atlantic hurricane to form during the month of January since records began (partial record as far back as 1842). … Read more

Tropical Storm Alex in January? How rare are winter tropical storms?

Special (1/14/2016) Alex became a hurricane on Thursday Jan 14, 2016 Update [Wednesday January 13, 2016 at 5 pm AST] Sub-Tropical Storm Alex has formed in the East Atlantic.  As discussed below, Alex is only the second-known storm to form during the month of January in the 174-year database (1842-present). ➡︎ See also:  Forecast #1 … Read more

What is the Difference Between a Hurricane and a Typhoon?

A hurricane is the exact same meteorological phenomenon as a typhoon. The difference is simply a function of the storm’s location relative to the International Date Line (180ºW).  A “hurricane” west of the International Date Line (IDL) is called a typhoon.  The term is believed to have its origins in Sinitic, one of the Chinese … Read more

Hurricane Records Broken As 3 Major Pacific Hurricanes Coexist

On August 29, 2015, for the first time on record, three *major* hurricanes were active simultaneously in the central/eastern Pacific (east of the International Date Line, 180ºW).  A major hurricane is defined as a category 3 or higher.  Yet another record was set at 10 pm CDT. 8 pm CDT 8/29: Three Major Hurricanes Set … Read more

Hurricane Katrina: The Dire NWS Warning That Saved Lives

On this, the -year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s final landfall east of New Orleans, I wanted to share some graphics and the very rare, dire warning issued the National Weather Service in Slidell, Louisiana that likely saved many, many lives. Radar Loop at Landfall   Satellite Loop at Landfall   Location of the NWS Brief … Read more

Hurricane Hunter P-3 Tail Radar on Google Earth

Prior to the advent of weather satellites and aircraft reconnaissance of tropical cyclones during the mid-20th century, the loss of life due to unexpected, landfalling hurricanes was tremendous. In 2015, hurricane forecasting continues to improve thanks to ongoing upgrades in observational technology (aircraft, dropsondes, tail radar, etc.), computational resources, improved numerical prediction models (model resolution, … Read more

How Many Lives Have Been Saved By Improved Hurricane Forecasts?

Trends In The Ratio Of Damage To Deaths Caused By United States Land-Falling Hurricanes 24th AMS Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology (2000) Chris C. Robbins and James Gross National Hurricane Center, Miami, Florida   We have estimated that, if the pre-reconnaissance trend continued at the time of Hurricane Andrew, approximately 4,354 deaths may have … Read more

Rapid Intensification of Tropical Storms & Hurricanes in the North Atlantic

A Climatology Of Rapidly Intensifying Tropical Cyclones In The North Atlantic Basin, 1975-2000 25th AMS Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology (2002) Chris C. Robbins and Stacy R. Stewart National Hurricane Center, Miami, Florida   1. Introduction Rapidly intensifying tropical cyclones pose a significant forecast problem for operational meteorologists. Unfortunately, the climatological nature of such … Read more

Hurricane Irene’s (1999) post-landfall intensification and downbursts

Mesocyclone-Induced Downbursts Associated With The Landfall Of Hurricane Irene (1999) Over S. FL 24th AMS Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology Stacy R. Stewart and Chris C. Robbins Tropical Prediction Center, Miami, Florida   1. Introduction This paper examines the occurrence of multiple damaging downbursts or “miniswirls” with the passage of Hurricane Irene across South … Read more

Brown ocean effect: Saturated soil intensify tropical cyclones

May 2015 was the wettest month ever recorded in the United States since record keeping began 121 years ago according to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). The main contributing factor to the nation’s “wettest-May” was the incredible rainfall totals across the Central United States. Meteorologist Chris Robbins posted that May 2015 was the wettest … Read more