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Largest and Most Intense Tropical Cyclone On Record Hits the Philippines

Posted by Soulskill on from the be-safe dept.

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.'"

12 of 160 comments (clear)

  1. Typhoons are ranked my pressure, not winds by xmas2003 · · Score: 5, Informative
    From the article:

    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)

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    1. Re:Typhoons are ranked my pressure, not winds by JoeyRox · · Score: 4, Informative

      There is a correlation between central pressure and wind speed but there are other factors affecting wind speed, such as the storm's mass (size) and wind mixing depths. This is why the NHC uses dropsondes rather than relying on pressure measurements or satellite estimates.

    2. Re:Typhoons are ranked my pressure, not winds by afidel · · Score: 4, 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.

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    3. Re:Typhoons are ranked my pressure, not winds by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, 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.

    4. Re:Typhoons are ranked my pressure, not winds by Anonymous Coward · · 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.

    5. Re:Typhoons are ranked my pressure, not winds by Solandri · · Score: 4, Informative

      Stepping back from the min/max recordkeeping for a bit, the size of the storm also makes a huge difference in the amount of damage it causes. Even if a storm is powerful, its impact may be minimal if it's small in size. From what I can tell from news reports, Haiyan is about half the diameter of the largest and strongest typhoon on record - Typhoon Tip. About 2200 km vs about 1200 km.

      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 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.

  2. Re:Name by captainpanic · · Score: 4, 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 )

    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/ )

  3. Re:Not Climate Change by Anonymous Coward · · 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.

  4. Tornado the size of a hurricane by karchie · · Score: 4, Informative

    I'm no meteorologist but those wind speeds would make this an F4 tornado. We get tornadoes here in the middle of North America, but they don't last for days. Good luck to everybody there.

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  5. Some relief agencies by cold+fjord · · Score: 4, 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
    British Red Cross
    Canadian Red Cross
    Australian Red Cross
    New Zealand Red Cross
    Irish Red Cross
    Deutsches Rotes Kreuz
    Croix-Rouge Francaise
    Röda Korset
    Røde Kors
    Røde Kors
    Rode Kruis
    Schweizerisches Rotes Kreuz
    Croce Rossa Italiana
    Cruz Roja Española
    Polski Czerwony Krzyz

    Salvation Army donations

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  6. followup to recent 7.1 earthquake by jcgam69 · · Score: 4, Informative

    A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the PI a few weeks ago which cause widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure. Bridges collapsed and many roads are still impassible. The earthquake and hundreds of strong aftershocks serve to intensify the effects of this storm.

  7. Re:oh noes by OneAhead · · Score: 4, Informative

    Wilma had wind speeds of 240 km/h at the time it made landfall in Mexico. Haiyan had wind speeds of 315 km/h when it made landfall (highest wind at landfall ever recorded). Knowing that structural stress on buildings goes approximately with the square of the wind speed (kinetic energy and things), that's almost twice as powerful. Many general aviation airplanes (for example the cessna 172) have "never exceed speeds" that are lower than 315 km/h; in other words, if you make a dive and reach that kind of speed, you're at risk of your airplane disintegrating. I have strong doubts about the economic feasibility of building houses that can reliably withstand such wind speeds, especially in poorer countries. It's like trying to mount a house on top of a (non-American) high-speed train and take it to top speed.