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Haiyan - Philippines

I fell terrible about the tragedy there but I sure wish I could have chased that one. The last great super-typhoon I saw was Pongsona on Guam eleven years ago. I was really upset to have to sit this one out. I really enjoy chasing in the Philippines although it proves very challenging due to the mountain runoff flash floods, mudslides, and storm surge. I hope those that were able to chase it made it out okay. I really need some wind!!
 
Good day all,

Wow, that's absolutely unreal. It looks more like a tsunami. I don't know that I've ever seen storm surge hit quite that quickly.

Wow is an understatement. This is basically a tidal bore (the wave comes in and just keeps coming in - and stays up).

The reasons for this are the following (important)...

1). Incredible wind and wave setup - Arriving with the fast motion (25 MPH) of the storm.

2). Shallow water and a concave / funnel shaped bay (with the water being directed right into it).

3). being on the right-side of the eyewall.

Anyone standing in the path of that would not have had a chance...
 
There was some fantastic analysis of this storm in this thread. Thanks Chris, Warren, and others for contributing. It is interesting how such a strong typhoon came together so far south, since there's no question that there's a reduced Coriolis effect there. On the map here I see one rogue Cat 3 (?) storm on the very southern end of Mindanao. I wonder what that one is. I wish they had printed latitude lines, but that seems to be the recordholder for a storm near the Equator.
 
Good day all,

There was some fantastic analysis of this storm in this thread. Thanks Chris, Warren, and others for contributing. It is interesting how such a strong typhoon came together so far south, since there's no question that there's a reduced Coriolis effect there. On the map here I see one rogue Cat 3 (?) storm on the very southern end of Mindanao. I wonder what that one is. I wish they had printed latitude lines, but that seems to be the recordholder for a storm near the Equator.

The low latitude was interesting with Haiyan (Yolanda) but I still think the Coriolis force was still enough. The shear energy feeding into the storm more than made up for it.

Also, not only were the SST's (sea surface temps) very warm, but extended very deep into the water column (high oceanic heat content).

Lastly, and not least, there may have been high "vorticity" along the southern edge of a belt of stronger trade winds which decreased as you went southward. This can also enhance the 'spin' factor, and the Coriolis force in that case is not even needed!

The same things happened and caused some tropical cyclones to form very close to if not ON the equator! More information can be seen at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Equatorial_tropical_cyclones

Causes ranged from interactions between cooler monsoonal air and trade winds, even outflow boundaries. Typhoon Sarah formed in one year less than 2 deg N of the equator!
 
Hi everyone, (in regards to the post about the coriolis force and tropical cyclones forming near the equator.)

The push from the southern hemisphere winds along the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) along with the coriolis effect is enough to allow these storms to form within only two or three degrees from the equator in the northern hemisphere. The convergence zone dominates the northern hemisphere most of the year in the Northwest Pacific region.

In some years it stays up the entire twelve months! During the early and late season months, those being April, May and then again November through mid January the transitional change of the seasons forces the migration of the (ITCZ) back toward the equator and the strong flow between hemispheric winds is enough to generate the turning needed to get the cyclonic spin started.

Of course, the warmer the sea surface temperatures are along the equatorial West Pacific region the better the convection will be. Also, the stronger the pressure gradient is to the north and south of the (ITCZ) at the mid and lower levels of the atmosphere the more invigorated the wind flow will be as well.
 
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