NASA Tracks Super Typhoon Haiyan From Space (Photos)

[Buster's Uncle]

NASA Tracks Super Typhoon Haiyan From Space (Photos)
SPACE.com
By Mike Wall, Senior Writer  1 hour ago



This visible image of Super Typhoon Haiyan approaching the Philippines was taken from the MODIS instrument



A NASA satellite has been keeping an eye on Super Typhoon Haiyan as the monster storm pounds the Philippines with torrential rain and the most powerful winds seen in a generation.

The space agency's Aqua satellite passed over Super Typhoon Haiyan as the cyclone neared the Philippines recently. Aqua's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument, or MODIS, snapped a photo of Haiyan at 12:25 p.m. local Philippine time on Nov. 7 (11:25 p.m. EDT on Nov. 6).

The image shows the broad bands of thunderstorms surrounding Haiyan's eye, as well as the weather systems lashing the Philippines in the early morning hours of Nov. 7 (U.S. EDT time), NASA officials said

Meanwhile, another Aqua instrument — the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) — gathered infrared data on the typhoon, measuring temperatures at Haiyan's cloud tops and at the surface of the sea.

"The infrared data revealed a sharply defined eye with multiple concentric rings of thunderstorms and a deep convective eyewall," NASA spokesman Rob Gutro, of the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., wrote in a description of the Aqua observations.

"The infrared data showed cloud top temperatures as cold as 210 degrees kelvin/-81.67F/-63.15C/ in the thick band of thunderstorms around the center," Gutro added. "Those cold temperatures indicate very high, powerful thunderstorms with very heavy rain potential."



Infrared data from the AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite show cloud top temperatures


Haiyan has developed into the most intense storm of 2013. It features sustained winds of 200 mph (320 km/h) and gusts up to 230 mph (370 km/h) — the fastest seen since 1979's Super Typhoon Tip, the most powerful tropical cyclone on record.

Haiyan is known as a typhoon (or super typhoon) because it formed in the Northwest Pacific. Such storms are called hurricanes in the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, and cyclones in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean region, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Super Typhoon Haiyan is equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane, NASA officials said.

"The U.S. National Hurricane Center website indicates that a Category 5 hurricane/typhoon would cause catastrophic damage: A high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse," Gutro wrote. "Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months. Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks or months."

Haiyan is moving west-northwest at about 25 mph (40 km/h), whipping up waves with heights of 50 feet (15 m) or so. After passing through the Philippines, the storm is expected to come ashore in Vietnam, NASA officials said.





http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-tracks-super-typhoon-haiyan-space-photos-225749172.html

[Buster's Uncle]

How Typhoon Haiyan Became Year's Most Intense Storm
LiveScience.com
By Douglas Main, Staff Writer  9 hours ago



Super Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm seen in during the satellite era, was spotted by the Japan Meteorological Agency MTSAT



A monstrous storm has arisen in the Western Pacific, the likes of which haven't been seen for several years, meteorologists say. The storm, Super Typhoon Haiyan, has become the year's most intense and is bearing down on the central Philippines, threatening to inflict massive damage and loss of life in the area.

The tropical cyclone (the blanket term for hurricanes and typhoons) packs winds up to 200 mph (320 km/h), according to estimates from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with gusts up to 225 mph (360 km/h), said Brian McNoldy, a tropical weather expert at the University of Miami. This is the equivalent of a very strong Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, used to rank cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean.

"It's about as strong as tropical cyclones can get on Earth," McNoldy told LiveScience. 

Ryan Maue, a meteorologist with Weatherbell Analytics, wrote on Twitter that Haiyan has the strongest winds seen since the 1979 Super Typhoon Tip, the largest and most intense tropical cyclone on record. Haiyan's winds make it the strongest storm in the satellite era. [8 Terrible Typhoons]

Haiyan got so strong because "it has everything working for it," McNoldy said. First, it formed in the open ocean, and thus no land mass prevented it from forming a symmetrical circular pattern, which helps a cyclone form and gather steam, he said.

Second, ocean temperatures are incredibly warm, topping out at 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius).  Just as important, the warm water also extends deep into the ocean, meaning that upwelling caused by the winds will not churn up cold water, which dampens cyclone power, McNoldy said. Tropical cyclones are basically giant heat engines, powered by the transfer of heat from the ocean to the upper atmosphere.

Third, there is very little wind shear in the area at this time, McNoldy said. Wind shear, a difference in wind speed or direction with increasing altitude, tears developing hurricanes apart, and prevents them from strengthening. Wind shear caused by westerly winds is the main reason why the Atlantic hurricane season featured few strong storms, and got off to a late start, weather experts say.

Haiyan is the 11th typhoon to form in the Western Pacific in the last seven weeks, which has been an "exceptionally active period," according to the UK Met Office News Blog. It is also the year's fifth super typhoon.

This is somewhat unusual, because the peak of typhoon season usually occurs about one month earlier, McNoldy said. Wind shear in the area likely prevented that from happening, and now the area has become active again due to the weakening of upper-level winds and persistent warm surface waters, he added.

In the Western Pacific, a tropical storm becomes a typhoon when its wind speeds reach 74 mph (119 km/h). They become super typhoons when their winds reach 150 mph (241 km/h), making them equivalent to strong Category 4 or 5 hurricanes, according to NOAA.

Haiyan is likely to push a large storm surge inland — at least 10 feet (3 meters) — along the eastern coast of the islands of Luzon and Samar, according to the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang blog.

The storm is expected to make landfall near where a deadly magnitude-7.1 earthquake struck the country less than one month ago, killing more than 200 people, according to news reports.


http://news.yahoo.com/typhoon-haiyan-became-years-most-intense-storm-164050948.html

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I'm a butthole for saying so, but I gotcha global warming right here.

[Buster's Uncle]

Hurricane? Cyclone? Typhoon? Here's the difference
Associated Press
By SETH BORENSTEIN 1 hour ago



In this image provided by NOAA Friday Nov. 8, 2013 which was taken at 12:30 a.m. EST shows Typhoon Haiyan as it crosses the Philippines. One of the most powerful typhoons ever recorded slammed into the Philippines on Friday, setting off landslides, knocking out power in one entire province and cutting communications in the country's central region of island provinces. Weather officials say that Haiyan had sustained winds at 235 kilometers (147 miles) per hour, with gusts of 275 kph (170 mph) when it made landfall. (AP Photo/NOAA)



WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful typhoon hit the Philippines on Friday and moved out to the South China Sea:

HURRICANE? CYCLONE? TYPHOON? They're all the same, officially tropical cyclones. But they just use distinctive terms for a storm in different parts of the world. Hurricane is used in the Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, central and northeast Pacific. They are typhoons in the northwest Pacific. In the Bay of Bengal and the Arabia Sea, they are called cyclones. Tropical cyclone is used in the southwest India Ocean; in the southwestern Pacific and southeastern India Ocean they are severe tropical cyclones.

STRENGTH: A storm gets a name and is considered a tropical storm at 39 mph (63 kph). It becomes a hurricane, typhoon, tropical cyclone, or cyclone at 74 mph (119 kph). There are five strength categories, depending on wind speed. The highest category is 5 and that's above 155 mph (249 kph). Australia has a different system for categorizing storm strength.

ROTATION: If they are north of the equator they rotate clockwise. If they are south, they rotate counter-clockwise.

SEASON: The Atlantic and central Pacific hurricane seasons are June 1 through Nov. 30. Eastern Pacific: May 15 to Nov. 30; northwestern Pacific season is close to all year, with the most from May to November. The cyclone season in the south Pacific and Australia runs from November to April. The Bay of Bengal has two seasons April to June and September to November.

WHERE IS THE BUSIEST PLACE? The northwestern Pacific where Typhoon Haiyan has just hit. A normal year there involves 27 named storms. Haiyan is the 28th named storm and there has already been a 29th. By comparison the Atlantic averages 11 named storms a year and this year there have been 12, none of them causing major problems.

WHO DECIDES THE NAMES? The lists are maintained by the World Meteorological Organization; the names are ones that are familiar in each region. Names are taken off the list and replaced to avoid confusion if a hurricane causes a lot of damage or deaths. For example, Katrina was retired after it devastated New Orleans in 2005. The Philippines has its own naming system, so Typhoon Haiyan is also being called Yolanda.

HOW DOES EL NINO AFFECT STORMS? During an El Nino — when the central Pacific is warming — there are fewer Atlantic storms. El Ninos shift where storms form, but not the number, for the northwest Pacific and the southwest Pacific. The central Pacific gets more storms during El Nino and the year after. This year has neither an El Nino nor its opposite, a La Nina. It is a neutral year.


http://news.yahoo.com/hurricane-cyclone-typhoon-heres-difference-203732059.html