Weird cyclones - Impressive cyclones

[Chacor]

Actually, close to the Mexican coast SSTs are sometimes high enough. In 2006 there were a number of major hurricanes that passed in that area.

[HurricaneBill]

Hurricane Ava in 1973 was a Category 5. Category 5 hurricanes in the EPAC usually only form during El Nino years. 1973 was a La Nina year.



Super Typhoon Gay in 1989. One of the very few, if not only storm to hit Thailand as a typhoon. Crossed into the Bay of Bengal and reintensified. Gay made landfall on India as a Category 5.



Super Typhoon Kate in 1970 struck the Philippines at an unusually low latitude.



In 1971, Cyclone Felicie made landfall on Madagascar 4 times!

[Cyclone1]

Super Typhoon Gordon of 1989: Category 5 storm. Initial disturbance? One cumulonimbus cloud.

That's always fascinated me, is there an image of this single thunderstorm?

[Cyclenall]

Super Typhoon Gordon of 1989: Category 5 storm. Initial disturbance? One cumulonimbus cloud.

That's always fascinated me, is there an image of this single thunderstorm?

Last night I was wondering the same thing, trying to find one.

[Ptarmigan]

Super Typhoon Gordon of 1989: Category 5 storm. Initial disturbance? One cumulonimbus cloud.

Here is the image of STY Gordon of 1989. Quite a large storm despite being from one cumulonimbus cloud.



I wonder if any other storms formed like that. I know many tropical cyclones have formed from MCS and MCC, like Hurricane Alicia.

[Chacor]

I'm at work now so I've no way of doing this, but if you check Gordon's TCR from JTWC, look for the date of the initial disturbance, and check GIBBS full-disk, you should be able to find it.

[Ad Novoxium]

Looking at this image here, from the day before the depression that became Gordon was first started, the position given for the first advisory matches the area of cloudiness south of the giant vortex towards the upper right. Rough Lat/Lon is 20N and 160W. From here, all that's needed is to trace the disturbance to original state.

EDIT:

Not sure how big cumulonimbus are from satellite, but tracing it back, the earliest picture indicating large clouds is this. I think that Gordon was one of the two large clouds clipping the Date Line, likely the westernmost of the two. The exact clouds are the ones west of Hawaii.

[physicx07]

LOL, talk about an easy paper to write! It probably could have gotten published without any words at all.

How the heck did NORBERT that become a cat4 so far north in the Eastern Pacific? Normally systems are low clouds by that far north. Or at least having a hard time.

It apparently had an easy time, because it reached Category 4 strength FOUR times up there. Plus, Norbert was unusual for another reason:
http://ams.allenpress.com/archive/1520- ... 7-1238.pdf

[masaji79]

That is and awesome picture

[Brent]

In 1971, Cyclone Felicie made landfall on Madagascar 4 times!

[RL3AO]

Haven't seen this posted. Sat loop of Gordon.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=A9MEWLiY9EE

[Ad Novoxium]

Was looking through that user's profile. Their video of Ken-Lola was bizarre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb3Jps73fwQ
I mean, look at that "swipe" at 0:03. Is it any wonder this was given two names?

[george_r_1961]

I'd like to include Hurricange Ginger in 1971, for (1) lasting a full month and (2) heading nearly to Africa, then remembering that she forgot her toothbrush and headed back to North Carolina.

Are you sure it wasn her eyeliner she forgot?

Sorry couldnt resist

[KWT]

I think by the end of Bertha it may well have to be a candidate as well, seems like the models want her to swing way back SE again!

[CrazyC83]

Actually, close to the Mexican coast SSTs are sometimes high enough. In 2006 there were a number of major hurricanes that passed in that area.

In an El Nino year, such is common. Otherwise it is very rare.

[HurricaneRobert]

Super Typhoon Emma:


Looks like a category 1 landfall in Russia. It was not the only typhoon to make it into the Sea of Japan that year, but it was the only major one.

[Cyclone1]

Lili in 1990. East of Florida. Not a Subtropical storm, or a tropical storm. Yep, that's a full-fledged hurricane, folks.

[ekal]

Lili is interesting for another reason as well. She formed from a cold-core upper-level low that worked itself down to the surface while Hurricane Josephine was moving around it. Cyclogenesis is contagious!

Hurricane Josephine and ULL

Josephine Track

Lili Track

NHC on Lili

[KWT]

In terms of weird cyclones I think whilst maybe not weird I think Epsilon also was quite an interesting one, became a hurricane pretty far NE in December and would not die at all for several days despite constantly being forecasted to decay by the NHC, also longest lasting Atlantic hurricane in December.

[RL3AO]

Ad Novoxium mentioned this one, but it was bunched in at the bottom of his post.

How about a category 3 on January 31 in the Central Pacific?