Tropical cyclones

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A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain. Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by names such as hurricane (/ˈhʌrɪkən/ or /ˈhʌrɪkn/[1][2][3]), typhoon /tˈfn/, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, and simply cyclone.[4] A hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, and a cyclone occurs in the south Pacific or Indian Ocean.[4]

On 10 April 1996, Cyclone Olivia passed near Barrow Island offshore northwest Australia. At 10:55 UTC, an automatic privately operated anemometer recorded a three-second wind gust of 408 km/h (253 mph), at a position 10 m (33 ft) above sea level. The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) was initially unsure of the veracity of the reading, although a team at the 1999 Offshore Technology Conference presented the reading as the highest wind gust on Earth.[5] In 2009, the World Meteorological Organization Commission for Climatology researched whether Hurricane Gustav, an Atlantic hurricane in 2008 produced a record 340 km/h (211 mph) gust on Pinar del Rio, Cuba;[6] one committee member recalled the gust set during Olivia, which spurred the investigation. Olivia's reading occurred along the western edge of the eyewall, possibly related to mesovortices. Based on other similarly high wind gusts during Olivia – 369 km/h (229 mph) and 374 km/h (232 mph) observed within five minutes of the record gust – the team confirmed that the instrument was observing properly during the storm. The same anemometer also recorded five-minute sustained winds of 178 km/h (111 mph), causing a much greater than normal ratio of gusts to sustained winds. The team confirmed that the instrument was regularly inspected and calibrated, and that the reading was during the passage of the eyewall.[7] On 26 January 2010, nearly 14 years after the storm, the World Meteorological Organization announced that the wind gust was the highest recorded worldwide. This gust surpassed the previous non-tornadic wind speed of 372 km/h (231 mph) on Mount Washington in the United States in April 1934.[8] The long delay was partly due to the anemometer not being owned by the BoM, and as a result the agency did not enact a follow-up investigation.[7]

Name Date Year Peak gust
Km/h (mph)
Location Surface/Aloft Measurement type Reference
Olivia 10 April 1996 253 mph (407 km/h) Barrow Island, Australia Surface 3-second average [7]
Isabel 13 September 2003 233 mph (375 km/h) Western Atlantic Ocean 4,500 ft (1,400 m) Gust [9]
Patricia 23 October 2015 221 mph (356 km/h) Offshore Mexico Flight-level 10-second average [10]
210 mph (340 km/h) Offshore Mexico Surface 10-second average
Gustav 30 August 2008 211 mph (340 km/h) Pinar del Rio, Cuba Surface [6]
Lenny 17 November 1999 210 mph (340 km/h) Northeast Caribbean Sea Flight-level 10-second average [11]
167 mph (269 km/h) Saba 2,600 ft (790 m) elevation Peak reading until anemometer failed [11]
Durian 30 November 2006 200 mph (320 km/h) Virac, Philippines Surface [12]
Wilma 19 October 2005 192 mph (309 km/h) Northwestern Caribbean Sea Flight-level 10-second average [13]
174 mph (280 km/h) Northwestern Caribbean Sea Surface 10-second average
"Great New England" 21 September 1938 186 mph (299 km/h) Blue Hill Observatory, Massachusetts Surface [14]

Extratropical cyclones

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Location State Country Date Year Peak gust
Km/h (mph)
Elevation Reference
Mount Washington New Hampshire United States 12 April 1934 372 km/h (231 mph) 1,917 m (6,288 ft) [15]
Mammoth Mountain California United States 1 December 2011 320 km/h (200 mph) 2,400 m (7,880 ft) [16]
Ward Mountain California United States 21 February 2016 320 km/h (199 mph) 2,634 m (8,643 ft) [17]
Dumont d'Urville Station Antarctica July 1972 320 km/h (199 mph) [18]
McMurdo Station Antarctica March 2004 303 km/h (188 mph) [19]
Ward Mountain California United States 14 February 2000 277 km/h (172 mph) 2,634 m (8,643 ft) [20]
Hallormsstaðaháls Iceland 7 December 2015 261 km/h (162 mph) [21]
Haystack Hill Alaska United States 2 December 2003 260 km/h (160 mph) [22]
Note: Entries highlighted in blue are estimated but considered reliable

Tornadoes

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Location State Country Date Year Storm/Outbreak Peak gust
Km/h (mph)
Altitude Reference
Elk City Oklahoma United States May 16 2017 Tornado outbreak of May 15–18, 2017 497 km/h (309 mph) [23]
Bridge Creek Oklahoma United States May 3 1999 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak 484 ± 32 km/h (301 ± 20 mph) 30 m (100 ft) [24]
El Reno Oklahoma United States May 31 2013 Tornado outbreak of May 26–31, 2013 475 km/h (295 mph) 10 m (33 ft) [25]
Red Rock Oklahoma United States April 26 1991 Tornado outbreak of April 26, 1991 414–431 km/h (257–268 mph) [26]
Bennington Kansas United States May 27 2013 Tornado outbreak of May 26–31, 2013 398 km/h (247 mph) 100 m (330 ft)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "hurricane". Oxford dictionary. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  2. ^ "Hurricane - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary". Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  3. ^ "Definition of "hurricane" - Collins English Dictionary". Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  4. ^ a b "What is the difference between a hurricane, a cyclone, and a typhoon?". OCEAN FACTS. National Ocean Service. Retrieved 2016-12-24.
  5. ^ J. Courtney; et al. (2012). "Documentation and verification of the world extreme wind gust record: 113.3 m s–1 on Barrow Island, Australia, during passage of tropical cyclone Olivia" (PDF). Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Journal (62). Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  6. ^ a b Beven II, John L; Kimberlain, Todd B; National Hurricane Center (22 January 2009). Hurricane Gustav (PDF) (Tropical Cyclone Report). United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 June 2012. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  7. ^ a b c J. Courtney; et al. (2012). "Documentation and verification of the world extreme wind gust record: 113.3 m s–1 on Barrow Island, Australia, during passage of tropical cyclone Olivia" (PDF). Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Journal (62). Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  8. ^ "Highest surface wind speed - Tropical Cyclone Olivia sets world record". World Record Academy. 26 January 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  9. ^ Jack Beven; Hugh Cobb (September 9, 2014). Hurricane Isabel (PDF) (Report). Tropical Cyclone Report. Miami, Florida: National Hurricane Center. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
  10. ^ Todd B. Kimberlain; Eric S. Blake & John P. Cangialosi (February 1, 2016). Hurricane Patricia (PDF) (Report). Tropical Cyclone Report. Miami, Florida: National Hurricane Center. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  11. ^ a b Todd B. Kimberlain; Eric S. Blake & John P. Cangialosi (February 22, 2000). Hurricane Lenny (PDF) (Report). Tropical Cyclone Report. Miami, Florida: National Hurricane Center. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  12. ^ Dominic Alojado & David Michael V. Padua (July 29, 2010). "The Twelve Worst Typhoons of the Philippines (1947–2009)". Typhoon 2000. Retrieved July 21, 2013.
  13. ^ Richard Pasch; Eric Blake; Hugh Cobb; David Roberts (September 9, 2014). Hurricane Wilma (PDF) (Report). Tropical Cyclone Report. Miami, Florida: National Hurricane Center. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  14. ^ https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/looking-back-at-hurricane-gustavs-record-211-mph-wind-gust
  15. ^ "World Record Wind". Mount Washington Observatory. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  16. ^ https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=355398
  17. ^ https://twitter.com/NWSSacramento/status/834006611236683777
  18. ^ William W. Hay (2016). Experimenting on a Small Planet. Springer. p. 568.
  19. ^ I. Baring-Gould; R. Robichaud; Kevin McCain (May 2005). Analysis of the Use of Wind Energy to Supplement the Power Needs at McMurdo Station and Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Antarctica (PDF) (Report). National Renewable Energy Laboratory. p. 9. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  20. ^ https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5135259
  21. ^ http://icelandmag.visir.is/article/fastest-wind-gust-recorded-yesterday-measured-2613-km-hour-1624-mph
  22. ^ https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/stormevents/eventdetails.jsp?id=5336534
  23. ^ @witorhunter (May 19, 2017). "DOW8 recorded Delta-V aloft of Elk City #tornado at 138 m/s ---> 268kts ---> 309mph. Shows how influential friction is at surface. #tTWIRL" (Tweet). Retrieved May 19, 2017 – via Twitter.
  24. ^ Jon Erdman (May 3, 2016). "How May 3, 1999, Kicked Off a Life-Changing Stretch of Oklahoma Tornadoes". The Weather Channel. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
  25. ^ Jason Samenow (June 4, 2013). "Deadly El Reno, Okla. tornado was widest ever measured on Earth, had nearly 300 mph winds". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  26. ^ Bluestein, Howard B.; J.G. Ladue; H. Stein; D. Speheger; W.P. Unruh (August 1993). "Doppler Radar Wind Spectra of Supercell Tornadoes". Monthly Weather Review. 121 (8). American Meteorological Society: 2200–22. Bibcode:1993MWRv..121.2200B. doi:10.1175/1520-0493(1993)121<2200:DRWSOS>2.0.CO;2.