Portal:Tropical cyclones

Typhoon Pongsona was the last typhoon of the 2002 Pacific typhoon season, and was the second costliest United States disaster in 2002, only behind Hurricane Lili. The name "Pongsona" was contributed by North Korea for the Pacific tropical cyclone list and is the Korean name for the garden balsam. Pongsona developed out of an area of disturbed weather on December 2, and steadily intensified to reach typhoon status on December 5. On December 8 it passed through Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands while near its peak winds of 175 km/h (109 mph) 10-min). It ultimately turned to the northeast, weakened, and became extratropical on December 11.

Typhoon Pongsona produced strong wind gusts peaking at 290 km/h (180 mph) 1-min), which left the entire island of Guam without power and destroyed about 1,300 houses. With strong building standards and experience from repeated typhoon strikes, there were no fatalities directly related to Pongsona, although there was one indirect death from flying glass. Damage on the island totaled over $730 million (2002 USD, $1.1 billion 2023 USD), making Pongsona among the five costliest typhoons on the island. The typhoon also caused extreme damage on Rota and elsewhere in the Northern Mariana Islands, and as a result of its impact the name was retired. (Full article...)

In Maryland and Washington, D.C., the effects of Hurricane Isabel were among the most damaging from a tropical cyclone in the respective metropolitan area. Hurricane Isabel formed from a tropical wave on September 6, 2003, in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. It moved northwestward, and within an environment of light wind shear and warm waters, it steadily strengthened to reach peak winds of 165 miles per hour (266 km/h) on September 11. After fluctuating in intensity for four days, Isabel gradually weakened and made landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina with winds of 105 miles per hour (169 km/h) on September 18. It quickly weakened over land and became extratropical over western Pennsylvania the next day.

On September 19, Tropical Storm Isabel passed through extreme western Maryland, though its large circulation produced tropical storm force winds throughout the state. About 1.24 million people lost power throughout the state. The worst of its effects came from its storm surge, which inundated areas along the coast and resulted in severe beach erosion. On the Eastern Shore, hundreds of buildings were damaged or destroyed, primarily in Queen Anne's County from tidal flooding. Thousands of houses were affected in Central Maryland, with severe storm surge flooding reported in Baltimore and Annapolis. Washington, D.C., sustained moderate damage, primarily from the winds. Throughout Maryland and Washington, damage totaled about $820 million (equivalent to $1.21 billion in 2021), with only one fatality due to flooding. (Full article...)

The 2020 North Indian Ocean cyclone season was the costliest North Indian Ocean cyclone season on record, mostly due to the devastating Cyclone Amphan. The North Indian Ocean cyclone season has no official bounds, but cyclones tend to form between April and November, with peaks in late April to May and October to November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northern Indian Ocean. The season began on May 16 with the designation of Depression BOB 01 in the Bay of Bengal, which later became Amphan. Cyclone Amphan was the strongest storm in the Bay of Bengal in 21 years and would break Nargis of 2008's record as the costliest storm in the North Indian Ocean. The season concluded with the dissipation of Cyclone Burevi on December 5. Overall, the season was slightly above average, seeing the development of five cyclonic storms.

The scope of the season is limited to the Indian Ocean in the Northern Hemisphere, east of the Horn of Africa and west of the Malay Peninsula. There are two main seas in the North Indian Ocean – the Arabian Sea to the west of the Indian subcontinent, abbreviated ARB by the India Meteorological Department (IMD); and the Bay of Bengal to the east, abbreviated BOB by the IMD. (Full article...)

Italicized basins are unofficial.

North Atlantic (2023)

No active systems

East and Central Pacific (2023)

No active systems

West Pacific (2023)

No active systems

North Indian Ocean (2023)

No active systems

Mediterranean (2022–23)

No active systems

South-West Indian Ocean (2022–23)

No active systems

Australian region (2022–23)

Tropical Low 23U

South Pacific (2022–23)

No active systems

South Atlantic (2022–23)

No active systems

Last updated: 10:22, 8 April 2023 (UTC)

April 7

• 1982 - Cyclone Dominic made landfall on the northwestern coast of Queensland, Australia. Dominic caused at least $3.6 million of damage, mostly in the Darwin area.
• 1999 - Cyclone Gwenda (pictured), as a Category 2 cyclone, makes landfall over Port Hedland, Western Australia after it reached peak of 10-minute sustained winds of 220 km/h (140 mph).

April 8

• 1979 - Cyclone Idylle remains active in the eastern side of the South-West Indian Ocean basin, just before reaching peak strength and entering the Australian region basin.
• 1984 - Cyclone Kamisy (pictured) reaches peak intensity as an Intense tropical cyclone, just before brushing the northern part of Madagascar and was dubbed as the worst storm to hit the country since 1911. Kamisy killed 69 people and caused 810 billion Ariary in damages (about US$250 million).

April 9,

• 1998 - Tropical Storm Gemma attains peak strength over the South-West Indian Ocean, with winds of 85 km/h (50 mph), according to the MFR. The JTWC, however, classified Gemma's peak as a Category 1 tropical cyclone two days later.
• 2005 - Cyclone Juliet (pictured) reaches peak strength, with 10-minute sustained winds of 205 km/h (125 mph) and a minimum central pressure of 905 hPa (mbar).

• …that the Joint Typhoon Warning Center considers that Typhoon Vera (pictured) of 1986 is actually two distinct systems, formed from two separated low-level circulations?
• …that Hurricane Agatha (pictured) was the strongest Pacific hurricane to make landfall in Mexico in May since records began in 1949?
• …that Cyclone Raquel (track pictured) travelled between the Australian and South Pacific basins between the 2014–15 and 2015–16 seasons, spanning both seasons in both basins?
• …that Cyclone Amphan (pictured) in 2020 was the first storm to be classified as a Super Cyclonic Storm in the Bay of Bengal since 1999?

The following are images from various tropical cyclone-related articles on Wikipedia.