Severe Storms....[ 370 ]

Earth Observatory

Severe Storms

This collection of images featuring the strongest hurricane, cyclone, or typhoon from any ocean during each year of the past decade includes storms both famous—or infamous—and obscure. The judging is based on the storm with the highest wind speed, using lowest minimum pressure as a tie-breaker when needed. The images were all captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra or Aqua satellites, and they are all shown at the same scale.
Of the decade’s most powerful storms, two were in the Atlantic/Caribbean basin, five were in the Pacific north of the equator, and three were in the South Pacific. Even without looking at the table below, you can identify which storms were in the Northern Hemisphere and which were in the Southern: because of the Coriolis force, northern cyclones rotate counterclockwise, while southern storms rotate clockwise. All storm categories are based on the Saffir-Simspon Hurricane Scale.

Storm Date of image, Maximum Wind Speed km/h (mph), Minimum Pressure millibars, Basin (area)

• Damrey May 9, 2000 290 (180) 878 Western Pacific
• Faxai December 22, 2001 290 (180) 915 Western Pacific
• Zoe December 28, 2002 285 (177) 890 South Pacific
• Maemi September 10, 2003 280 (174) 910 Western Pacific
• Chaba August 23, 2004 290 (180) 879 Western Pacific
• Wilma October 18, 2005 295 (183) 882 Atlantic/Caribbean
• Monica April 24, 2006 285 (177) 905 South Pacific
• Dean August 18, 2007 280 (174) 907 Atlantic/Caribbean
• Jangmi September 27, 2008 260 (162) 905 Western Pacific
• Hamish March 8, 2009 240 (149) 925 South Pacific

Many North Americans will recognize Hurricanes Dean (2007) and Wilma (2005). Wilma holds the record for the most intense Atlantic Basin storm on record (based on air pressure), and it made landfall on the island of Cozumel, the Yucatan Peninsula, and Florida. After cutting a devastating path through the Caribbean, Hurricane Dean made a rare Category 5-strength landfall in Mexico.

Even residents around the Western Pacific Basin might not remember the names Damrey (2000) or Faxai (2001); both of these Category 5 super typhoons came and went through the remote Pacific without ever approaching land. Other storms inflicted great damage. Super Typhoon Maemi (2003) was the costliest typhoon ever to hit Korea, killing more than a hundred people. Super Typhoon Chaba (2004) pummeled both the Northern Marianas Islands and Honshu, Japan. Super Typhoon Jangmi (2008), which made landfall across northern Taiwan as a Category 3 storm, was not only the strongest storm of 2008, it was also the only storm worldwide to reach Category 5 strength.

Of the three South Pacific cyclones to appear in this collection, Monica (2006) and Zoe (2002) were nearly equal in terms of strength. Monica crossed the Cape York Peninsula as a Category 2 cyclone, but emerged over the warm waters of the Gulf of Carpentaria and intensified into a Category 5 storm before its second landfall on Northern Territory’s Top End. Cyclone Zoe (2003) traced an erratic path through the Solomons Islands, avoiding major land masses, but the eye passed over the tiny, sparsely populated island of Tikopia at the height of the storm. As of August, Cyclone Hamish, which skirted the northeastern coast of Australia without making landfall, was leading the competition for strongest storm of 2009. With the Atlantic and Pacific hurricane seasons still underway, it remains to be seen whether Hamish will hold on to its title.

Data on maximum wind speed and minimum pressure for Atlantic Basin storms comes from the National Hurricane Center; for Western Pacific storms, from the Japanese Meteorological Agency; for South Pacific storms, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.