cyclone Sandy in the United States, show that even highly
industrialized countries continue to be very vulnerable to
these storms. The relative rarity of intense tropical
cyclones makes it very difficult to develop, execute, and
maintain effective mitigation plans. Even areas experiencing frequent many tropical cyclones can be devastated by
an unusually intense storm, as was the case recently with
Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in November 2013
which set a new world record as the most intense
landfalling tropical cyclone. Figure 3 (www.goes-r.gov/
users/comet/tropical/textbook_2nd_Edition/) gives an
overview of areas around the world that are most likely
to experience tropical cyclones; however, as shown by
the hybrid cyclone Sandy, even if an area is only infrequently affected, these storms still pose a very real and
increasing threat.
Summary
Tropical cyclones represent one of nature’s most destructive forces and the effects of climate variability and continued coastal development are likely to exacerbate these
impacts. Disasters and disaster recovery will depend
heavily on improved predictions over short time intervals
for evacuation decision-making and over many years for
community planning and development of resilient coastal
areas for natural and urban landscapes (Brantley et al.,
2014; Sealza and Sealza, 2014).
These storms are fundamentally a heat engine taking
energy from the sea via the latent heat of evaporation
and depositing the energy at mid-tropospheric levels via
condensation. This engine converts the heat energy
directly into mechanical energy (winds, waves and currents). Potential positive feedbacks, related to the dependence of evaporation rates on wind speed and storm
intensity and mid-tropospheric heating rates, exist in this
system. Therefore, tropical cyclones will continued to
strengthen in ocean areas with high water temperatures,
minimal vertical shear, and moist air aloft until the
mechanical and heat energy losses equal the heat sources.
References
Brantley, S. T., Bissett, S. N., Young, D. R., Wolner, C. W., and
Moore, L. J., 2014. Barrier Island morphology and sediment
characteristics affect the recovery of Dune building grasses following storm-induced overwash. PloS One, 9(8), e104747.
Dube, S., 2007. Storm surge force associated with sudden changes
in intensity and/or track in the Bay of Bengal. Retrieved from
http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/wwrp/pdf%20files/6%
20Nov/SDube.pdf. Accessed November 20, 2013.
Emanuel, K., 1986. An air-sea interaction for tropical cyclones, Part
I: steady-state maintenance. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 43, 585–604.
Emanuel, K., 1988. The maximum intensity of hurricanes. Journal
of the Atmospheric Sciences, 45, 1143–1155.
Emanuel, K., 1991. The theory of hurricanes. Fluid Mechanics, 23,
179–196.
Encyclopedia Mythica, 2013. Hurakan. Retrieved from http://www.
pantheon.org/articles/h/hurakan.html. Accessed November
17, 2013.
Gray, W. M., 1968. A global view of the origin of tropical disturbances and storms. Monthly Weather Review, 96, 669–700.
Gray, W. M., 1979. Hurricanes: their formation, structure and likely
role in the tropical circulation. In Shaw, D. B. (ed.), Meteorology
Over Tropical Oceans. James Glaisher House, Berkshire: Royal
Meteorological Society, pp. 155–218.
Holland, G. J., 1997. The maximum potential intensity of tropical
cyclones. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 54, 2519–2541.
Irish, J. L., Resio, D. T., and Cialone, M. A., 2009. A surge response
function approach to coastal hazard assessment: Part 2, quantification of spatial attributes of response functions. Nat Hazards,
51, 183–205, doi:10.1007/s11069-9381-4.
Jones, S. C., Harr, P. A., Abraham, J., Bosart, L. F., Bowyer, P. J.,
Evans, J. L., Hanley, D. E., Hanstrum, B. N., Hart, R. E.,
Laurette, F. O., Sinclair, M. R., Smith, R. K., and Thorncroft,
C., 2003. The extratropical transition of tropical cyclones: forecast challenges, current understanding, and future directions.
Weather and Forecasting, 18, 1052–1092.
Kay, J., 2010. Storm surge removed from Saffir-Simpson scale.
USA Today, Retrieved February 13, 2010.
Kerr, P. C., Westerink, J. J., Dietrich, J. C., Martyr, R. C., Tanaka, S.,
Resio, D. T., Smith, J. M., Westerink, H. J., Westerink, L. G.,
Wamsley, T., van Ledden, M., and de Jong, W., 2013. Surge generation mechanisms in the lower Mississipi river and discharge
dependency. Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean
Engineering, 139, 326–335.
Knutson, T. R., McBride, J. L., Chan, J., Emanuel, K., Holland, G.,
Landsea, C., and Sugi, M., 2010. Tropical cyclones and climate
change. Nature Geoscience, 3(3), 157–163.
NASA, 2013. How do hurricanes form. Retrieved from http://pmm.
nasa.gov/education/articles/how-do-hurricanes-form. Accessed
November 20, 2013.
Resio, D. T., and Westerink, J. J., 2008. Modeling the physics of
hurricane storm surges. Physics Today, September, 33–38.
Resio, D. T., Irish, J. L., Westerink, J. J., and Powell, N. J., 2013.
The effect of uncertainty on estimates of hurricane surge hazards.
Natural Hazards, 66, 1443–1459, doi:10.1007/s11069-0120315-1.
Sealza, I. S., and Sealza, L. P., 2014. Recovering from the effects of
natural disaster: the case of urban Cagayan de Oro, Philippines.
European Journal of Sustainable Development, 3(3), 103–110.
Shen, B. W., DeMaria, J. L., Li, F., and Cheung, S., 2013. The genesis of Hurricane Sandy (2012) simulated with a global mesoscale model. Geophysical Research Letters, 40, 4944–4950.
Tonkin, H., Holland, G. J., Holbrook, N., and Henderson-Sellers,
A., 2000. An evaluation of thermodynamic estimates of climatological maximum potential cyclone intensity. Monthly Weather
Review, 138, 746–762.
Trenberth, K. E., Jones, P. D., Ambenje, P., Bojariu, R., Easterling,
D., Tank, A. K., Parker, D., Rahimzadeh, F., Renwick, J. A.,
Rusticucci, M., Soden, B., and Zhai, P., 2007. Observations: surface and atmospheric climate change. In Solomon, S., Qin, D.,
Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M., Averyt, K. B., Tignor,
M., and Miller, H. L. (eds.), Climate Change 2007: The Physical
Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth
Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change. Cambridge, UK/New York: Cambridge University
Press.
Cross-references
Beach Processes
Coastal Engineering
Coasts
Geohazards: Coastal Disasters
Integrated Coastal Zone Management
Waves
334
HURRICANES AND TYPHOONS
industrialized countries continue to be very vulnerable to
these storms. The relative rarity of intense tropical
cyclones makes it very difficult to develop, execute, and
maintain effective mitigation plans. Even areas experiencing frequent many tropical cyclones can be devastated by
an unusually intense storm, as was the case recently with
Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in November 2013
which set a new world record as the most intense
landfalling tropical cyclone. Figure 3 (www.goes-r.gov/
users/comet/tropical/textbook_2nd_Edition/) gives an
overview of areas around the world that are most likely
to experience tropical cyclones; however, as shown by
the hybrid cyclone Sandy, even if an area is only infrequently affected, these storms still pose a very real and
increasing threat.
Summary
Tropical cyclones represent one of nature’s most destructive forces and the effects of climate variability and continued coastal development are likely to exacerbate these
impacts. Disasters and disaster recovery will depend
heavily on improved predictions over short time intervals
for evacuation decision-making and over many years for
community planning and development of resilient coastal
areas for natural and urban landscapes (Brantley et al.,
2014; Sealza and Sealza, 2014).
These storms are fundamentally a heat engine taking
energy from the sea via the latent heat of evaporation
and depositing the energy at mid-tropospheric levels via
condensation. This engine converts the heat energy
directly into mechanical energy (winds, waves and currents). Potential positive feedbacks, related to the dependence of evaporation rates on wind speed and storm
intensity and mid-tropospheric heating rates, exist in this
system. Therefore, tropical cyclones will continued to
strengthen in ocean areas with high water temperatures,
minimal vertical shear, and moist air aloft until the
mechanical and heat energy losses equal the heat sources.
References
Brantley, S. T., Bissett, S. N., Young, D. R., Wolner, C. W., and
Moore, L. J., 2014. Barrier Island morphology and sediment
characteristics affect the recovery of Dune building grasses following storm-induced overwash. PloS One, 9(8), e104747.
Dube, S., 2007. Storm surge force associated with sudden changes
in intensity and/or track in the Bay of Bengal. Retrieved from
http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/wwrp/pdf%20files/6%
20Nov/SDube.pdf. Accessed November 20, 2013.
Emanuel, K., 1986. An air-sea interaction for tropical cyclones, Part
I: steady-state maintenance. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 43, 585–604.
Emanuel, K., 1988. The maximum intensity of hurricanes. Journal
of the Atmospheric Sciences, 45, 1143–1155.
Emanuel, K., 1991. The theory of hurricanes. Fluid Mechanics, 23,
179–196.
Encyclopedia Mythica, 2013. Hurakan. Retrieved from http://www.
pantheon.org/articles/h/hurakan.html. Accessed November
17, 2013.
Gray, W. M., 1968. A global view of the origin of tropical disturbances and storms. Monthly Weather Review, 96, 669–700.
Gray, W. M., 1979. Hurricanes: their formation, structure and likely
role in the tropical circulation. In Shaw, D. B. (ed.), Meteorology
Over Tropical Oceans. James Glaisher House, Berkshire: Royal
Meteorological Society, pp. 155–218.
Holland, G. J., 1997. The maximum potential intensity of tropical
cyclones. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 54, 2519–2541.
Irish, J. L., Resio, D. T., and Cialone, M. A., 2009. A surge response
function approach to coastal hazard assessment: Part 2, quantification of spatial attributes of response functions. Nat Hazards,
51, 183–205, doi:10.1007/s11069-9381-4.
Jones, S. C., Harr, P. A., Abraham, J., Bosart, L. F., Bowyer, P. J.,
Evans, J. L., Hanley, D. E., Hanstrum, B. N., Hart, R. E.,
Laurette, F. O., Sinclair, M. R., Smith, R. K., and Thorncroft,
C., 2003. The extratropical transition of tropical cyclones: forecast challenges, current understanding, and future directions.
Weather and Forecasting, 18, 1052–1092.
Kay, J., 2010. Storm surge removed from Saffir-Simpson scale.
USA Today, Retrieved February 13, 2010.
Kerr, P. C., Westerink, J. J., Dietrich, J. C., Martyr, R. C., Tanaka, S.,
Resio, D. T., Smith, J. M., Westerink, H. J., Westerink, L. G.,
Wamsley, T., van Ledden, M., and de Jong, W., 2013. Surge generation mechanisms in the lower Mississipi river and discharge
dependency. Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean
Engineering, 139, 326–335.
Knutson, T. R., McBride, J. L., Chan, J., Emanuel, K., Holland, G.,
Landsea, C., and Sugi, M., 2010. Tropical cyclones and climate
change. Nature Geoscience, 3(3), 157–163.
NASA, 2013. How do hurricanes form. Retrieved from http://pmm.
nasa.gov/education/articles/how-do-hurricanes-form. Accessed
November 20, 2013.
Resio, D. T., and Westerink, J. J., 2008. Modeling the physics of
hurricane storm surges. Physics Today, September, 33–38.
Resio, D. T., Irish, J. L., Westerink, J. J., and Powell, N. J., 2013.
The effect of uncertainty on estimates of hurricane surge hazards.
Natural Hazards, 66, 1443–1459, doi:10.1007/s11069-0120315-1.
Sealza, I. S., and Sealza, L. P., 2014. Recovering from the effects of
natural disaster: the case of urban Cagayan de Oro, Philippines.
European Journal of Sustainable Development, 3(3), 103–110.
Shen, B. W., DeMaria, J. L., Li, F., and Cheung, S., 2013. The genesis of Hurricane Sandy (2012) simulated with a global mesoscale model. Geophysical Research Letters, 40, 4944–4950.
Tonkin, H., Holland, G. J., Holbrook, N., and Henderson-Sellers,
A., 2000. An evaluation of thermodynamic estimates of climatological maximum potential cyclone intensity. Monthly Weather
Review, 138, 746–762.
Trenberth, K. E., Jones, P. D., Ambenje, P., Bojariu, R., Easterling,
D., Tank, A. K., Parker, D., Rahimzadeh, F., Renwick, J. A.,
Rusticucci, M., Soden, B., and Zhai, P., 2007. Observations: surface and atmospheric climate change. In Solomon, S., Qin, D.,
Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M., Averyt, K. B., Tignor,
M., and Miller, H. L. (eds.), Climate Change 2007: The Physical
Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth
Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change. Cambridge, UK/New York: Cambridge University
Press.
Cross-references
Beach Processes
Coastal Engineering
Coasts
Geohazards: Coastal Disasters
Integrated Coastal Zone Management
Waves
334
HURRICANES AND TYPHOONS