UNDERSTANDING TYPHOONS

Unit 2
MODULE 2
Overview:

Every year the Philippines is hit by
typhoons. No part of the country is
spared. All provinces have been
visited by a typhoon at one time or
another. In recent years, the
Philippines had been overwhelmed
by powerful tropical cyclones
Who could forget the terrible
flood brought by Tropical Storm
Ondoy in 2009? Or the people
swept out to sea during Tropical
Storm Sendong in 2011? Or the
poor community of New Bataan
buried in mud spawned by
Typhoon Pablo in 2012?
According to the Philippine
Atmospheric, Geophysical, and
Astronomical Services
Administration (PAGASA), about
20 tropical cyclones enter the
Philippine Area of Responsibility
each year. We have to be
knowledgeable about tropical
cyclones if we want to prevent the
loss of more lives.
WHAT IS PAGASA?
is a Philippine national institution
dedicated to provide flood and typhoon
warnings, public weather forecasts and
advisories, meteorological,
astronomical, climatological, and other
specialized information and services
primarily for the protection of life and
property and in support of economic,
productivity and sustainable
development.
The Philippine Atmospheric,
Geophysical and Astronomical
Services Administration (Filipino:
Pangasiwaan ng Palingkurang
Atmosperiko, Heopisikal at
Astronomiko ng Pilipinas,
abbreviated as PAGASA, which
means "hope" in the Tagalog
word pag-asa)
What is a Typhoon?

We all know what a typhoon is. Or
more accurately, we know what to
expect when a typhoon comes. We
get a lot of rain and strong winds.
Now, you may not have noticed it
but the winds in a typhoon move in
a certain direction. They go around
a central area.
The English word typhoon could
have originated from Persian
tfn (storm), (which is pronounced
"tufoon" in the Bandari dialect of
Persian, spoken on the shores of the
Persian Gulf from the verb tfdan
(Persian: / means "to roar",
"to blow furiously" .
A typhoon is a mature tropical
cyclone that develops in the
northwestern part of the
Pacific Ocean between 180
and 100E. This region is
referred to as the northwest
Pacific basin.
It is a violent tropical cyclone, in
meteorological term, which is a
low pressure system occurring in
tropical oceans. The winds above
the ground circulate around the
center counterclockwise for a
typhoon occurring in the northern
hemisphere and clockwise for that
occurring in the southern
hemisphere.
Tropical depression, tropical storm,
typhoon, and supertyphoon are
categories of tropical cyclones
(Table 1). In simple terms, a tropical
cyclone is a system of
thunderstorms that are moving
around a center. As the winds
intensify or weaken, the category is
upgraded or downgraded
accordingly.
As the winds intensify or
weaken, the category is
upgraded or downgraded
accordingly.
Category
Maximum Wind Speed
kilometers per hour
(kph)
Tropical
Depression
64
Tropical Storm 118
Typhoon 200
Supertyphoon greater than 200
Table 1. Tropical Cyclone Categories
The term typhoon is used only in the
northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean. In the
northeastern part of the Pacific Ocean and in
the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean, the
equivalent term is hurricane. Thus, a
hurricane on one side of the Pacific Ocean will
be called a typhoon if it crosses into the other
side.

In the Philippines, we use the
same word for all categories of
tropical cyclones. We call it
bagyo whether it is a tropical
depression, a tropical storm or
a typhoon.
ANSWER THE QUESTION
Why is the Philippines
prone to typhoons?
What conditions favor the
formation of typhoons?