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• Tropical cyclones

• Cyclone Nargis
• Typhoon Vamei

Dr Adam D. Switzer
Singapore NRF Fellow & Nanyang Assistant Professor - Principal Investigator, Tectonics Group
Earth Observatory of Singapore | NTU N2-01A-04 Tel: (65) 6592-1762 Email: aswitzer@ntu.edu.sg
Coastal hazards II – Lecture objectives
At the end of this lecture you should be able to:
• Describe where tropical cyclones and mid latitude storms occur and
why?
• Understand the difference between a storm and a cyclone.
• Explain with examples the saffir-simpson scale
• Comprehend the coriolis affect and how it relates to storms and
cyclones
• Review Cyclone Nargis and the damage caused
• Understand the genesis of typhoon Vamei and why that storm is
scientifically important.

Lakey, Sumbawa
Areas at Risk
• Northern hemisphere tropical cyclones:
– Rotate counterclockwise, track clockwise
• Southern hemisphere tropical cyclones:
– Rotate clockwise, track counterclockwise
Tropical cyclones
• Tropical cyclones are also called Typhoons or Hurricanes

• Generally they form where water temperatures are above 26


degrees in temperature.

• They are driven by the release of large amounts of latent heat which
occurs when moist air is carried upwards and water vapor condenses.
Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones
Air pressure
gradients on
earths surface
• Pressure gradient:
high pressure  low
pressure

• Pressure differences exist


due to unequal heating of
Earth’s surface

• Spacing between isobars


indicates intensity of
gradient

• Airflow is perpendicular to
isobars Figure 6.7
Cyclones

• Large low pressure


cells are cyclones,
(high pressure cells
anticyclones)

• Air driven towards


the centre of a
cyclone due to
pressure gradients
gets deflected by
Coriolis to spiral
around the centre.
Coriolis affect
Freely moving objects on the surface of the Earth experience a
Coriolis force, and appear to veer to the right in the northern
hemisphere, and to the left in the southern hemisphere.

Coriolis effect on a rotating platform, as one person throws a ball to another person.
Converge and divergence
• A cyclone has convergence near ground but divergence at
upper level.
• An Anticyclone has divergence near ground, convergence at
upper level.
Formation of Cyclones
• Rising air and condensation can
build up into convective ‘chimney’
of thunderstorms
• Convection may strengthen when
air rises to high elevations without
strong winds to shear off and
dissipate storms
• Begin to develop over warm
seawater (26°C), between 5 and
20 degrees latitude
• Vertical wind shear must be
minimal
• Becomes cyclone force when winds
exceed sustained velocity of 119
km/hr
• Highest wind speeds exist along
edge of eye wall
Formation of Cyclones
• Warm, moist air rises and spreads
at top of chimney
• Warm air expands, cools and
releases latent heat
• Eye of cyclone can be as much as
20oC warmer than surrounding air
• Rising air pulls more air into
center of cyclone at low elevations
• Storm may be from 160 to more
than 800 km in diameter
• Forward motion averages 25
km/hr
• Wind speed and pressure drop
abruptly in the eye.
Pressure and winds
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

– Based on barometric pressure and average wind speed


– Lower barometric pressure, stronger cyclone
– Lower-category storms can do almost as much damage as
higher-category storms
Storm damage and deaths
• Global Costs related to cylcones have dramatically increased
– Rapidly growing populations along coast
– More development in unsuitable locations
– More expensive buildings

• Number of deaths has decreased


– Improved ability to predict landfall locations
– Coordinated ability to evacuate populations at risk
World wide tropical cyclone tracks from 1985 to 2005.

Tropical cyclones

Singapore
Formation and
anatomy of a
tropical cyclone

Pressure and winds

Intensity series
Tropical Tropical Storm Tropical cyclone
Depression

998
1000 998 1008 988 978
1008
What is storm surge?

Storm surge Water piling against the coast

Wind waves

Coast Low pressure dome

Normal tidal
range Ocean

Low pressure at the surface causes a dome of water

Strong winds cause large short period waves

Water accumulates against the coast

Storm surge
Case study - Cyclone Nargis

United States Department of State


Other events in the region

Tropical cyclone Nargis made


landfall on 2 May 2008,
causing the worst natural
disaster in Myanmar's
recorded history.
Official death toll estimates
exceed 138,000 making it the
eighth deadliest cyclone ever
recorded worldwide.
The 1970 Bhola cyclone,
caused up to 500,000
fatalities.

Fritz et al., 2009


Nature Geosciences
Cyclone Nargis – 27 July - 3 May 2008

Cyclone
Nargis’ path

Hong Kong

Singapore
Tropical cyclone tracks from 1985 to 2005.
Timeline to disaster
April 27 - the India
Meteorological Department
(IMD) classified the system
as a tropical depression
IMD upgrade it to cyclonic
storm Nargis.
April 28 - Nargis is nearly
stationary and intensifying.
That day the Joint Typhoon
Warning Centre (JTWC)
upgraded the storm to
cyclone status.
Timeline to disaster
April 29 - JTWC estimated
Nargis reached winds of 160
km/h. IMD forecast landfall
in Bangladesh or
southeastern India. Cyclone
becomes disorganized,
weakened and heads
northeast.
April 30 – cyclone intensifies
and heads to the east before
turning northeast on May 1
Timeline to disaster
May 1 - Cyclone Nargis began
rapidly intensifying, due to the H
arrival of a new weather front.
May 2 - JTWC estimates the
cyclone reached peak winds of
215 km/h (135 mph) as it
approached the coast of
Myanmar

May 1, 2008, visible image


from NASA's Atmospheric
Infrared Sounder
instrument on NASA's
Aqua spacecraft
Changes in intensity
Landfall and storm surge

May 2 - Cyclone Nargis


crossed the coast of
Myanmar with winds in
excess of 150km/hr, strong
waves and a storm surge
possibly up to 8m.
Gulf of
Researchers from the Martaban
University of Maryland
suggest that Cyclone Nargis
flooded about 14,402 km2 in
the Irrawaddy River Delta.
Storm surge damage from Cyclone Nargis

Fritz et al., 2009


Nature Geosciences
Flooding and
destruction
The United Nations
estimated in its report that
1.5 million people were
"severely affected" by this
cyclone.

The storm has killed 77,738


people and left 55,917
others missing and 19,359
injured, according to the
official death toll from the
United Nations.
Flooding and Destroyed
destruction villages

This small village was


located about 27 km south
of Yangon, the country’s
Flooded fields
largest city. Ruined
infrastructure
After the disaster, the trees
and buildings are
completely gone, replaced
by messy piles of rubble.

The fields are largely


submerged under brown
and green floodwater.
Typhoon (tropical storm) Vamei The belt 300 kilometers either
side of the equator has been
considered tropical cyclone-
free… well.. Until Dec 27 2001?

Singapore

Vamei brought flooding and landslides to


eastern Malaysia, causing US$3.6 million in
damage and five deaths.
December 27, 2001, in the South China Sea, 1.5 degrees N, about 150km, north of
the Equator weather forecasters note the appearance of Typhoon Vamei.

Analysis later revealed that a weak, quasi-stagnant disturbance off Borneo interacted
with a strong, cold surge off Asia that set up a background rotation when it hit the
island. When the surge met the local disturbance, spin happened, and a typhoon
rapidly emerged causing strong winds in both hemispheres..

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