Significant Tropical Cyclones

[MNTornadoGuy]

Here's some tree debarking caused by the eyewall of Hurricane Michael. Now the last one could be partially from surge, but the first two were from wind damage alone.

Wow that's impressive debarking in the first picture. I do wonder if any tropical cyclones have completely debarked trees with wind alone?

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

The wind damage Hurricane Dorian inflicted on Grand Abaco was devastating. The damage looks equivalent to that from an EF3 tornado. Homes were completely destroyed, one car was thrown across a street into a forest and mangled, trees were stripped of all but the largest branches and debris was blown for hundreds of yards.

 

[pohnpei]

The wind damage Hurricane Dorian inflicted on Grand Abaco was devastating. The damage looks equivalent to that from an EF3 tornado. Homes were completely destroyed, one car was thrown across a street into a forest and mangled, trees were stripped of all but the largest branches and debris was blown for hundreds of yards.
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This small area suffered much severe damage than surroundings area and the feature like car being lofted make me think of the same feature observed in Andrew or Typhoon Nepartak before, which later been detected and confirmed in eyewall of Hurricane Harvey. Called small scale tornadolike vortex in TC's eyewall.
This is Harvey's article

The Role of Small-Scale Vortices in Enhancing Surface Winds and Damage in Hurricane Harvey (2017)

Abstract Strong hurricanes cause severe, but highly variable, wind damage to homes and community infrastructure. It has been speculated, but not previously shown, that damage variability is caused by tornadoes or other small-scale phenomena. Here, the authors present the first mapping and...

journals.ametsoc.org

 

[buckeye05]

This small area suffered much severe damage than surroundings area and the feature like car being lofted make me think of the same feature observed in Andrew or Typhoon Nepartak before, which later been detected and confirmed in eyewall of Hurricane Harvey. Called small scale tornadolike vortex in TC's eyewall.
This is Harvey's article

The Role of Small-Scale Vortices in Enhancing Surface Winds and Damage in Hurricane Harvey (2017)

Abstract Strong hurricanes cause severe, but highly variable, wind damage to homes and community infrastructure. It has been speculated, but not previously shown, that damage variability is caused by tornadoes or other small-scale phenomena. Here, the authors present the first mapping and...

journals.ametsoc.org

View attachment 8838

That PDF is one of the most interesting things i've read in a long time.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

This small area suffered much severe damage than surroundings area and the feature like car being lofted make me think of the same feature observed in Andrew or Typhoon Nepartak before, which later been detected and confirmed in eyewall of Hurricane Harvey. Called small scale tornadolike vortex in TC's eyewall.
This is Harvey's article

The Role of Small-Scale Vortices in Enhancing Surface Winds and Damage in Hurricane Harvey (2017)

Abstract Strong hurricanes cause severe, but highly variable, wind damage to homes and community infrastructure. It has been speculated, but not previously shown, that damage variability is caused by tornadoes or other small-scale phenomena. Here, the authors present the first mapping and...

journals.ametsoc.org

View attachment 8838

Those eyewall tornado-like vortices are one of the most interesting phenomena that hurricanes produce in my opinion. Also, what were the vortices in Typhoon Nepartak like?

 

[pohnpei]

Those eyewall tornado-like vortices are one of the most interesting phenomena that hurricanes produce in my opinion. Also, what were the vortices in Typhoon Nepartak like?

The Icyclone team made a quick damage survey after the typhoon and there found many cars were tossed like toys in the worst affected area. The building and trees damage nearby was also very significant which made them wondered if there was eyewall mesovortices in this place


Some aftermath damage can also be found in Jame's chasing footage


It is also worth mentioned that the peak intensity of this typhoon was unimagiable. The PCT of this typhoon at its peak was by far the strongest(even not one of) since this product available. After several rounds of weakening phase, a buoy station of Taiwan Ocean University still got 911hpa pressure 7km from the center.
pic made by carl2

The PCT which is the mid level structure of this monster even a little similar to the simulation of El Reno tornado made by Dr leigh

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

The Icyclone team made a quick damage survey after the typhoon and there found many cars were tossed like toys in the worst affected area. The building and trees damage nearby was also very significant which made them wondered if there was eyewall mesovortices in this place


Some aftermath damage can also be found in Jame's chasing footage


It is also worth mentioned that the peak intensity of this typhoon was unimagiable. The PCT of this typhoon at its peak was by far the strongest(even not one of) since this product available. After several rounds of weakening phase, a buoy station of Taiwan Ocean University still got 911hpa pressure 7km from the center.
pic made by carl2
View attachment 8839
The PCT which is the mid level structure of this monster even a little similar to the simulation of El Reno tornado made by Dr leigh
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Yeah that does look like it might have been from mesovortices. Hurricane Laura also produced mesovortices, one of which destroyed the NWS radar.

 

[Casuarina Head]

Does anyone have high-resolution images from the 1935 Labor Day hurricane in the Florida Keys and/or Cape Sable?

 

[Casuarina Head]

Here is a much better view—panoramic, in fact—of the peak wind damage from Dorian in Hope Town:

Source

 

[buckeye05]

Debarking and total annihilation of a forest on Grand Bahama, from Dorian.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

Debarking and total annihilation of a forest on Grand Bahama, from Dorian.

Absolute devastation definitely some of the most intense tree damage I've seen from a hurricane.

 

[pohnpei]

Absolute devastation definitely some of the most intense tree damage I've seen from a hurricane.

I think these were tall-thin softwood trees and it was very easy to bent and relatively easy to debark.Dorian was already not at its peak intensity at this place (about 140kt) but being very slow moving at the same time. Coconut and Palm trees are most sturdy trees in tropical coastline and more often been used as indicator of hurricane's intensity. In fact hurricanes lower than C4 level rarely can bent healthy coconut trees.

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

I do wonder how intense the wind damage from the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane was at landfall. These are a few photographs I could find but I wish there was more. It's also hard to tell the difference between surge and wind damage.

 

[pohnpei]

There was a typhoon used to be buried in the history but definitely needs more attention after many reanaylysis these years. People called it "makurasaki typhoon" in Japan and its name was IDA. The powerful of this typhoon was beyond imagination.

It recorded as an Cat one typhoon in JTWC's database, however, all the evidence available point to the entirely opposite direction in terms of intensity.
The US military authorities in Japan uploaded the internal newspaper "scalpel & line Vol. 1 No. 6", which was published after the US Navy. USS repose (ah-16) passed through the typhoon at that time and recorded the situation of passing through the typhoon, confirming that the 865hpa pressure was actually recorded by barometer on board.

If this was true, which was very likely for the reason that I will talk about below, it would be the lowest sea level pressure ever recorded on earth. Besides that, it's really hard to discripe how insane it was to record a pressure data like this in that place. The sea south of Okinawa was not a usual place for typhoons to reach its peak intensity. In contrast, C4/5 level typhoons usually went into ERC around that place which also very likely the situation that IDA went through at that time, the evidence may also showed on the wind speed data recorded by the boat. So to say, it was very likely IDA was not at its peak intensity at that time.
After further analysis of the data provided by the newspaper, it's reasonable to speculate that the diameter of the eye was at least 14km when it past through the boat, which should be as large as at least 30km showed on the IR satellite image nowadays. This was even more incredible to think about beacuse we know 30km eye was quite large for a 880-hpa TC in view of all related cases recorded in the past such as Tip, Partcia, June, IDA58, Forrest and so on.

IDA then across the north part of Okinawa, an island full of mountains, which can lead to rapidly weakening then speed up the move to the northeast and finally made landfall in Kagoshima. The pressure recorded in makurasaki was 916hpa. It was the second lowest pressure on main island in Japan to this day. In autumn, typhoons often weaken a lot before it hit Japan. But one can image, If IDA didn't went through Okinawa, a pressure near 900hpa can be fully expected when it made landfall in makurasaki, which was such a soild evidence to back up the 865hpa pressure recording by that boat.
There was another typhoon called IDA in 1954 recorded pressure of 892hpa and yet another typhoon also called IDA in 1958 recorded pressure of 873hpa by aircraft of JTWC. IDA was a legendary name for typhoon in West Pacific.

The typhoon brought heavy disaster to Japan, killing at least 2000-3000 people. Not long after the atomic bomb damage, Hiroshima was again affected by the strongest typhoon in history. It's really the worst situation that one can image.

These were several cases that pressure lower than 895hpa were recorded by boats when it passed through the typical cyclone.
1833: S.S. Duke of York 891hpa
1899: Crest of the Wave 880hpa
1900: Arethusa 886hpa (26.16inHg)
1927: S.S. Sapoeroea 886.6hpa
1945: Repose 865hpa

 

[MNTornadoGuy]

There was a typhoon used to be buried in the history but definitely needs more attention after many reanaylysis these years. People called it "makurasaki typhoon" in Japan and its name was IDA. The powerful of this typhoon was beyond imagination.
View attachment 8980
It recorded as an Cat one typhoon in JTWC's database, however, all the evidence available point to the entirely opposite direction in terms of intensity.
The US military authorities in Japan uploaded the internal newspaper "scalpel & line Vol. 1 No. 6", which was published after the US Navy. USS repose (ah-16) passed through the typhoon at that time and recorded the situation of passing through the typhoon, confirming that the 865hpa pressure was actually recorded by barometer on board.
View attachment 8981
If this was true, which was very likely for the reason that I will talk about below, it would be the lowest sea level pressure ever recorded on earth. Besides that, it's really hard to discripe how insane it was to record a pressure data like this in that place. The sea south of Okinawa was not a usual place for typhoons to reach its peak intensity. In contrast, C4/5 level typhoons usually went into ERC around that place which also very likely the situation that IDA went through at that time, the evidence may also showed on the wind speed data recorded by the boat. So to say, it was very likely IDA was not at its peak intensity at that time.
After further analysis of the data provided by the newspaper, it's reasonable to speculate that the diameter of the eye was at least 14km when it past through the boat, which should be as large as at least 30km showed on the IR satellite image nowadays. This was even more incredible to think about beacuse we know 30km eye was quite large for a 880-hpa TC in view of all related cases recorded in the past such as Tip, Partcia, June, IDA58, Forrest and so on.
View attachment 8982
IDA then across the north part of Okinawa, an island full of mountains, which can lead to rapidly weakening then speed up the move to the northeast and finally made landfall in Kagoshima. The pressure recorded in makurasaki was 916hpa. It was the second lowest pressure on main island in Japan to this day. In autumn, typhoons often weaken a lot before it hit Japan. But one can image, If IDA didn't went through Okinawa, a pressure near 900hpa can be fully expected when it made landfall in makurasaki, which was such a soild evidence to back up the 865hpa pressure recording by that boat.
There was another typhoon called IDA in 1954 recorded pressure of 892hpa and yet another typhoon also called IDA in 1958 recorded pressure of 873hpa by aircraft of JTWC. IDA was a legendary name for typhoon in West Pacific.
View attachment 8983
The typhoon brought heavy disaster to Japan, killing at least 2000-3000 people. Not long after the atomic bomb damage, Hiroshima was again affected by the strongest typhoon in history. It's really the worst situation that one can image.

These were several cases that pressure lower than 895hpa were recorded by boats when it passed through the typical cyclone.
1833: S.S. Duke of York 891hpa
1899: Crest of the Wave 880hpa
1900: Arethusa 886hpa (26.16inHg)
1927: S.S. Sapoeroea 886.6hpa
1945: Repose 865hpa

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If the central pressure really was that low, I wonder how strong the winds were before the eyewall replacement cycle?

 

[Casuarina Head]

Regarding Australian cyclones: I found the following reference (see p. 322) to an extremely low MSLP reading in Cossack, Western Australia, during the passage of a cyclone on 7 January 1881. According to the Monthly Weather Review, a minimum reading of 914 mb (27”)—possibly rounded—was measured there. The BoM provides some further information about this cyclone: “Sixteen people died as all but one large schooner either foundered or was washed ashore. Parts of the coastline were completely changed and two lines of sand hills were eroded away, indications of a significant storm surge.” So this seems to have been a very intense system, especially for its latitude and longitude, but for some reason there is very little information about it.

 

[pohnpei]

If the central pressure really was that low, I wonder how strong the winds were before the eyewall replacement cycle?

Using KZC, winds corresponding of pressure between 860-865 are likely between 190-200kt. But no one can know the exact wind speed for sure.

 

[OHWX97]

Last night, Typhoon Surigae just off the coast of the Philippines moved over an area highly conducive for rapid intensification and became the most intense April typhoon in recorded history. JWTC official intensity at peak intensity was an extraordinary 165kt/888mb.


Eyewall replacement has since induced some weakening, but there is a complete and intense outer eyewall; if the inner eyewall is able to degrade completely, we'll likely see an improved satellite presentation with a large, spectacular eye as it parallels the Philippine coast.

 

[OHWX97]

Debarking and total annihilation of a forest on Grand Bahama, from Dorian.

The eastern half of Grand Bahama was truly ground zero of Dorian's wrath as that was where the hurricane stalled, still at category 5 intensity. I can't even begin to fathom the nightmare anyone who remained in the area must've experienced; the combination of extreme wind and surge.

 

[Juliett Bravo Kilo]

This classic near miss footage from Typhoon Omar in Guam in 1992, this was in many a documentary when I was growing up:




Side note, another clip I've been trying to find but had no luck in years....it also showed up in National Geographic documentaries back in the 90s and early 2000s, it was from a tropical cyclone and the clip showed a small shed or outbuilding (likely for boat storage) being tumbled across a parking lot wholly intact. If anyone has a clue what I'm talking about, help me out please.