The global hurricane season of 2007: was it unusual?
The year 2007 was a fairly normal year for world-wide tropical cyclone activity. The total number of storms world-wide was 84, two less than the average of 86 (Figure 1). The total number of hurricanes was 43, which is six less than the average of 49. Major hurricanes (Category 3 and higher) and extreme hurricanes (Category 4 and higher) were both slightly below average. No records were broken in any ocean basin for number of storms of any particular category, although the South Indian Ocean did tie its record for number of major hurricanes (seven) and the North Indian Ocean tied its record for number of Category 4 and higher storms (two). One of the North Indian storms (Category 5 Cyclone Gonu) was tied for the strongest tropical cyclone ever observed in the North Indian Ocean. Reliable tropical cyclone records for the globe extend back to 1970, the beginning of the satellite era.
Figure 1. Statistics for the global tropical cyclone season of 2007. The three numbers in each box represent the actual number observed in 2007, followed by the averages from the period 1970-2005 (in parentheses), followed by the record (in red).
Only four Category 5 hurricanes were reported globally in 2007: Tropical Cyclone Gonu (160 mph winds), which hit Oman on June 6 as a Category 1 storm; Super Typhoon Sepat (160 mph winds), which hit Taiwan as a Category 4 storm on August 18; Hurricane Felix (165 mph winds), which hit Nicaragua as a Category 5 hurricane on September 4; and Hurricane Dean (175 mph winds, pressure 905 mb), which hit Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on August 21 at peak intensity. It is remarkable that half of the globe's Category 5 storms in 2007 occurred in the Atlantic basin, which normally has only about 11% of the globe's tropical cyclones. The globe's strongest tropical cyclone was an Atlantic storm (Dean, 175 mph winds), which is also unusual. I'll have a detailed blog summarizing 2007's notable tropical cyclones next week.
Figure 2. Satellite image of 2007's strongest tropical cyclone at maximum intensity: Hurricane Dean. Post analysis of Dean determined that the storm hit the Yucatan with top sustained winds of 150 knots (175 mph), and a central pressure of 905 mb, the third lowest pressure ever recorded in the Atlantic basin for a landfalling storm. Only the 1935 Labor Day Florida Keys storm (892 mb) and Hurricane Gilbert (900 mb) had lower pressures at landfall.
Jeff Masters
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Today, it is rare to see more than a thin frozen shelf or a few small ice floes sloshing in Lake Michigan below the city's skyline.
Decreased ice cover on the Great Lakes, probably caused by increasing air and water temperatures and high winds, is a major culprit in lowering water levels,"
by way of evaporation
That evaporation of what was previously frozen-over water plus cold winds leads to lake-effect snowfall on the leeward side of the GreatLakes.
I have read the weather history for the month of january for Neveda, looked into the models for the next month, the west is getting more moisture now than the've had in the last 10 years. Lake Powell and Mead are at their lowest points in recent history, but the storms are freight training thourgh the west. The State of Washington is under a state of emergency with all the snow the've had. California is getting the storms too, and there not ending soon, El-nina is strong and this pattern is going to continue for the next two to three weeks. I posted in here just to get some comments on this subject.
It is Carnival here, and the place is buzzing until Ash Wednesday morning. I will try to stay out of trouble till then............
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