 Presence of the Intertropical
Disreadi
Hydro-Meteorological Hazards
Accdg. to the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies:
 Tropical storms, cyclones, hurricanes and
typhoons, although named differently,
describe the same disaster type.
Cyclone - Indian Ocean and South Pacific
Hurricane - Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific
Typhoon - Western Pacific
Hurricanes and Typhoon = Tropical Cyclone
Tropical Cyclone – local name for storms, which
originate to the Caribbean and China Sea Region
respectively.
Tropical Cyclone (Bagyo)
 Global generic term for an intense
circulating weather system over tropical
seas and oceans.
 It is accompanied with very strong winds
and large ocean waves. Its wind
circulation rotates Counter-clockwise in
the Northern Hemisphere and Clockwise
in the Southern Hemisphere.
 100 tropical Cyclones form in the world
annually where 2/3 become typhoons
and hurricanes.
 Western North Pacific Ocean
(South China and Philippine
Seas)-holds the highest place of
formation (30%)
 East Pacific Ocean (15%)
 Western Atlantic ocean-South
and North Indian Oceans-South
Pacific Ocean (12%)
 Northern and Western Australia
(7%)
---Couple of Ingredients that will benefit for
the formation of a tropical cyclone here in the
Philippine Sea and Western Pacific Ocean:
 Warm Sea Surface Temperature of
atleast 26.5oC with a depth of 150 ft and
high moisture or humidity present in the
atmosphere. The heat from the sea is
therefore the main energy source for
Tropical Cyclones.
Convergence Zone – plays an important
role in the formation of Tropical Cyclones
as it delivers convergence of
Northeasterly and Southeasterly or
Southwesterly Trade winds. Its
convergence will trigger a rotation of low-
level winds, which they develop into
Tropical Cyclones – if other ingredients
are present.
 Existence of Tropical Disturbances
(Low Pressure Areas) within the ITCZ –
When the ITCZ is very active, multiple
tropical disturbances occur and it aids for
development of Tropical Cyclones.
 Weak vertical wind shear or light
winds in the upper atmosphere – if
wind speeds in the upper atmosphere
(20-50,000 ft ASL) are low (<20 km/hr), a
Tropical Cyclone can develop rapidly
usually within 1-2 days.
Death and Dispersion of Tropical Cyclones
Tropical Cyclones die when:
 They enter an environment of cool dry
air and leave the environment of
warm, moist tropical air.
 They move over a large land mass.
 When they travels over cooler sea
surface temperatures (SSTs) or under
unfavorable large scale circulation of
air currents at high levels in the
earth’s atmosphere (Strong vertical
wind shear)
Energy of Tropical Cyclones
 Consider for example, that an ordinary
afternoon, thunderstorm (which lasts for
1 to 2 hrs) has the energy equivalent of
about 13, 20 kiloton atomic bombs. Now a
small typhoon carrying winds of 120 kph
has an energy equivalent of almost
500,000 atomic bombs, or about 6 atomic
bombs per second. A typhoon also
releases about 20 billion tons of water.
 So, if you have a tropical cyclone like
super typhoon REMING (Durian) of
November 30, 2006 where its peak winds
topped 250 m/hr, its equivalent energy
was estimated about 1 million atomic
bombs.

Movement and Speed of Tropical Cyclones
 Over the Philippine Sea, Tropical Cyclones
tend to move on a general west-
northwest (WNW) direction with an
average speed of 19-20 km/hr.
Tropical Cyclones Classification (New PH)
 Tropical Depression (TD) – 61 kph
 Tropical Storm (TS) – 62-88 kph
 Severe Tropical Storm (STS) – 89-117 kph
 Typhoon – 118-220 kph
 Super typhoon (STY) - at least 220 kph
New Signal System
 Signal no. 1 – 30-60 kph in the next 36 hrs
 Signal no. 2 – 61-120 kph within 24 hrs
 Signal no. 3 – 121-170 kph within 18 hrs
 Signal no. 4 – 171-220 kph within 12 hrs
 Signal no. 5 – 220 kph/more within 12 hrs
Typhoon Anatomy
 Outer Rainbands
- Defined as the outer spiral
bands of a typhoon, which are
scattered, but moving inward.
The occasional light to
moderate rainfall characterizes
it with winds up to 62 kph.
Heavy squalls of up to 5
minutes occurring every 3-
6hours can be expected.
Sunlight may still penetrate at
these bands (50% cloud cover)
 Inner Rainbands
- Defined as the inner or main
spiral bands of a typhoon,
which are now organized and
not scattered as it moves
inwards towards the center.
Moderate intermittent rains
with Tropical Storm Force
Winds of 63 to 117 kph
characterize it. Heavy squalls of
up to 5 minutes occurring
every hour can be expected.
90% of the sky covered with
high to mid-level clouds.
 Eyewall
- An organized band of clouds
immediately surrounding the
center or “eye” of a typhoon. It
is the area of most violent
winds, heaviest rainfall and
greatest release of heat energy.
This “ring” of violent winds and
torrential rains is usually 8-40
km from the storm’s center or
“eye”. Typhoon Force Winds
of greater than 118 can be
expected within this wall.
 Eye
- It is here where the lowest
pressure can be found. The
relatively calm part of the
typhoon with sometimes light
winds (of up to 20 kph)
blowing. The sky may be just
partly cloudy with intermittent
bust of blue sky through the
thin clouds. Average “eye”
diameter is about 30 km
across.
Size of a Typhoon
 Vertical Extent
- Can reach a height of 40,000 to
50,000 feet above sea level
 Horizontal Extent
- Can reach a maximum of 1,500
km in diameter and a minimum
of 150 km. Its average size is
about 600 km.