Tropical East Pacific Headquarters

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EASTPAC BASIN VISIBLE (NRL)

EASTPAC BASIN INFRARED (NRL)

EASTPAC BASIN WATER VAPOR (NRL)

STORM TRACKS & FORECASTS

VIS "FLOATER" (NOAA) W-EP      E-EP

IR "FLOATER" (NOAA) W-EP      E-EP

THE 2009 LIST OF EAST PACIFIC STORM NAMES (with dates of activity & peak intensity):

Andres (6/21-6/24, 65kts, 988mb) Blanca (7/6-7/9, 45kts, 998mb) Carlos (7/10-7/17, 90kts, 972mb) Dolores (7/15-7/17, 45kts, 1000mb) Enrique (8/3-8/7, 50kts, 996mb) Felicia (8/4-8/11, 120kts, 937mb) Guillermo (8/12-8/20, 110kts, 954mb) Hilda (8/22-8/27, 55kts, 999mb) Ignacio (8/25-8/27, 45kts, 1000mb) Jimena (8/29-9/4, 135kts, 931mb) Kevin (8/29-9/1, 45kts, 1000mb) Linda (9/7-9/12, 75kts, 984mb)

Marty (9/16-9/19, 40kts, 1001mb) Nora (9/23-9/25, 50kts, 997mb) Olaf (10/1-10/4, 40kts, 1000mb) Patricia (10/11-10/14, 50kts, 997mb) Rick (10/15-10/21, 155kts, 906mb) Sandra Terry Vivian Waldo Xina York Zelda

VALUABLE TROPICAL EASTPAC WEATHER RESOURCES:

• National Hurricane Center
  • Outlook
  • Discussion
  • Surface analysis
• CSU Atmospheric Science
  • East Pacific Hurricane Tracking Map
  • Tropical Satellite Sectors
  • Infrared Hovmoller diagram
  • EastPac ITCZ Hovmoller diagram
  • Tropical Cyclone Model Guidance
  • HWRF Model Output
  • GFDL Model Output
• RAMMB Tropical Cyclones
  • Active Tropical Cyclones
  • Tropical RAMSDIS
  • Tropical Cyclone Formation Probability
  • SHIPS Model Output
• NRL Marine Meteorology
  • Tropical Cyclone Satellite Imagery
  • NOGAPS Model Output
  • NOGAPS Wave Heights
  • Tropical Satellite Animator
• CIMSS Tropical Cyclones
  • SHEAR and VORTICITY
  • AMSU TC Products
  • Real-Time ADT
• FSU Meteorology
  • Cyclogenesis Model Fields
  • MM5 Model Output
  • Cyclone Phase Evolution
  • Track Probability
• Weather Underground
  • 850mb Analysis
  • 500mb Analysis
  • 200mb Analysis
• AOML Ocean Heat Content
  • Northeast Pacific
  • Equatorial Pacific
• RSMAS Ocean Heat Content
• GHCC GOES Interactive Viewer
• SSD Satellite Imagery
• MOST QuikSCAT Ocean Surface Winds
• KMNI ASCAT Ocean Surface Winds
• COLA Maximum Potential Intensity
• National Data Buoy Center
• Unisys Tropical Data
• HRD FAQ: Tropical Cyclones

THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON INTENSITY SCALE:



ACRONYMS & COMMONLY USED ABBREVIATIONS:

• C: Celsius (a commonly used temperature scale, used for describing sea-surface temperature or cloud-top temperature)
• CAT: Category (a number between 1 and 5, this is the category on the Saffir-Simpson Scale assigned to a storm based on its maximum winds)
• CDO: Central Dense Overcast (the high, cold shield of clouds over the center of a cyclone... caused by deep convection)
• IR: Infra-Red (a frequency commonly used in satellite data to help determine cloud-top temperatures... can be used at all times of day)
• ITCZ: Intertropical Convergence Zone (area of enhanced convection encircling the globe where the Northern and Southern Hemisphere tropical winds collide)
• kts: knots (used to describe storm motion and wind speeds... 1 knot equals 1 nautical mile per hour, or 1.15 statute miles per hour)
• mb: millibars (a unit of pressure... 1013 mb is standard sea-level pressure)
• MSLP: Minimum Sea-Level Pressure (the lowest pressure found at the cyclone's center... either by aircraft recon or by satellite estimation techniques)
• NHC: National Hurricane Center (the governing US agency responsible for issuing forecasts, advisories, watches, and warnings for all Atlantic and East Pacific hurricanes)
• RMW: Radius of Maximum Winds (distance from the center of circulation where the winds are the greatest... i.e., the eyewall radius)
• SST: Sea-Surface Temperature (the skin temperature of the ocean... found using ships, buoys, and satellites)
• STS: Subtropical Storm (a cyclone with 35kt+ winds, but having both tropical and extratropical characteristics)
• TC: Tropical Cyclone (general term for any warm-core weather disturbance with cyclonic winds)
• TD: Tropical Depression (a low-pressure tropical system with closed circulation and MWS of less than 35 kts)
• TS: Tropical Storm (a low-pressure tropical system with maximum winds between 35-63 kts)
• VIS: Visible (a frequency used in satellite data to view storms during daylight hours... has higher resolution than IR, but only works during daylight hours)
• Z: Zulu (this means Zulu time --or GMT or UTC--... it is placed after a time, like 12Z or 2315Z. During the summer months, EDT is 4 hours behind UTC, CDT is 5 hours behind UTC, etc.)

Created and maintained by Brian McNoldy