Subject: FAQ: HURRICANES, TYPHOONS AND TROPICAL CYCLONES (Part 2 of 2)
Date: 31 Mar 1996 19:19:50 GMT
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FAQ:  HURRICANES, TYPHOONS, AND TROPICAL CYCLONES
--- PART II:  REAL-TIME INFORMATION, DATA, AND REFERENCES

By Christopher W. Landsea
NOAA Post-doctorate Researcher
NOAA AOML/Hurricane Research Division           
4301 Rickenbacker Causeway
Miami, Florida 33149     
landsea@aoml.noaa.gov

31 March, 1996


This is currently a two-part FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions report) that 
is in its seventh incarnation (version 1.7).  However, there may be some 
errors or discrepancies that have not yet been found.  If you do see an item 
that needs correction, please contact me directly.  Part I contains various 
definitions, answers for some specific questions, and information about the 
various tropical cyclone basins.  This section (Part II) provides sites that 
you can access both real-time information about tropical cyclones, what is 
available on-line for historical storms, as well as good books to read and 
various references for tropical cyclones.  Keep in mind that this FAQ is not 
considered a reviewed paper to reference.  Its main purpose is to provide 
quick answers for (naturally) frequently asked questions as well as to be a 
pointer to various sources of information.


Much of the on-line information is pulled from Ilana Stern's wonderful 
"Sources of Meteorological Data FAQ" and I acknowledge the time and effort
she has put in in originally compiling this information.


OUTLINE
-------

REAL-TIME INFORMATION

1) Where can I get real-time satellite images/loops and other tropical
   weather data?
2) Where can I get real-time advisories for tropical cyclones?
3) What computer software is available for tracking tropical cyclones?
4) How do I decode these aircraft reconnaissance reports?

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

5) Where can I get historical satellite images/loops of tropical cyclones?
6) Where can I get historical data of tropical cyclones?
7) What journals have regular articles on tropical cyclones?
8) What books have been written about tropical cyclones?
9) What refereed articles were written during 1994 about tropical cyclones?

**************************************************************************

Subject:  1) Where can I get real-time satellite images/loops and other
             tropical weather data?

     The most amazing improvement on the Internet most recently IMHO is 
the availability of the World Wide Web (WWW) for accessing images, loops,
data, etc by Netscape or Mosaic.  Thus I'll point you to what I've found
that should help in watching the global tropics for tropical cyclone
activity.

     Satellite images and loops are fairly common, but analyses and
forecasts fields for the tropics are a bit harder to find at this point.  
If anyone can point out a) METEOSAT (centered over 0E) loops and b) other
tropical analyses and forecasts fields over the WWW, I would appreciate 
it.

   http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.html
This is the homepage for the USA National Hurricane Center and the Tropical
Prediction Center.  In addition to providing the latest advisories being
issued locally, there is a good deal of historical information and real-
time data available.  When they become available, NHC will provide the
preliminary best track info for 1995 storms here - so far this info
has been posted for Hurricane Erin.

   http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/index.html
The University of Wisconsin Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) has 
a wide selection of GOES-7 (covering the Central and Eastern Pacific Ocean) 
and GOES-8 real-time images (covering the Eastern Pacific and western 
Atlantic Oceans), a global infrared composite image from the geostationary 
satellites (covering all of the basins), and global sea surface 
temperatures.

   http://oldthunder.ssec.wisc.edu/
At the University of Wisconsin - CIMSS home page, Chris Velden has put 
together real-time GMS water vapor loops in his "Tropical Cyclones" section.

   http://rs560.cl.msu.edu:80/weather/
This Michigan State University site in addition to GOES-7 and GOES-8 
imagery also has METEOSAT imagery over the entire Atlantic basin.  They
also have GMS loops (both visible and infrared) that covers the Western 
Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean regions.  Loops are also available of
GOES-7 infrared imagery.  Lastly, they have the global infrared composite
available as a loop that extends for 12 (!) days.
 
   http://www.neosoft.com/citylink/blake/tropical.html
Eric Blake has put together a nice compilation of many of the above
satellite picture sites together with real-time Caribbean station data,
NEXRAD reflectivity and velocity displays, and the various text reports
that NHC/TPC comes out with.  He has now added much in the way of ECMWF,
AVN, and other model analyses and forecast fields.

   http://cirrus.sprl.umich.edu/wxnet/tropical.html
This site at the University of Michigan is a wonderful one for both real-
time information as well as an archive of operational information issued
by the National Hurricane Center during 1995.  This site has all of the
textual reports issued by NHC/TPC, a long IR loop of Hurricane Allison,
and all of the previous advisories issued on Allison.

   http://asp1.sbs.ohio-state.edu/tropicaltext.html
When Atlantic tropical cyclones spin up, you'll find the latest
storm track plotted in OSU's servers. In addition, they generate a 
graphic of *forecasted* NHC positions with each advisory. 

   http://www.cira.colostate.edu
This site from the NOAA Cooperative Institute for Research in the 
Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University offers real-time GOES-7, 
GOES-8, and GOES-9 imagery in jpeg format.  These images also will go 
back as far as the past four months.

   http://www.typhoon.org.hk/
This home page is set up by Ken Fung in Hong Kong.  Included are all of
the tropical cyclone tracks for 1995 - for all of the basins.  Ken
also has several satellite pictures/loops of tropical cyclones available.

   http://nrlmry.navy.mil/photos.html
This Naval Research Laboratory site has GOES-9 images in addition to
other products:
* extended N. Hemisphere with lots of Pacific and US west coast
* full globe snapshots
* extended S. Hemisphere that extends all the way to New Zealand
* full resolution visible of Monterey area

   http://www.meto.govt.uk/sec2/sec2cyclone/sec2cyclone.html
This United Kingdom Meteorological Office world wide web contains: 
     * Monthly bulletins of tropical cyclone activity and verification of 
       Met. Office forecasts. This is a document currently sent in booklet 
       form to many individuals and Met. Services around the globe.
     * Graphs of mean track prediction errors for past years.
     * Maps of observed and forecast tracks for all storms this year and 
       maps of observed tracks for last year.
     * A full list of tropical cyclone names.
     * Details of the recent improvements made by the Met. Office in its 
       forecasts of tropical cyclone tracks.
     * Images, movies and photographs of tropical cyclones and their 
       effects.

**************************************************************************
Subject:  2) Where can I get real-time advisories for tropical cyclones?

There are three good ways to get these.  Either telnet to a site and 
peruse the advisories you would like to see via a menu, have the advisories 
sent directly to you via email, or visit sites via the World Wide Web.

Option 1:  Telnet to a site
---------------------------
     The site that has a very comprehensive listing is the Weather 
Underground at University of Michigan.  Simply telnet to:
             downwind.sprl.umich.edu 3000  

     Make sure to include the '3000' at the end of the command.  From 
there you have a simple menu driven system to get to the USA National 
Hurricane Center, the USA Central Pacific Hurricane Center, and the
USA Joint Typhoon Warning Center products.


Option 2:  Advisories automatically sent to you
-----------------------------------------------
     WX-TROPL is available through the WX-***** lists which reside on the 
VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (UIUCVMD) machine at Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.  It is
created for people to receive as an email tropical bulletins originating 
from the US National Hurricane Center, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center,
and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.  To get information as to how to sign 
up onto WX-TROPL, ftp to vmd.cso.uiuc.edu and use anonymous FTP to retrieve 
the file WX-TALK.DOC from the directory "wx".  If you don't have ftp access, 
contact either Chris Novy <chris@siu.edu> or Charley Kline <cvk@uiuc.edu>.
 
     Now that the Joint Typhoon Warning Center advisories are available, one
can get tropical cyclone advisories for the whole world with the exception of
South Pacific tropical cyclones east of the dateline. 

Option 3:  Get the advisories via surfing the Web
-------------------------------------------------
     As mention in section 2), the World Wide Web is also a source for real-
time tropical cyclone advisories.  For brevity here are some reliable http
sites (descriptions above):

   http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
   http://www.neosoft.com/citylink/blake/tropical.html
   http://cirrus.sprl.umich.edu/wxnet/tropical.html

**************************************************************************

Subject:  3) What computer software is available for tracking tropical 
             cyclones?

(Descriptions kindly provided by Tom Berg.  Note that this does not 
constitute an endorsement of any product.)

1. HURRTRAK (Windows-based) --- shareware, semi-functional available on 
Compuserve in Aviation and Weather Channel forums. Also on AOL.  It is
also available through the WeatherNet:  http://cirrus.sprl.umich.edu/wxnet/.
The company is                                       PC Weather Products
                                                     P.O. Box 72723
                                                     Marietta, GA  30007-2723
                                                     404-953-3506
                                                     800-605-2230
They offer a hobbyist edition and a regular edition.
The hobbyist is $68.50 and the professional $206.50.  They have Atlantic and
Pacific versions. The professional edition allows for county lines, roadways,
more detailed charts, and NHC forecasted positions.

2. STORM (DOS-based) ------ shareware, semi-functional available on AOL.
                                        The company is  Utopia Software
                                                        P.O. Box 420324
                                                        Houston,  TX  77242
They offer a regular and enhanced version.
The regular version is $25 and the enhanced is $50. What the enhanced offers
special is the ability to enter and plot the forecasted positions from the
NHC and to include offshore platforms or ships positions on the charts.


3. FORCE12 (Windows) ---- shareware, semi-functional available on Compuserve 
in Aviation and Weather Channel forums and AOL. 
                                     The company is  Epperson Computing
                                                     P.O. Box 1094
                                                     Baytown, TX  77522-1094
There is only one version. The price is $25.

                                        
4. MERLIN (DOS) ----- shareware, semi-functional available on Compuserve in
Aviation and Weather Channel forums.    The company is  T.M. Parker
                                                        P.O. Box 1431
                                                        La Porte,  TX  77572
There is only one version. Price is $29.


5. GCANES (DOS) ----- shareware, semi-functional available on Compuserve in
Aviation forum.                         The company is  Robert Terwilliger
                                                        2398 SW 22nd Ave.
                                                        Miami,  FL     33145
There is only one version. Price is $15.


6. HURRICANE FORECASTER (DOS) - shareware, semi-functional available on AOL.
                                   The company is  Craig Rorrer
                                                   3809 Iola Ct.
                                                   Virginia Beach, VA 23456
There is only one version. Price is $19.95.


7. HURRICANE TRACKER (Windows) -- shareware, semi-functional available on 
Compuserve forum Aviation.         The company is  Nicheware
                                                   P.O. Box 1312
                                                   Summerville,SC 29484-1312 
There is only one version. Price is $25.


8. HURRICANE WATCH! (Windows) --- shareware, semi-functional available on 
Compuserve forum Aviation and AOL.   The company is  SeaBorne Systems
                                                     414 Long Leaf Acres Dr.
                                                     Wilmington, NC  28405
There is only one version. I think the price is $49.


9. TRACKEYE (Windows) ----- shareware, semi-functional available on 
Compuserve forums Aviation and Weather Channel.    
                                  The company is  GenCode Technologies
                                                  7907 N. Rome Ave.
                                                  Tampa, FL   33604
There is only one version. Price is $19.95.


10. TRAKHUR (DOS) --- I only found it advertised in Weatherwise magazine.
                                     The company is  Bryan Lambeth, PE
                                                     Hurricane Research Srvc
                                                     P.O. Box 181032
                                                     Austin,  TX 78718
The version I have is TRAKHUR PRO. The regular price 
is $39.95, but the pro version was $59.95.


11. TRACKER (DOS) -- again, I found it through Weatherwise.
                                        The company is  OceanSoft Inc.
                                                        P.O. Box 1224
                                                        Largo,  FL  34649
As to the price, I don't remember exactly.
I think $69.95. But it also includes something unique called Mapper, this
allows you to build your own maps of any ocean and will show the map in
Mercator, Azimuthal, and spread types.


12. WINSTORM --- shareware, semi-functional available on Compuserve forum 
Aviation and AOL.                       The company is  Ingramation
                                                        2437 Bay Area Blvd.
                                                        Suite 349
                                                        Houston, TX   77058
**************************************************************************

Subject:  4) How do I decode these aircraft reconnaissance reports?

     On the World-Wide Web (http:/www.neosoft.com/citylink/blake/tropical.
html#recon), there is a wonderfully detailed description of everything that
you might want to know about understanding the information coming from 
these aircraft reconnaissance flights.

**************************************************************************

Subject:  5) Where can I get historical satellite images/loops of tropical
             cyclones?

Listed are ftp, gopher, and http sites.

ftp://satftp.soest.hawaii.edu/pub/spectacular
  Hurricane Fernanda images

ftp://satftp.soest.hawaii.edu/pub/avhrr/images
  Hurricanes John, Emilia and Fabio

http://satftp.soest.hawaii.edu/fernanda.html
  Hurricane Fernanda images

http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/weather.html
  Hurricane Emily track 

http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/weather.html
  Hurricane Emily movies (mpg)

ftp://unidata.ucar.edu/images/
  Images of hurricanes Emily, Hugo, Beryl, Kevin

ftp://ats.orst.edu/pub/weather/
  Hurricane Andrew and Emily images

ftp://ftp.colorado.edu/pub/weather-images/hurricane.andrew
  Hurricane Andrew images and weather maps

ftp://ftp.colorado.edu/pub/weather-images/hurricane.emily
  Hurricane Emily images and weather maps

ftp://ftp.met.fsu.edu/pub/hurricane_Andrew
  Hurricane Andrew images

http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/dmsp/weekly.html
  Tropical Cyclone Weekly summary

gopher://downwind.sprl.umich.edu/11/Weather_Archives/
  Blizzard of 93, hurricanes Andrew, Hugo, Emily, Elena;  tornado paths

gopher://wx.atmos.uiuc.edu:70/11/Images/Hurricane%20Emily/
  Hurricane Emily track (gif and ps) and image

gopher://unidata.ucar.edu:70/11/Images/
  Images of hurricanes Emily, Hugo, Beryl, Kevin

http://cirrus.sprl.umich.edu/wxnet/tropical.html
  Loop of Hurricane Allison

**************************************************************************

Subject:  6) Where can I get historical data of tropical cyclones?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE BEVEN REPORTS  ;-)

     For unofficial near-real time summaries of global tropical cyclone
activity, Jack Beven of the USA National Hurricane Center/Tropical
Prediction Center produces these on a weekly basis and has done so for
over three years.  Text copies of past weekly summaries can be retrieved 
via ftp from squall.met.fsu.edu. They can be found in the directory 
pub/jack.  If you'd like to obtain these near-real time summaries
directly, simply email Jack at:  jbeven@delphi.com and ask him to start
sending you the summaries.  Note however that these are already posted
on sci.geo.meteorology and WX-TALK.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

FREE DATA

   ftp downdry.atmos.colostate.edu  .[129.82.107.154]
Atlantic basin tropical storm and hurricane best track data, 1886-1995.
Every 6 hour intensity and position information (files ending .atl).  
Also, Northeast/North-central Pacific tropical storm and hurricane data 
(1949-1995) (files ending .epc).

Provided by landsea@aoml.noaa.gov (Chris Landsea).

    http://thunder.atms.purdue.edu/hurricane.html
This best track information for the Atlantic has provided in seperate
images for each years by some people at Purdue University.  The tracks for 
the individual years have been provided in a color coded (for intensity) 
format.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOT-FREE DATA

   World Weather Disc ($295):
Monthly temp, precip, pressure, sunshine data for about 2000 world 
stations for period of record.  Daily weather data at hundreds of US 
stations.  Data for some stations on temp, precip, freeze, drought, soil 
moisture, wind, storms.  Frequency and movement of tropical cyclones.

  Contact:  Cliff Mass, Dept. of Atmos. Sci. (AK40), University of 
Washington, Seattle, WA  98195, USA.  206/685-0910.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Global Tropical and Extratropical Cyclone Climatic Atlas (GTECCA) ($100):
  This CD-ROM contains all global historic tropical storm track data 
available for five tropical storm basins.  Periods of record varies for 
each basin, with the beginning as early as the 1870s and with 1992 at the 
latest year.  Northern hemispheric extratropical storm track data will be 
included from 1965 to 1992.  Tropical track data includes time, position, 
storm stage (maximum wind, central pressure when available).  The user can
display tracks, track data for any basin or user-selected geographic area,
or tracks passing within a user-defined radius of any point.  Narratives 
for all tropical storms for the 1980-1992 period will be included as well 
as basin-wide tropical storm climatological statistics.  

  Contact:  National Climatic Data Center, Federal Building, Asheville, 
NC 28801, USA.  704/271-4800, email orders@ncdc.noaa.gov.

**************************************************************************

Subject:  7) What journals have regular articles on tropical cyclones?

     The American Meteorological Society publishes the _Monthly Weather
Review_ which has annual summaries of Atlantic basin tropical cyclones,
Atlantic basin tropical disturbances, and Northeast Pacific (east of 140W)
basin tropical cyclones.  These summaries have a substantial amount of
data and analysis of the storms.

     _Weatherwise_ prints annual summaries of both the Atlantic and 
Northeast Pacific basins which are less technical that the _Monthly 
Weather Review_ articles, but come out months earlier.

     For just the tropical cyclones of the Southeast Indian/Australia and
the Australia/Southwest Pacific basins, the _Australia Meteorological
Magazine_ has a very thorough annual summary.

     The Indian journal _Mausam_ carries an annual summary of tropical 
cyclone activity over the North Indian Ocean.

     _Mariner's Weather Log_ has articles from all of the global basins
in annual summaries.  These are descriptive and non-technical.

**************************************************************************

Subject:  8) What books have been written about tropical cyclones?

************************
BEST NON-TECHNICAL BOOK:  _The Hurricane_
************************
     For a excellent introductory text into hurricanes (and tropical 
cyclones in general), this book by R.A. Pielke provides the basics on
the physical mechanisms of hurricanes without getting into any
mathematical rigor.  This first version is just 100 pages of text with
another 120 pages devoted toward all of the tracks of Atlantic hurricanes
from 1871-1989.  Roger A. Pielke is a professor of Atmospheric Science
at Colorado State University (USA).  The book's 1990 edition is available 
through Routledge Publishing, New York.  (An updated version of this
book should be forthcoming in 1996.)

********************
BEST TECHNICAL BOOK:  _Global Perspectives on Tropical Cyclones_
********************
     This is the revised version of _A Global View of Tropical Cyclones_ and
is the most current, detailed book available on the subject.  This book
provides the state of the science as of 1994.  Improvements over the 
previous version include a chapter on the ocean response to tropical 
cyclones.  This paperback book is written in 1995 by G.R. Foley, H.E. 
Willoughby, J.L. McBride, R.L. Elsberry, I. Ginis, and L. Chen with Elsberry 
serving as Editor and is available from the World Meterological Organization 
as Report No. TCP-38.  Their address is:

     World Meteorological Organization
     Publications Sales Unit
     Case Postale 2300
     CH-1211 Geneva 2
     Switzerland

************************
BEST FORECASTING MANUAL:  _Global Guide to Tropical Cyclone Forecasting_
************************
     For the tropical cyclone forecaster and also of general interest for
anyone in the field and those with a non-technical interest in the field,
the loose-leaf book - _Global Guide to Tropical Cyclone Forecasting_ (1993)
by G.J. Holland (ed.), World Meteorological Organization, WMO/TD-No. 560, 
Report No. TCP-31 is a must get.  (See above for address of the WMO.)

**********************
OTHER BOOKS AVAILABLE:
**********************

______Atlantic Hurricanes_______
     A classic book describing tropical cyclones primarily of the Atlantic
basin, but also covering the physical understanding of tropical cyclone
genesis, motion, and intensity change at the time is _Atlantic Hurricanes_
by Gordon E. Dunn and Banner I. Miller.  Written in 1960, published by the
Louisiana State Press, this book gives provides good insight into the
knowledge of tropical cyclones as of the late 1950s.  It is interesting
to observe that much of what we know was well understood at this pre-
satellite era.  Gordon E. Dunn was the Director of the U.S. National
Hurricane Center and Banner I. Miller was a research meteorologist also
at the National Hurricane Center.

________Hurricanes, Their Nature and History______
     Before Dunn and Miller's book, Ivan Ray Tannehill came out with
an authoritative reference on the history, structure, climatology, 
historical tracks, and forecasting techniques of Atlantic hurricanes
as was known by the mid-1930s.  This is one of the first compilations
of yearly tracks of Atlantic storms - he provides tracks of memorable
tropical cyclones all the way back to the 1700s and shows all the
storm tracks yearly from 1901 onward.  The first edition came out in 1938 
and the book went through at least nine editions (my book was published 
in 1956).  Mr. Tannehill was engaged as a hurricane forecasts for over
20 years and also lead the Division of Synoptic Reports and Forecasts of 
the U.S. Weather Bureau.  Princeton University Press, 308 pp (in 1956
version).

________A Global View of Tropical Cyclones_______
     A very thorough book dealing with the technical issues of tropical 
cyclones for the state of the science in the mid-1980s:  _A Global View of 
Tropical Cyclones_ (1987) by Elsberry, Holland, Frank, Jarrell, and 
Southern;  University of Chicago Press, 195 pp.  A revised version of this 
book has recently become available, see _Global Perspectives on Tropical 
Cyclones_ below.

________Tropical Cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean, 1871-1992_______
     Researchers and those who follow Atlantic hurricanes should all have
a copy of the atlas:  _Tropical Cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean, 
1871-1992_, by C.J. Neumann, B.R. Jarvinen, C.J. McAdie, J.D. Elms;
Asheville, NC, (1993), Prepared by the National Climatic Data Center, 
Asheville, NC, in cooperation with the National Hurricane Center, Coral 
Gables, FL, 193 pp.

________Florida Hurricanes and Tropical Storms, 1871-1993, 
        An Historical Survey_________ 
     A recent book providing a historical perspective of Florida Hurricanes 
is _Florida Hurricanes and Tropical Storms, 1871-1993, An Historical Survey_, 
F. Doehring, I.W. Duedall, and J.M. Williams, (1994), Tp-71, Florida Sea 
Grant College Program, Gainesville, Florida, USA, 118 pp.

________Cyclone Tracy, Picking up the Pieces_______
     Twenty years after Cyclone Tracy, this book recreates, by interviews 
with survivors, the events during and after the cyclone that nearly 
destroyed Darwin, Australia:  _Cyclone Tracy, Picking up the pieces_, B. 
Bunbury, (1994), Fremantle Arts Centre Press, South Fremantle, Australia, 
148 pp.
**************************************************************************

Subject:  9) What refereed articles were written during 1994 about 
             tropical cyclones?

At the ftp site:

   ftp downdry.atmos.colostate.edu  .[129.82.107.154]

The file, TCpubs.1994, contains all known refereed publications concerning
tropical cyclones that were in journals around the world with a print date 
of 1994. 

Maintained by landsea@aoml.noaa.gov (Chris Landsea).

**************************************************************************
Chris Landsea                                   
NOAA Post-Doctorate Fellow in Climate and Global Change
NOAA AOML/Hurricane Research Division           Voice:  (305) 361-4357
4301 Rickenbacker Causeway                      Fax:    (305) 361-4402
Miami, Florida 33149                 Internet:   landsea@aoml.noaa.gov
*****************************************************************************
"Make no mistake, it is warnings properly placed, sufficiently far in 
 advance, that saves lives and property, and it is failure in these that 
 result(s) in casualties, property damage and Congressional investigations." 
                                                        - Grady Norton (1947)
