Hurricane History

By 17msuryapalam

  • Hurricane Galveston

    Hurricane Galveston submerged and nearly eradicated Galveston, Texas, killing over 8,000 people.

  • Synoptic Flow

    Larger scale synoptic flow is discovered in hurricanes.

  • "Fujiwara Effect"

    Fujiwara details the "Fujiwara Effect", which is the interaction of two tropical hurricanes.

  • Weather Bureau

    The Weather Bureau remodels its hurricane warning service, and distributes responsibilities between Jacksonville, New Orleans, San Juan, and Washington, DC, and Boston.

  • Theoretical Model

    Deppermann releases "Some Characteristics of Philippine Typhoons" which explains a theoretical model of tropical cyclones.

  • Vertical Wind Shear

    Major Robert Shafer and Herbert Riehl find that large vertical wind shear harms tropical cyclone formation and development.

  • Project Cirrus

    Atlantic hurricanes are seeded by Navy planes and conduct a detailed examination of the wind circulation in the upper level of the core of a hurricane.

  • Temperature of Formation for Hurricanes

    Eric Palmen demonstrates that temperatures of at least 26 degrees Celcius are required for hurricane formation. He also attempts to illustrate the vertical structure of a hurricane.

  • Typhoon Marge

    Simpson operates an aircraft into Typhoon Marge and measures the temperature and pressure of the hurricane's core.

  • Tropical Depression

    Navy discovers the possibility of detecting tropical depressions, one of the signs of an impeding hurricane, from outer space.

  • JNWP

    Joint Numerical Weather Prediction Unit is created by the US Weather Bureau, Navy, and Air Force in order to forecast the weather using advanced computers.

  • Hurricane Forecast

    William Haggard and Riehl create the first statistical hurricane track forecast techniques.

  • Beta Effect

    Juliam Adem details the "beta effect" on hurricane motion.

  • JTWC

    The Joint Typhoon Warning Center is established in order to forcast hurricanes.

  • TIROS I

    An Experimental Weather Satellite named TIROS I is launched to help detect hurricanes.

  • "Atlantic Hurricanes"

    Banner Miller and Dunn compose "Atlantic Hurricanes", the most advanced summary of hurricane science at the time.

  • RFF

    The Research Flight Facility (RFF) is formed to manage and operate the Dept. of Commerce's hurricane research aircraft.

  • Project STORMFURY

    Project STORMFURY is begun, a joint effort of the Weather Bureau, Navy, and National Science Foundation to test if seeding hurricanes can reduce their winds.

  • NHC-64

    Miller and Peter Chase create NHC-64, the first in a long line of statistical-dynamical track forecast programs. It is first used operationally during 1964 hurricane season.

  • HURDAT

    Charlie Neumann and John Hope create a hurricane database of Atlantic hurricanes later known as HURDAT.

  • Hurricane Simulation

    Ooyama creates the first 2D hurricane computer simulation.

  • Project BOMEX

    Project BOMEX attempts to define the air-sea fluxes in the tropical Atlantic.

  • Project STORMFURY

    Project STORMFURY seeds Hurricane Debbie on two days. It is the most successful implementation of the experiment to date.

  • Saffir-Simpson Scale.

    NHC director Simpson works with engineer Herb Saffir to modify the latter's hurricane damage scale to include wind speed regimes, creating the Saffir-Simpson scale.

  • CLIPER

    Neumann develops CLIPER, a statistical hurricane track forecast scheme, used as a benchmark for other model's forecast skill scores.

  • Madden-Julian Oscillation

    Roland Madden and Paul Julian describe a global scale pressure wave which seems to enhance tropical convection known as the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO).

  • African Easterly Waves

    Bob Burpee publishes a paper explaining the origin and structure of African easterly waves.

  • The GATE Experiment

    The GATE experiment in the east Atlantic measures tropical waves as they come off the African coast.

  • Tropical Cyclones

    Vern Dvorak proposes a scheme to estimate tropical cyclone strength from satellite pictures.

  • SHIFOR

    Neumann and Brian Jarvinen develop SHIFOR, a statistical scheme to forecast hurricane intensity, used as a benchmark for intensity forecast skill scores.

  • GARP

    The First Global GARP Experiment attempts to delineate a world-wide profile of the the Earth atmosphere during two intense observation periods in the winter and summer to help predict hurricane patterns.

  • Synoptic Flow

    The first Synoptic Flow experiment is flown around Hurricane Debby to help define the large scale atmospheric winds that steer the storm using dropsondes.

  • Anthes

    Anthes publishes "Tropical Cyclones, Their Evolution, Structure, and Effects".

  • Hurricane Eyewall Cycles

    Hugh Willoughby, Jean Clos, and Mohamed Shoreibah publish a paper on hurricane eyewall cycles.

  • Hurricane Seasonal Forecast

    William Gray and his Colorado State team issue the first hurricane seasonal forecast.

  • BAM and VICBAR

    BAM, the Beta and Advection Model, and VICBAR, a nested barotropic hurricane track forecast model become operational.

  • TCM-90

    TCM-90 Experiment attempts to define factors contributing to typhoon motion such as synoptic winds and the beta effect.

  • SHIPS

    Mark DeMaria and John Kaplan create SHIPS a statistical hurricane intensity forecast scheme.

  • TexMex

    TEXMex is an MIT/NOAA joint project carried out in the eastern Pacific to examine the genesis of tropical cyclones.

  • NCEP

    NCEP's Aviation model becomes operational.

  • TCM-92

    TCM-92 Experiment combines satellite and aircraft observations to better define tropical cyclogenesis.

  • Rapid Scan High-Reolution

    Rapid scan high-resolution satellite loops are made of Hurricane Luis, showing eye structure and motion.

  • GFDL Model

    The GFDL model becomes operational. It provides both track and intensity forecasts

  • NOGAPS and UKMET

    Both the NOGAPS and UKMET track forecast models become available to NHC.

  • Hurricane Andrew

    Mark Powell and Sam Houston publish detailed analyses of Hurricane Andrew.

  • Hurricane Guillermo

    High resolution dropsondes are released in the eyewall of Hurricane Guillermo in the eastern Pacific. These reveal wind structure that surprise scientists.

  • NOAA's GIV

    NOAA's GIV high altitude jet becomes operational, allowing examination of the steering flow around hurricanes from a greater height.

  • CAMEX-3

    NASA's Convecion and Moisture EXperiment 3 (CAMEX-3) is an experiment run in conjunction with NOAA's Hurricane Field Program to collects detailed data sets on Hurricanes Bonnie, Danielle, and Georges.

  • CAMEX-4

    CAMEX-4, a NASA experiment run in conjunction with NOAA's Hurricane Field Program collects detailed data sets on Hurricanes Erin, Gabrielle, and Humberto and Tropical Storm Chantal.

  • Hurricane Research

    Stan Goldenberg, Chris Landsea, Alberto Mestas-Nuñez and Gray publish a major paper in Science noting decadal swings in Atlantic hurricane activity.

  • Hurricane Eyewall Wind Profiles

    Mike Black, Krystal Valde, and others publish a paper on hurricane eyewall wind profiles based on GPS dropsondes.

  • Drag Coefficients

    Powell, Peter Vickery, and Timothy Reinhold publish a paper on drag coefficients in hurricane force winds.

  • Saharan Air Layer

    Jason Dunion and Chris Velden demonstrate the delimiting effect the Saharan Air Layer has on tropical cyclone development.

  • NASA's Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes Mission

    NASA's Tropical Cloud Systems and Processes Mission is set to investigate eastern Pacific disturbances, but is diverted to examining the activity in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

  • Project IFEX

    Project IFEX examines transmitting detailed information in the hurricane inner core in real-time to National Center for Enivronmental Prediction for inclusion in intensity models.

  • Tropical Storm Ophelia

    An Aerosonde is flown into Tropical Storm Ophelia, the first such unmanned vehicle penetration of a tropical cyclone.

  • NAMMA

    The NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) experiment similarly seeks to investigate these disturbances off the African coast using aircraft and the CALIPSO satellite. These systems were then handed off to NOAA IFEX scientists over the western Atlantic.

  • AMMA

    African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA) experiment examines the wind regimes over western Africa and their role in generating disturbances over the Atlantic.

  • Aerosonde

    An Aerosonde is flown into hurricane force winds for the first time into Noel off the Carolinas.

  • Hurricane Paloma

    Hurricane Paloma's rapid intensification is recorded by a series of NOAA scientific flights before its landfall in Cuba.

  • NOAA

    NOAA adds 12 hours to its watch/warning lead time, issuing watches 48 hours before landfall and warnings 36 hours ahead of time. Removes referneces to storm surge height from Saffir-Simpson Scale.

  • GRIP and PREDICT

    NASA runs its Genesis and Rapid Intesification Program(GRIP) experiment in conjunction with NOAA's IFEX field program along with a National Science Foundation funded Pre-Depression Investigation of Cloud-Systems in the Tropics (PREDICT). Using a fleet of aircraft platforms the joint effort documents Hurricane Earl from formation through Rapid Intensification to decay.