Did You Know? 60+ Tropical Storm Facts That Are Unheard Of

Hurricanes are natural disasters that have far-reaching impacts.

They affect the lives of millions of people and wreak havoc on nearly all of humanity's creations. Due to excessive rainfall, tropical storms can inflict serious damage to coastlines and hundreds of miles inland.

Did you know that when water vapor from the warm ocean condenses, it leads to the formation of clouds? The heat energy is released into the air and the warm air rises and is attracted towards the clouds!

Floods because of hurricanes cause a considerable impact on the lives of individuals who live along the coastline. In mountain areas, slow-moving hurricanes result in incessant rains. Excessive rain then leads to landslides and mudflows.

Because of the severe rainfall, the chances of flash floods also increase. Severe cyclonic storms during tropical cyclone activity are very common.

Tropical cyclone path prediction is very important to make sure that the individuals living around remain safe. The National Hurricane Center monitors hurricane-force winds and the intensity of most tropical cyclones that can become more intense. 

Introduction To Tropical Cyclones

A tropical cyclone is a rapidly spinning hurricane that forms over tropical oceans and absorbs energy from there to grow. It has a low-pressure center with clouds spiraling towards the eye wall encircling the eye, which is generally calm and cloud-free. 

A tropical cyclone produces strong winds, heavy rain, large tides, and, in certain circumstances, extremely damaging storm surges and coastal floods. In the Northern Hemisphere, the winds blow counterclockwise, while in the Southern Hemisphere, they drift clockwise.

More intense tropical cyclones that reach a particular strength are given names for public safety reasons. Tropical cyclones are tracked using contemporary technology, such as satellites, weather radars, and computers, by weather forecasters all over the world. Tropical cyclones can be hard to predict because they might weaken or alter direction unexpectedly.

Weathermen, on the other hand, employ innovative technology and develop cutting-edge approaches such as numerical weather prediction algorithms to estimate how a tropical cyclone's intensity develops, along with its path and intensity changes, as well as when and where it will affect land and at what speed. 

10 Of The Deadliest Tropical Storms To Date

Here are some important facts related to the deadliest tropical storms to date:

The 1942 Bangladesh cyclone: the Bangladesh cyclone of 1942 featured gusts of 70 mph (112 kph). The cyclone hit Bangladesh's eastern seaboard on October 16, creating a 20 ft (6 m) wall of water. In the affected areas, the cyclone killed 61,000 people and completely destroyed 3,000 dwellings.

Cyclone Nargis: Cyclone Nargis touched down in Myanmar on May 2, 2008, traveling throughout the country's southern portion in two days. The Ayeyarwady Delta area of Myanmar was hit especially hard by Cyclone Nargis. According to the UN System, the cyclone impacted 2.4 million people. The typhoon killed 84,500 people and left 53,800 people missing.

Cyclone 02B: on Apr 29, 1991, Cyclone 02B, also known as the Bangladesh Cyclone of 1991, hit the coast in Chittagong's southeastern coastline region. The storm wreaked havoc on Bangladesh, killing more than 135,000 people and displacing 10 million people. The typhoon wreaked havoc on the nation's agriculture. 

Chittagong cyclone: the Chittagong cyclone stormed Chittagong, Bangladesh, in 1897, killed 175,000 people, and destroyed more than half of the city's infrastructure.

Great Backerganj cyclone: Bangladesh was hit by a storm on Oct 31, 1876, which reportedly killed 200,000 people. The cyclone was formed over the Bay of Bengal and touched down in the Meghna River Estuary.

The cyclone, when paired with already high waves, produced a 40 ft (12 m) storm surge that swamped low-lying coastal regions. The cyclone's impacts were made more devastating by the high waves and storm surge; an approximate 50% of the cyclone's deaths were due to malnutrition and disease brought on by the flooding.

Backerganj cyclone: the Backerganj cyclone devastated Bangladesh in 1584, forming in the Bay of Bengal. The cyclone wreaked havoc in Bangladesh, killing approximately 200,000 people.

Coringa cyclone: a devastating hurricane hit the port city of Coringa, India, on Nov 25, 1839. The typhoon killed 300,000 people and destroyed the harbor, which destroyed 20,000 ships. Coringa was never able to fully recover from the cyclone's devastation and is now a small town.

Haiphong cyclone: the Haiphong cyclone in Vietnam slammed the Gulf of Tonkin on Oct 8, 1881, triggering a series of tsunamis that swamped Haiphong in the northeast. The thundery showers and flooding wreaked havoc on Haiphong, causing severe devastation. An estimated 300,000 people died as a result of the Haiphong Cyclone. 

Hooghly River cyclone: the Hooghly River cyclone, often referred to as the Kolkata Cyclone, was one of the most dangerous hurricanes in the history of humanity, wreaking havoc on the Indian metropolis of Calcutta and its nearby region. The cyclone came ashore in the Ganges River Delta roughly south of Kolkata.

The cyclone killed between 300,000 and 350,000 people. While the majority of information concentrates on Calcutta, we believe that people in East Bengal and Bangladesh also perished as a result of the hurricane.

Great Bhola cyclone: the list's most dangerous cyclone is the Great Bhola cyclone, the worst tropical cyclone in history.

The storm initially began as a disturbance in the Bay of Bengal on Nov 8, 1970, and rapidly expanded into a tropical cyclone by November 11, with gusts of up to 90 mph (144 kph).

By November 12, the cyclone had strengthened more and was moving north, bringing with it 140 mph (224 kph) winds and 20 ft (6 m) tidal waves.

However, while weather forecasters were aware of the incoming cyclone, they had no way of informing the residents of the Ganges River Delta islands and the coastal region, and hence most people were unaware that it was approaching.

The hurricane killed between 300,000 and 500,000 individuals, making it the deadliest hurricane ever.

More than $490 million worth of damage was caused by the hurricane, and 85 % of dwellings were either damaged or destroyed.

The Impact Of A Tropical Storm

The immediate effects of wind gusts, torrential rainfall, and coastal flooding are the principal repercussions of a major hurricane. Some of the most considerable impacts of a tropical storm are:

Debris being blown around, drowning injures or deaths, severe damage to buildings, destruction of electrical and communication infrastructure, diseases caused by flooding, contamination of freshwater sources, people rendered homeless, food crisis, and economic emergency. 

Did you know that in 2006, the storm track of Typhoon Ioke exhibited the curvature off the Japanese coast!

Places Most Prone To Tropical Storms

 Almost all of these storms originate around 20 degrees of the Equator to the north or south. Ocean temperatures are too cold to enable tropical cyclones to develop north or south of those latitudes, and mature storms going that far north or south will begin to dissipate.

Leading to a shortage of suitable tropical waters, only two tropical ocean regions are still unable to support tropical storms.

Hurricanes and cyclones occur most frequently in the Central Pacific Ocean. In the western Pacific, the most intense storms, known as super hurricanes, occur.

In terms of total cyclones, the Indian Ocean is second, and the South Atlantic Ocean is third. Many tropical cyclones and tropical storms are very common happening during hurricane season among warm ocean waters like the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic ocean.

Other Tropical Storm Facts

The name hurricane is derived from the Taino Native American term hurricane, which means 'bad wind spirit.'

During World War II, the first hurricane that led people to fly was in 1943.

A hurricane's wind speed can approach 157 mph (252 kph), which is quicker than a typical vehicle.

All hurricanes begin their lives in a warm, humid environment over tropical seas.

The circle of clouds and thunderstorms that surround the eye is known as the 'Impact Zone'. This area is subjected to the worst hurricanes and the heaviest rains.

A powerful hurricane can provide enough energy to detonate 10 atomic bombs in a single second, illustrating tropical cyclone intensity levels.

Small tornadoes can also be produced by hurricanes, and they can endure for several minutes.

Numerous people have been killed in hurricanes as a result of increasing seawater that reaches the mainland and kills people immediately.

Typhoons are the common name for hurricanes in the Pacific Ocean. Tropical cyclones are what they're termed in the Indian Ocean.