The typhoon is a extremely strong wind resulting from air spinning around a region of low pressure. We could say that typhoons are to the Pacific Ocean what hurricanes are to the Atlantic Ocean. Because the typhoon is precisely a characteristic cyclone suffered by the eastern coasts of Asia and which is characterized by the virulence of the winds and storms that accompany the wind.
Then, the low atmospheric pressure and the condensation of the humid air of the environment that is transformed into rains of great importance and power are the triggers of this particular climatic phenomenon. Typhoons usually form in open aquatic environments such as the sea or ocean, being able to reach terrestrial or continental areas depending on the force they develop as they advance. Some of them lose speed and power before they hit the ground and are therefore harmless, while others add more and more power making them extremely dangerous and damaging when they hit the ground.
Characteristics and impact of Typhoons on land
Typhoons are characteristic of tropical zones since they have the ideal climatic and atmospheric conditions for the formation of storms and for the condensation of permanent humid air. One of the most distinctive characteristics of typhoons, an element that serves to differentiate it from other phenomena such as tsunamis or tidal waves, is that typhoons usually form from winds and storms combined together that are structured concentrically and always maintain a empty center. As they gain space and strength, these typhoons become more visible on radar and specialized equipment thanks to the amount of clouds they gather.
The typhoon is capable of producing very fast winds, very high waves, tornadoes and torrential rains that, when impacting on populations, are capable of producing the most impressive consequences that can be imagined, among them: burying a population under water, uprooting houses and any other type of solid structure.
It should be noted that when they penetrate the earth their force begins to decimate and that is the explanation that the coastal areas are always the most affected by them while inland areas may be, but to a lesser extent.
Classification
The hurricane scale of Saffir-Simpson is the scale used internationally to measure the strength of the typhoon. It was developed by the American engineer Herbert Saffir and meteorologist Robert Simpson in 1969. It contemplates levels ranging from 1 to 5with number 1 being the weakest category and number 5 being the most important level of impact and damage.
Hurricane Andrew, which hit the United States in August 1992, Hurricane Mitch, which hit Central America in 1998, Hurricane Katrina, which also struck the United States hard in 2005, and the recent Typhoon Haiyan, which in November 2013 devastated several Philippine coastal towns are located within the highest category of this scale, the number 5.
Although category 5 cyclones that cause enormous damage in their wake are rather rare and do not happen constantly, it is worth noting that when they do occur they are capable of causing impressive damage to infrastructure and the loss of thousands of human lives, without go further the best sample is haiyan for these days in Philippines that already had left ten thousand dead and has completely destroyed cities.
study and prediction
Typhoons are undoubtedly one of the most analyzed and investigated weather phenomena by scientists. Thanks to the technological advances that have occurred in this sense, satellites, sensors, sophisticated computers, simulation programs, among other instruments and devices, these phenomena can be predicted in advance, although of course, beyond that, sometimes violence with which they act is what is quite difficult to predict and is generally such that nothing can be done to prevent their tremendous collateral damage.
Denomination
It has been a common practice for a long time to name with own names to tropical cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons with the mission of making the task of spreading their arrival through the media easier, to give them an important entity and that they do not go unnoticed by the population, to initiate insurance damage claims , among other issues. Meanwhile, it is the World Meteorological Organization who is in charge of deciding those names.
About Typhoon Haiyan that hit and swept the Philippines, we have a special article.
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