Number 4, September 3, 2006
The Hurricane Herald
This is the monthly newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The Hurricane Herald aims to give a summary, both of the activities of the WikiProject and global tropical cyclone activity. If you wish to change how you receive this newsletter, or no longer wish to receive it, please add your username to the appropriate section on the mailing list. The WikiProject now has its own IRC channel.
Storm of the month
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Typhoon Saomai (known as Typhoon Juan to PAGASA) claimed at least 441 lives and caused over $1.5 billion in damage. After forming on August 4 near Chuuk, the storm brought heavy rain and strong winds to the Marianas, the Philippines, Taiwan and southeastern China. It started to intensify, and reached its official peak with winds of 95 knots (175 km/h, 110 mph) on August 9. The JTWC reported that it peaked as a Category 5 super typhoon the same day, a strength Chinese forecasters described as the most powerful to hit China in 50 years. Saomai maintained that strength until landfall on August 10 and dissipated inland the next day.
Other tropical cyclone activity
There were 16 other tropical cyclones during August, in the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
- In the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Chris moved to the north of Puerto Rico before dissipating on August 5 near Cuba.
- Tropical Storm Debby formed near the Cape Verde islands on August 21 but had no effects on land.
- Hurricane Ernesto formed in the Caribbean on August 24 and affected Haiti and Cuba, before making landfalls in Florida and South Carolina. It killed at least 5 people.
- In the east Pacific, Tropical Storm Fabio dissipated on August 3 well away from land.
- Tropical Storm Gilma formed on August 1 and lasted for two days before dissipating.
- Hurricane Hector reached its peak as a Category 2 hurricane on August 18 well away from land.
- Hurricane Ileana became the second major hurricane of the east Pacific season when it reached Category 3 intensity on August 23.
- Hurricane John formed near to Mexico on August 28 and to the northwest near the coast. It prompted a series of warnings from Michoacán to Baja California Sur, where it made landfall in September.
- Hurricane Kristy was briefly a hurricane on August 31, but its proximity to Hurricane John caused it to weaken soon after.
- Hurricane Ioke became the most intense Central Pacific hurricane on record on August 26 with a minimum pressure of 920 mbar. After crossing the dateline and becoming Typhoon Ioke it passed just to the north of Wake Island at Category 4 strength.
- Typhoon Prapiroon (Henry) reached its peak as a minimal typhoon in the South China Sea. It killed 77 people when it made landfall in China.
- Severe Tropical Storm Maria formed on August 4 and threatened Japanese coast.
- Severe Tropical Storm Bopha (Inday) passed over Taiwan as a tropical storm on August 9.
- Tropical Storm Wukong passed over Kyūshū on August 18.
- Tropical Storm Sonamu (Katring) was a minimal storm that was absorbed by Wukong on August 20.
- Tropical Depression 13W formed near Hainan on August 23 and soon made landfall in Guandong.
Main Page content
- Hurricane Mitch appeared on the Main Page as Today's Featured Article on August 16.
- Entries from List of Delaware hurricanes, Fiji Meteorological Service, Tropical Storm Helene (2000), Atlantic hurricane reanalysis and Hurricane Kyle (2002) appeared on the Main Page in the Did you know column during August.
- Hurricane Katrina appeared on the Main Page in the On this Day column on August 29.
New articles and improvements wanted
- Landfall (meteorology) and Rapid deepening should be expanded.
- Direct hit (meteorology) and Cyclogenesis should be created.
- 2006 storm articles should be updated in light of the Tropical Cyclone Reports.
Member of the month
The August member of the month is Nilfanion. The WikiProject awards this to him for his contributions in many diverse sections of the project. Nilfanion joined the Wikiproject in April and provides track maps for the project and has produced a featured picture. He has developed the tropical cyclone Commons Category scheme in the process. In addition he has produced a number of quality articles and is active in assessment.
New and improved articles
- New storm articles include Cyclone Thelma, Typhoon Ewiniar (2006), Tropical Storm Otto (2004), Cyclone Heta (2003), Hurricane John (2006), Hurricane Kyle (2002), Hurricane Ioke and Hurricane Ernesto (2006).
- New non-storm articles include List of Delaware hurricanes, Fiji Meteorological Service and Atlantic hurricane reanalysis.
- New featured articles, lists and pictures: 2003 Pacific hurricane season, List of Delaware hurricanes and Global tropical cyclone tracks.
Storm article statistics
| Grade | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 FA
|
10 | 13 | 16 | 15 |
 A
|
7 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
 GA
|
5 | 18 | 24 | 28 |
| B | 82 | 79 | 77 | 79 |
| Start | 168 | 180 | 191 | 200 |
| Stub | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Total | 282 | 303 | 322 | 337 |
| percentage ≥Less than B |
63.1 | 62.0 | 61.8 | 61.7 |
Tropical cyclone imagery
When uploading an image of a tropical cyclone please
- Download the highest resolution image possible to your computer, not a thumbnail.
- If the image is free, upload it to Commons. In general, only upload to en.wikipedia if it is a Fair Use image. Wherever you upload, follow the instructions.
- Preferably, include a link to the source image, not just the source site.
- If you upload to Commons, add relevant Categories to the image, see the Commons category scheme. Make sure at least one category you add is the storm's category.
The following is a good image description:
{{Information
|Description=Visible image of Hurricane Ernesto on 2006-08-27 at peak strength just south of Haiti as seen by GOES-12.
|Source=Original image located here.
|Date=2006-08-27
|Author=The Naval Research Laboratory
|Permission={{PD-USGov-Military-Navy}}
}}
[[Category:Hurricane Ernesto (2006)]] [[Category:NRL images of tropical cyclones|Ernesto (2006)]]