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Typhoon Chataan
Typhoon Chataan, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Gloria, was the deadliest natural disaster in the history of Chuuk, a state in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The typhoon formed on June 28, 2002, near the FSM, and for several days it meandered while producing heavy rainfall across the region. On Chuuk, the highest 24-hour precipitation total was , which was greater than the average monthly total. The rain produced floods up to deep, causing landslides across the island that killed 47 people. There was also one death on nearby Pohnpei, and damage in the FSM totaled over $100 million. After affecting the FSM, Chataan began a northwest track as an intensifying typhoon. Its eye passed just north of Guam on July 4, though the eyewall moved across the island and dropped heavy rainfall. Totals were highest in southern Guam, peaking at . Flooding and landslides from the storm severely damaged or destroyed 1,994 houses. Damage on the island total ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chuuk State
Chuuk State (; also known as Truk) is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The other states are Kosrae State, Pohnpei State, and Yap State. It consists of several island groups: * Namoneas * Faichuuk * Hall Islands * Namonuito Atoll (Magur Islands) (northwest) * Pattiw (Western Islands) * Mortlock Islands Chuuk is the most populous state of the FSM with 50,000 inhabitants on . Chuuk Lagoon is where most people live. Weno Island in the lagoon functions as state capital and is FSM's biggest city. It is scheduled to possibly vote for independence as proposed. History Indigenous settlement Chuuk was first settled by Austronesians, believed to be from the Lapita culture of Island Melanesia. Archaeological evidence indicates that islands of Feefen and Wééné Islands had human settlements in the first and second century BC. Later evidence indicates that widespread human settlements appeared in Chuuk during the 14th century AD, as the Chuukese cul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces in 1947 with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the second youngest branch of the United States Armed Forces and the fourth in order of precedence. The United States Air Force articulates its core missions as air supremacy, global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control. The United States Air Force is a military service branch organized within the Department of the Air Force, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Air Force through the Department of the Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landfall
Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact of arriving there. Tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is classified as making landfall when the center of the storm moves across the coast; in a relatively strong tropical cyclone, this is when the eye moves over land. This is where most of the damage occurs within a mature tropical cyclone, such as a typhoon or hurricane, as most of the damaging aspects of these systems are concentrated near the eyewall. Such effects include the peaking of the storm surge, the core of strong winds coming ashore, and heavy flooding rains. These coupled with high surf can cause major beach erosion. When a tropical cyclone makes landfall, the eye usually closes in upon itself due to negative environmental factors over land, such as friction with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Cyclone Scales
Tropical cyclones are ranked on one of five tropical cyclone intensity scales, according to their maximum sustained winds and which tropical cyclone basins they are located in. Only a few scales of classifications are used officially by the meteorological agencies monitoring the tropical cyclones, but other scales also exist, such as accumulated cyclone energy, the Power Dissipation Index, the Integrated Kinetic Energy Index, and the Hurricane Severity Index. Tropical cyclones that develop in the Northern Hemisphere are unofficially classified by the warning centres on one of three intensity scales. Tropical cyclones or subtropical cyclones that exist within the North Atlantic Ocean or the North-eastern Pacific Ocean are classified as either tropical depressions or tropical storms. Should a system intensify further and become a hurricane, then it will be classified on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, and is based on the estimated maximum sustained winds over a 1-minut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Okinotorishima
, or Parece Vela, is a coral reef with two rocks enlarged with tetrapod-cement structures. It is administered by Japan with a total shoal area of and land area . Its dry land area is mostly made up by three concrete encasings and there is a stilt platform in the lagoon housing a research station. There is a third completely artificial tetrapod-cement islet. It is located on the Palau–Kyushu Ridge in the Philippine Sea, southeast of Okidaitōjima and west-southwest of South Iwo Jima in the Bonin Islands or south of Tokyo, Japan. The atoll is the southernmost part of Japan and the only Japanese territory south of the Tropic of Cancer. Japan argues that the atoll is significant enough for it to claim a exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around it, but China, South Korea, and Taiwan dispute the Japanese EEZ, saying that the atoll does not meet the definition of an island under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. History The atoll may have been sighted first b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Typhoon Chataan 11 July 2002 0120Z
A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for almost one-third of the world's annual tropical cyclones. For organizational purposes, the northern Pacific Ocean is divided into three regions: the eastern (North America to 140°W), central (140°W to 180°), and western (180° to 100°E). The Regional Specialized Meteorological Center (RSMC) for tropical cyclone forecasts is in Japan, with other tropical cyclone warning centers for the northwest Pacific in Hawaii (the Joint Typhoon Warning Center), the Philippines, and Hong Kong. Although the RSMC names each system, the main name list itself is coordinated among 18 countries that have territories threatened by typhoons each year. Within most of the northwestern Pacific, there are no official typhoon seasons as tropical cyclones form th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weno
Weno, formerly Moen, is an island municipality of Chuuk State of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). It is the largest town in the FSM. It has an estimated area of 20 square kilometers. Population The population was 13,856 at the census taken in 2010. Geography It is located in the Chuuk Lagoon. Its villages are in the northwest (Sapuk, Penia, Peniesene, Tunnuk, Mechitiw, Iras, Nepukos, Mwan, Neiwe, and Wichap, Epinup) and serve as the main center of commerce. Weno is the state capital and the second-most populous island of the FSM, with a population of 13,856 at the 2010 census. The highest point is Mount Teroken, elevation 364 m (1,214 ft). Transportation Weno has the only airport in the state, Chuuk International Airport. The road system is not well established in some parts of the island. No public transportation exists, but visitors can use a small taxi to cruise around the island. There is one commercial shipyard for cargo ships and passenger voya ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Convection (meteorology)
Atmospheric convection is the result of a parcel-environment instability, or temperature difference layer in the atmosphere. Different lapse rates within dry and moist air masses lead to instability. Mixing of air during the day which expands the height of the planetary boundary layer leads to increased winds, cumulus cloud development, and decreased surface dew points. Moist convection leads to thunderstorm development, which is often responsible for severe weather throughout the world. Special threats from thunderstorms include hail, downbursts, and tornadoes. Overview There are a few general archetypes of atmospheric instability that are used to explain convection (or lack thereof). A necessary (but not sufficient) condition for convection is that the environmental lapse rate (the rate of decrease of temperature with height) is steeper than the lapse rate experienced by a rising parcel of air. When this condition is met, upward-displaced air parcels can become buoyant an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maximum Sustained Wind
The maximum sustained wind associated with a tropical cyclone is a common indicator of the intensity of the storm. Within a mature tropical cyclone, it is found within the eyewall at a distance defined as the radius of maximum wind, or RMW. Unlike gusts, the value of these winds are determined via their sampling and averaging the sampled results over a period of time. Wind measuring has been standardized globally to reflect the winds at above the Earth's surface, and the maximum sustained wind represents the highest average wind over either a one-minute (US) or ten-minute time span (see the definition, below), anywhere within the tropical cyclone. Surface winds are highly variable due to friction between the atmosphere and the Earth's surface, as well as near hills and mountains over land. Over the ocean, satellite imagery determines the value of the maximum sustained winds within a tropical cyclone. Land, ship, aircraft reconnaissance observations, and radar imagery can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subtropical Ridge
The horse latitudes are the latitudes about 30 degrees north and south of the Equator. They are characterized by sunny skies, calm winds, and very little precipitation. They are also known as Subtropics, subtropical ridges, or highs. It is a high-pressure area at the divergence of trade winds and the westerlies. Origin of the term A likely and documented explanation is that the term is derived from the "dead horse" ritual of seamen (see Flogging a dead horse#Earlier meaning, Beating a dead horse). In this practice, the seaman paraded a straw-stuffed effigy of a horse around the deck before throwing it overboard. Seamen were paid partly in advance before a long voyage, and they frequently spent their pay all at once, resulting in a period of time without income. If they got advances from the ship's paymaster, they would incur debt. This period was called the "dead horse" time, and it usually lasted a month or two. The seaman's ceremony was to celebrate having worked off the "d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nomoi Islands
The Nomoi Islands, also known as the Mortlock Islands, are a group of three atolls in the state of Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia. They are located about southeast of Chuuk Lagoon. Islands The Mortlock Islands are Ettal, Namoluk, Ta, Nama, Oneop, Losap, Moch, Picemwar, Satowan, Lukunor (Likinioch), and Kuttu (KuKuttu). Losap, Nama, and Namoluk are clustered to the northwest of the other islands and are also called the Upper Mortlock Islands or Eastern Islands. Satawan, the southern atoll, is the largest. Both Etal, the northern one, and Lukunor in the northeast are much smaller. They are located between from each other. History They were sighted by the Spanish expedition of Álvaro de Saavedra in 1528. Captain James Mortlock was sailing from Port Jackson to Whampoa in ''Young William'' when he rediscovered two sets of islands on 19 and 27 November 1795. Confusingly, both were later called Mortlock Islands.''The tale of the discovery of the two sets of “Mortl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tropical Depression
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by different names, including hurricane (), typhoon (), tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, or simply cyclone. A hurricane is a strong tropical cyclone that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean or northeastern Pacific Ocean, and a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. In the Indian Ocean, South Pacific, or (rarely) South Atlantic, comparable storms are referred to simply as "tropical cyclones", and such storms in the Indian Ocean can also be called "severe cyclonic storms". "Tropical" refers to the geographical origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively over tropical seas. "Cyclone" refers to their winds moving in a circle, whirling round ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
