Predicting A Cyclone/Hurricane/Typhoon?

Question

How do you use isobars and isohyets to predict when a cyclone/etc will form and its course?

Answer 1

Excellent question. The first thing meteorologists do when they monitor the tropics for tropical storms is look for large areas of cloudiness called convective cloud clusters. This is the first sign that a tropical storm may be forming. When this cluster begins to show some sign of becoming organized they fly a plane into the area and drop an instrument called a dropsonde out of the airplane on a parachute. This instrument records winds and pressure and sends the data back to the airplane. If the data shows that a low pressure area has formed the storm is called a tropical depression and given a number for historical and tracking purposes. They will continue flying into the storm as it develops into a tropical storm, when it is first given a name, and finally into a hurricane (or cyclone or typhoon depending on where they are in the world). They not only use airplane penetrations and the measurements obtained from them but also use satellite data from the time the storm is nothing but a large unorganized bunch of clouds. To forecast the movement of this storm they use a number of different models including looking at storms like this one that occurred in the past to see how it moved. It is also important to know what the upper atmospheric wind flow looks like because these currents of air help steer or move the storm. I hope this helps a little.

Answer 2

It's Not As Simple As That Mate. It Has More To Do With Satellite Imagery And Doppler Radar On The Ground To Track Tornado's And The Like And Build Up A Data Base Of Movement Linked To Other Conditions And Factors. These Kinds Of Weather Phenomena Are By Definition Unpredictable, It's The Holy Grail Of Meteorology To Be Able To Accurately Predict The Movement And Therefore Path Of Distruction Of Such Storms.
Great Question Mate. Have a Gooday And A Bonza 2007!

Answer 3

Tecos 2-3 Monterrey San Luis 1-1 Atlas Cruz Azul 3-1 Tigres Chivas 3-0 Necaxa Atlante 2-1 Chiapas Indios 1-2 Santos Pumas 2-1 Morelia Puebla 1-0 Toluca América 0-2 Pachuca

Answer 4

They might use aircraft and dropsondes for storm penetration in the Americas, they don't in the south Pacific or Indian Oceans. Australia does not have the aircraft and neither do any of the other Pacific nations. Pilotless aircraft like the Aerosonde, which was designed and developed in Australia, have been used for storm studies during various international experiments and so have other aircraft brought over from the USA but no aircraft are used on a regular basis.

The areas of possible tropical cyclone development are identified from satellite imagery. Further information comes from ground stations, ships at sea and commercial aircraft flying near the area of interest. Once a tropical cyclone gets within about 500km of the coast, it can be seen by coastal weather radars and tracked.

Isobars are not much use in the tropics and are not used on tropical weather charts. Streamlines showing wind direction are used instead. Apart from intense systems such as tropical cyclones, there is little variation in pressure across the tropics and so isobars tend to look the same from one month to the next.

Isohyets are lines joining places of equal rainfall. They are not used for weather prediction but for summarising weather observtions. Rainfall records from surface stations are useful to help build the picture of what is happening but you seldom see isohyets on a weather chart.