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Monthly Global Tropical Cyclone Tracks May 2009
[Summaries and Track Data] [Prepared by Gary Padgett]

                GLOBAL TROPICAL CYCLONE TRACKS - MAY 2009

          !!!! IMPORTANT -- PLEASE SEE NOTE AT END OF FILE !!!!


                             MAY HIGHLIGHTS
                             --------------

  --> Two typhoons form in Northwest Pacific--one strikes Philippines
  --> Deadly cyclone strikes India and Bangladesh


                            GLOBAL OVERVIEW
                            ---------------

     The most active basin during May was the Northwest Pacific, where
  two typhoons formed early in the month.  Typhoon Kujira (Dante) formed
  just east of the Philippines and tracked off to the northeast, passing
  north of the Marianas and not too far south of Iwo Jima.  Typhoon
  Chan-hom (Emong) formed at about the same time in the South China Sea
  and also moved northeastward, striking northwestern Luzon.  Also,
  during the first week of the month, JMA classified a system well east
  of the Philippines as a tropical depression.

     A severe cyclonic storm, Aila, formed in the Bay of Bengal and
  struck India and Bangladesh, causing a considerable number of 
  fatalities.   During the final week of the month, a tropical depression
  formed over warm Gulf Stream waters off the U. S. East Coast but moved
  on northeastward and out to sea without reaching tropical storm status.
  No tropical cyclones nor significant tropical LOWs formed in the
  Southern Hemisphere during May.
                         
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************

ATLANTIC (ATL) - North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico


                         Sources of Information
                         ----------------------

     The track coordinates, central pressure and 1-minute average
  maximum sustained wind values were obtained from the operational
  forecast/advisories issued by the Tropical Prediction Center/National
  Hurricane Center located in Miami, Florida.   A 1-minute averaging
  period is the standard used by all U. S. civilian and military
  warning services for tropical cyclone warnings.

     Following is the link to the Wikipedia page for the 2009 Atlantic
  Hurricane Season.  A detailed report for Tropical Depression 01 is
  already available.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Atlantic_hurricane_season


                            Systems Tracked
                            ---------------

   Tropical LOW (Invest 90L)                           17 - 23 May
   Tropical Depression (01)                            25 - 29 May

*************************************************************************

Storm Name: None                  Cyclone Number: None    Basin: ATL
(Invest 90L)

   Date   Time   Lat      Lon    Cent  MSW   MSW        Remarks
          (GMT)                 Press 1-min 10-min
                                 (mb) (kts) (kts)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

09 MAY 17 1800  17.5 N   75.8 W  1013   20        NRL data
09 MAY 18 0000  18.9 N   75.6 W  1013   20 
09 MAY 18 0600  20.0 N   75.6 W  1012   20 
09 MAY 18 1200  21.0 N   75.7 W  1011   20 
09 MAY 18 1800  21.9 N   75.8 W  1010   25 
09 MAY 19 0000  22.4 N   76.0 W  1010   25 
09 MAY 21 1200  25.5 N   86.3 W  1006   25        Missing data
09 MAY 21 1800  25.6 N   86.5 W  1005   25 
09 MAY 22 0000  25.8 N   86.7 W  1005   25 
09 MAY 22 0600  26.2 N   87.4 W  1005   25 
09 MAY 22 1200  26.6 N   87.5 W  1006   25 
09 MAY 22 1800  27.0 N   87.6 W  1006   25 
09 MAY 23 0000  27.7 N   87.8 W  1006   25 
09 MAY 23 0600  28.6 N   88.4 W  1004   30 

Note: The above information was sent to the author by Steve Young and is
based on NRL data.  This system was not classified as a tropical
depression, but was close to depression status as it neared the Gulf
Coast.  The LOW brought significant rainfall amounts to portions of the
southern states.   The final data point in the track above is well off-
shore.  The LOW's center made landfall near the Mississippi/Alabama
border around 1500 UTC 23 May.   There are also some data points missing
between 19/0000 and 21/1200 UTC. 

*************************************************************************

Storm Name: None                  Cyclone Number: 01      Basin: ATL


   Date   Time   Lat      Lon    Cent  MSW   MSW        Remarks
          (GMT)                 Press 1-min 10-min
                                 (mb) (kts) (kts)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

09 MAY 25 1200  24.0 N   75.1 W  1009   20        NRL data
09 MAY 25 1800  25.3 N   74.6 W  1009   20
09 MAY 26 0000  26.7 N   74.6 W  1009   20
09 MAY 26 0600  28.0 N   75.0 W  1009   20
09 MAY 26 1200  29.4 N   75.3 W  1009   25
09 MAY 26 1800  30.8 N   75.5 W  1010   25
09 MAY 27 0000  31.9 N   75.5 W  1010   25
09 MAY 27 0600  32.7 N   75.5 W  1010   25
09 MAY 27 1200  33.6 N   75.2 W  1009   25
09 MAY 27 1800  34.4 N   74.6 W  1008   25
09 MAY 28 0000  35.1 N   74.0 W  1007   25
09 MAY 28 0600  36.1 N   72.9 W  1007   25
09 MAY 28 1200  37.1 N   71.5 W  1007   30        First NHC advisory
09 MAY 28 1800  37.4 N   70.2 W  1006   30
09 MAY 29 0000  37.8 N   68.6 W  1006   30
09 MAY 29 0600  38.5 N   67.2 W  1006   30
09 MAY 29 1200  39.3 N   64.9 W  1006   30
09 MAY 29 1800  39.9 N   63.3 W  1006   25
09 MAY 29 2100  40.3 N   62.3 W  1006   25

Note: The pre-advisory information is based on NRL data and was sent to
the author by Steve Young.

*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************

NORTHWEST PACIFIC (NWP) - North Pacific Ocean West of Longitude 180


                          Sources of Information
                          ----------------------

     The track coordinates and 1-minute average maximum sustained wind
  values in general were taken from operational warnings issued by the
  Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) of the U. S. Air Force and Navy,
  located at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  The central pressure and 10-minute
  average maximum sustained wind estimates for most systems were obtained
  from warnings issued by the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA), which
  is the World Meteorological Organization's Regional Specialised Meteor-
  ological Centre for the basin.  In a few instances, information from
  warnings issued by other Asian warning centers may have been utilized.
  The center position coordinates from JMA and other centers were com-
  pared with those from JTWC and annotations made in the Remarks column
  when the differences in general amounted to 40-50 nm or more.

     Michael V. Padua of Naga City in the Philippines, owner of the
  Typhoon 2000 website, sends me cyclone tracks based upon warnings
  issued by the Japanese Meteorological Agency and the Philippines'
  Atmospheric, Geophysical & Astronomical Services Administration
  (PAGASA).  A special thanks to Michael for his efforts.

     Following is the link to the Wikipedia page for the 2009 Pacific
  Typhoon Season.  Detailed reports for Typhoons Kujira and Chan-hom are
  already available.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Pacific_typhoon_season>

     Following are links to Michael Padua's storm logs for the two
  May typhoons, plus a tropical depression (Crising) in late April.
  PAGASA reported this system's winds at 30 kts, but it was not elevated
  to depression status by either JMA or JTWC.

  http://www.typhoon2000.ph/stormarchives/2009/stormlogs/03crising09_log.htm

  http://www.typhoon2000.ph/stormarchives/2009/stormlogs/04dante09_log.htm

  http://www.typhoon2000.ph/stormarchives/2009/stormlogs/05emong09_log.htm


                              Systems Tracked
                              ---------------

   Typhoon KUJIRA (01W / 0901 / DANTE)                 01 - 11 May
   Tropical Depression                                 01 - 04 May
   Typhoon CHAN-HOM (02W / 0902 / EMONG)               02 - 13 May

*************************************************************************

Storm Name: KUJIRA                Cyclone Number: 01W     Basin: NWP
PAGASA Internal Name: DANTE       JMA Tropical Storm Number: 0901

   Date   Time   Lat      Lon    Cent  MSW   MSW        Remarks
          (GMT)                 Press 1-min 10-min
                                 (mb) (kts) (kts)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

09 MAY 01 0600  13.2 N  124.5 E  1000         30  PAGASA warnings
09 MAY 01 1200  12.7 N  124.2 E  1000         30  JMA < 30 kts
09 MAY 01 1800  13.0 N  124.5 E  1000         30
09 MAY 02 0000  12.8 N  124.4 E  1000         30
09 MAY 02 0600  13.2 N  124.3 E  1000   30    30  PAGASA: 13.7N/124.5E
09 MAY 02 1200  13.4 N  124.5 E  1000   35    30
09 MAY 02 1800  13.7 N  124.5 E  1000   35    30  PAGASA: 14.2N/124.3E
09 MAY 03 0000  13.9 N  124.6 E   998   45    35
09 MAY 03 0600  13.9 N  124.9 E   990   45    45
09 MAY 03 1200  14.8 N  125.9 E   985   45    50
09 MAY 03 1800  15.2 N  126.5 E   980   55    55
09 MAY 04 0000  15.7 N  127.1 E   975   55    60
09 MAY 04 0600  16.5 N  128.3 E   970   70    65
09 MAY 04 1200  16.8 N  129.6 E   955  100    75
09 MAY 04 1800  17.1 N  131.1 E   945  115    80
09 MAY 05 0000  17.5 N  132.7 E   945  105    80
09 MAY 05 0600  18.4 N  134.0 E   945  105    80
09 MAY 05 1200  19.2 N  135.5 E   950   95    75
09 MAY 05 1800  19.5 N  137.1 E   950  100    75
09 MAY 06 0000  20.4 N  138.4 E   950  100    75
09 MAY 06 0600  21.6 N  139.9 E   960  100    70
09 MAY 06 1200  22.7 N  141.7 E   965   85    70  JMA: 22.6N/141.3E
09 MAY 06 1800  24.2 N  142.9 E   975   65    65
09 MAY 07 0000  26.0 N  143.7 E   985   50    50
09 MAY 07 0600  28.0 N  144.9 E   990         45  JMA warnings
09 MAY 07 1200  29.8 N  147.3 E   998         35
09 MAY 07 1800  32.0 N  151.0 E   998         35  Extratropical
09 MAY 08 0000  34.0 N  151.0 E  1000         35
09 MAY 08 0600  37.0 N  151.0 E  1000         35
09 MAY 08 1200  40.0 N  151.0 E   998         40
09 MAY 08 1800  41.0 N  156.0 E   998         40
09 MAY 09 0000  43.0 N  159.0 E   998         35
09 MAY 09 0600  44.0 N  162.0 E   998         35
09 MAY 09 1200  44.0 N  164.0 E   998         35
09 MAY 09 1800  45.0 N  165.0 E  1000         35
09 MAY 10 0000  45.0 N  166.0 E  1002         35
09 MAY 10 0600  46.0 N  166.0 E  1002         35
09 MAY 10 1200  46.0 N  167.0 E  1002         35
09 MAY 10 1800  45.0 N  169.0 E  1002         35
09 MAY 11 0000  45.0 N  170.0 E  1006         35
09 MAY 11 0600  47.0 N  170.0 E  1008         35
09 MAY 11 1200  48.0 N  172.0 E  1008         35
09 MAY 11 1800  48.0 N  172.0 E  1008         30

*************************************************************************

Storm Name: None                  Cyclone Number: None    Basin: NWP
PAGASA Internal Name: None        JMA Tropical Storm Number: None

   Date   Time   Lat      Lon    Cent  MSW   MSW        Remarks
          (GMT)                 Press 1-min 10-min
                                 (mb) (kts) (kts)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

09 MAY 01 1200  14.0 N  138.0 E  1006         25
09 MAY 01 1800  15.0 N  138.0 E  1004         25
09 MAY 02 0000  15.0 N  137.0 E  1006         25
09 MAY 02 0600  16.0 N  139.0 E  1004         25
09 MAY 02 1200  16.3 N  140.7 E  1004         30
09 MAY 02 1800  16.3 N  141.6 E  1004         30
09 MAY 03 0000  16.6 N  141.3 E  1004         30
09 MAY 03 0600  17.2 N  139.8 E  1004         30
09 MAY 03 1200  17.0 N  141.0 E  1002         25
09 MAY 03 1800  18.0 N  141.0 E  1002         25
09 MAY 04 0000  18.0 N  139.0 E  1006         25
09 MAY 04 0600  19.0 N  139.0 E  1004         25
09 MAY 04 1200  20.0 N  139.0 E  1006         25

*************************************************************************

Storm Name: CHAN-HOM              Cyclone Number: 02w     Basin: NWP
PAGASA Internal Name: EMONG       JMA Tropical Storm Number: 0902

   Date   Time   Lat      Lon    Cent  MSW   MSW        Remarks
          (GMT)                 Press 1-min 10-min
                                 (mb) (kts) (kts)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

09 MAY 02 1800  10.0 N  111.0 E  1006         25  JMA bulletins
09 MAY 03 0000   9.7 N  111.5 E  1004         30
09 MAY 03 0600   9.7 N  111.5 E  1004         30
09 MAY 03 1200   9.9 N  111.6 E   998   30    35
09 MAY 03 1800  10.2 N  111.9 E   996   35    35
09 MAY 04 0000  10.6 N  112.3 E   996   40    35
09 MAY 04 0600  10.9 N  112.4 E   990   45    45
09 MAY 04 1200  11.3 N  112.0 E   990   40    45
09 MAY 04 1800  11.8 N  112.1 E   990   45    45  JMA: 11.3N/112.1E
09 MAY 05 0000  11.6 N  112.0 E   985   55    50
09 MAY 05 0600  12.1 N  111.7 E   985   55    50 
09 MAY 05 1200  13.0 N  112.4 E   985   55    50  JMA: 12.7N/111.7E
09 MAY 05 1800  13.3 N  112.3 E   975   55    60
09 MAY 06 0000  13.9 N  113.5 E   975   60    60  JMA: 13.5N/113.0E
09 MAY 06 0600  14.2 N  114.0 E   975   55    60
09 MAY 06 1200  14.6 N  115.0 E   975   60    60
09 MAY 06 1800  14.9 N  116.0 E   970   70    65
09 MAY 07 0000  15.3 N  117.5 E   960   70    75
09 MAY 07 0600  15.8 N  118.7 E   960   85    75
09 MAY 07 1200  16.5 N  120.2 E   960   75    75
09 MAY 07 1800  17.3 N  120.8 E   980   25    55  Inlnd/JMA: 17.0N/122.1E
09 MAY 08 0000  16.9 N  123.5 E   980   55    55  JMA: 17.4N/123.1E
09 MAY 08 0600  17.2 N  124.9 E   985   45    50  JMA: 17.4N/124.0E
09 MAY 08 1200  16.8 N  126.8 E   990   40    45  JMA: 17.3N/125.2E
09 MAY 08 1800  16.9 N  127.2 E   994   30    40  JMA: 17.3N/125.8E
09 MAY 09 0000  17.3 N  127.5 E   998   25    30  JMA: 17.0N/128.0E
09 MAY 09 0600  17.0 N  128.0 E  1000         25  JMA warning
09 MAY 09 1200  18.0 N  129.0 E  1002         25        "
09 MAY 09 1800  19.0 N  129.0 E  1004         25        "
09 MAY 10 0000  18.9 N  127.7 E  1006   25    25  JMA: 20.0N/127.0E
09 MAY 10 0600  19.6 N  128.0 E  1006   25    25
09 MAY 10 1200  20.7 N  127.8 E  1006   25    25
09 MAY 10 1800  20.6 N  127.3 E  1006   25    25
09 MAY 11 0000  21.6 N  127.1 E  1006   25    25
09 MAY 11 0600  21.7 N  126.7 E  1006   20    25
09 MAY 11 1200  22.0 N  126.0 E  1008         20  JMA warnings
09 MAY 11 1800  23.0 N  126.0 E  1008         20
09 MAY 12 0000  24.0 N  127.0 E  1010         20
09 MAY 12 0600  24.0 N  127.0 E  1008         20
09 MAY 12 1200  25.0 N  128.0 E  1008         20
09 MAY 12 1800  25.0 N  128.0 E  1008         20
09 MAY 13 0000  26.0 N  129.0 E  1008         20

*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************

NORTH INDIAN OCEAN (NIO) - Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea


                         Sources of Information
                         ----------------------

     The track coordinates and 1-minute average maximum sustained wind
  values in general were taken from operational warnings issued by the
  Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) of the U. S. Air Force and Navy,
  located at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.   Occasionally some information may
  have been gleaned from the daily tropical weather outlooks and other
  bulletins issued by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), which
  is the World Meteorological Organization's Regional Specialised Meteor-
  ological Centre for the basin.
 
     The reported maximum sustained winds are based on a 1-minute
  averaging period, which is used by all U. S. civilian and military
  weather services for tropical cyclone warnings.     For synoptic
  observations in the North Indian Ocean region, both 10-minute and
  3-minute average winds are employed, but IMD makes no attempt to
  modify the Dvorak scale for estimating tropical cyclone intensity;
  hence, a 1-minute average MSW is implied.

     Following is the link to the Wikipedia page for the 2009 North
  Indian Ocean Cyclone Season.  A detailed report for Severe Cyclonic
  Storm Aila is already available.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_North_Indian_Ocean_cyclone_season


                            Systems Tracked
                            ---------------

   Severe Cyclonic Storm AILA (02B)                    23 - 26 May
                                                     
*************************************************************************

Storm Name: AILA                  Cyclone Number: 02B     Basin: NIO


   Date   Time   Lat      Lon    Cent  MSW   MSW        Remarks
          (GMT)                 Press 1-min 10-min
                                 (mb) (kts) (kts)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

09 MAY 23 0600  16.5 N   88.0 E   998   25        IMD bulletins
09 MAY 23 1200  16.5 N   88.0 E   994   25             
09 MAY 23 1800  17.0 N   88.5 E   996   25
09 MAY 24 0000  18.1 N   88.5 E   996   35        JTWC warnings/IMD-25 kts
09 MAY 24 0600  18.4 N   88.4 E         35        IMD: 30 kts
09 MAY 24 1200  18.3 N   88.4 E   986   45        Named CS Aila
09 MAY 24 1800  19.4 N   87.7 E         45        JTWC satellite bulletin
09 MAY 25 0000  20.3 N   88.1 E         55
09 MAY 25 0600  21.6 N   88.3 E         65        IMD: 50-55 kts
09 MAY 25 1200  22.9 N   88.2 E   980   55
09 MAY 25 1800  24.2 N   88.5 E         40
09 MAY 26 0000  26.2 N   88.5 E  1000   30        NRL data
09 MAY 26 0600  26.8 N   88.9 E  1004   25            "

*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************

                  SOURCES OF TROPICAL CYCLONE INFORMATION

     The purpose of this section is to list some websites where many and
  varied types of tropical cyclone information are archived.  Many readers
  will know about these already, but for the benefit of those who don't,
  I wanted to include them. 

  (1) Aircraft Reconnaissance Information
  ---------------------------------------

     Various types of messages from reconnaissance aircraft may be
  retrieved from the following FTP site:

     ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/pub/products/nhc/recon/

     Information regarding how to interpret the coded reconnaissance
  messages may be found at the following URL:

     http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/reconlist.shtml

  Links are also included to websites with further information about the
  U. S. Air Force 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and the NOAA Air-
  craft Operations Center.

  (2) Archived Advisories
  -----------------------

     All the advisory products (public advisories, forecast/advisories,
  strike probabilities, discussions, various graphics) issued by TPC/NHC
  are archived on TPC's website.  For the current year (using 2004 as an
  example), the archived products can be found at:

     http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2004/index.shtml

  Links to tropical products archives for earlier years are available at
  the following URL:

     http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastall.shtml

  JTWC warnings for past storms are archived on the NRL Monterrey website:

     http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/tc_home.html

  On the NRL site, the link to past years can be found in the upper left 
  corner of the screen.

     I am not aware at the moment of any other TCWC which archives all
  its tropical cyclone warning/advisory products for public access, but
  if I learn of any, I will add them to this list.

  (3) Satellite Imagery
  ---------------------

     Satellite images of tropical cyclones in various sensor bands are
  available on the NRL Monterrey and University of Wisconsin websites,
  courtesy of Jeff Hawkins and Chris Velden and their associates.  The
  links are:

     http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/tc_pages/tc_home.html

     http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/tropic.html

  On the NRL site, the link to past years can be found in the upper left 
  corner of the screen.  For the CIMSS site, a link to data archives is 
  located in the lower left portion of the screen.

     Additional tropical satellite imagery, along with looping ability for
  composite microwave imagery for the Western Hemisphere north of the
  equator, can be found at:

  (1) For the Eastern North Pacific:

     http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/trop-epac.html

  (2) For the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea:

     http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/trop-atl.html

  (4) Cyclone Tracking Information
  --------------------------------

     There is a U. S. Navy site that tracks tropical cyclones at 6-hourly
  intervals which often includes pre and post-advisory positions.  The
  link to the site is:

  http://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/atcf_web/doc_archives/

     Steve Young has compiled many of these tracks onto a single webpage
  which is very user-friendly:

  http://home.earthlink.net/~shy9/tc1.htm

***************************************************************************
*************************************************************************

              !!!!!!  IMPORTANT NOTE - PLEASE READ  !!!!!!

     To repeat the caveat which is included in the Author's Note
  at the end of the cyclone summaries--the tropical cyclone tracks
  I prepare are based upon the operational warnings/advisories/
  advices/bulletins which are issued by the various tropical cyclone
  warning agencies around the world.   Users of these tracks should
  be aware that they are preliminary and subject to revision during
  post-seasonal analyses of the cyclones by the forecasters and
  analysts at the several warning centers.

     For the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific basins, official tropical
  cyclone reports and "best tracks" can be found at the website of
  the Tropical Prediction Center/National Hurricane Center:

     http://www.nhc.noaa.gov

     The Joint Typhoon Warning Center's website contains links to their
  Annual Tropical Cyclone Reports which include that agency's "best
  tracks" for tropical cyclones in the Northwest Pacific basin, the
  North Indian Ocean, and the Southern Hemisphere:

     https://metocph.nmci.navy.mil/jtwc.php


  SPECIAL NOTE:  Back issues of the global tropical cyclone summaries
  and monthly cyclone track files can be obtained at the following
  websites:

    ftp://ftp.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/pub/landsea/padgett/
    http://australiasevereweather.com/cyclones/
    http://www.typhoon2000.ph
    http://mpittweather.com


  PREPARED BY:

  Gary Padgett              [email protected]


  SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS BY:

  Michael V. Padua          [email protected] 
                            [email protected]

*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************

Document: trak0905.htm
Updated: 18th June 2009

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