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 the ocean, and can reach land or continental areas depending on the force they develop as they move. Some of them lose speed and power before reaching the ground and are therefore harmless, while others add more and more force making when they reach the ground they are extremely dangerous and damaging.
Typhoon is a extremely strong wind as a result of air turning around a low pressure region. We could say that typhoons are to the Pacific Ocean what hurricanes are to the Atlantic Ocean. Because precisely the typhoon is a characteristic cyclone suffered by the eastern coasts of Asia and is characterized by the virulence of the winds and storms that accompany the wind.
Characteristics and impact of Typhoons on land
Typhoons are characteristic of tropical areas as they have the ideal climatic and atmospheric conditions for the formation of storms and for the condensation of the 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 radars and specialized equipment thanks to the amount of clouds they collect.
The typhoon is capable of producing very fast winds, very high waves, tornadoes and torrential rains that when hitting populations are capable of producing the most impressive consequences that can be imagined, among them: burying a population under water, uprooting houses by the roots and any other type of solid structure.
It should be noted that when they penetrate the land, their strength begins to decline and that is the explanation that 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 It is the scale that is 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 5, number 1 being the weakest category and number 5 the most important level of impact and damage.
Hurricane Andrew that struck the United States in August 1992, Hurricane Mitch that struck Central America in 1998, Hurricane Katrina that also hit the United States hard in 2005, and the recent Typhoon Haiyan that in November 2013 devastated several coastal towns of the Philippines fall within the highest category on this scale, number 5.
Although cyclones enrolled in category 5 and that cause enormous damage in their path are rather rare and do not happen constantly, it is worth noting that when they do occur they are capable of causing shocking damage to infrastructure and the loss of thousands of human lives, without go further the best sample is Haiyan 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 researched climatic 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 act is what is quite difficult to predict and generally it is such that nothing can be done to avoid its 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 disseminating their arrival through the media easier, to give them an important entity and 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.
On Typhoon Haiyan that struck and devastated the Philippines, we have a special article.
