Hurricane, Cyclone, Typhoon...what is this called then?

[ChaserUK]

Just had a mad thought here. Storms with tropical characteristics are named depending on where they form. Well this is not a Hurricane, Cyclone or Typhoon classification-wise. This could be considered a new class of system - a Hurriclone for example?

[OtherHD]

Apparently, in Brazil, this is known as an extratropical cyclone.

[chadtm80]

ROFLMAO

[ChaserUK]

This is not extratropical however. In the UK we can get extratropical systems however like Ana last year. This is different and it needs a different classification.

[ChaserUK]

We have already established pre-defined boundaries about the formation and naming of these systems - this has formed outside those boundaries.

[Josephine96]

ROTFLMAO @ extra tropical

[Rainband]

The only extra with this HURRICANE will be the morning Extra on how the Brazlians dropped the ball on this storm forecast and even more sad the danger of this situation.

[Hurricanehink]

That is funny they call it an extratropical cyclone!

[ChaserUK]

Tell me about it. Read this on the oddities of TS development recently. A cause for concern maybe?

http://www.ukweatherworld.co.uk/forum/t ... 80&posts=3

[Guest]

This is actually a subtropical cyclone. This formed outside the tropics, and has tropical cyclone charateristics. The system, being it formed south of 10 degrees south, and let alone in the South Atlantic Ocean, a classification more then likely will not occur.
The system developed south of the Tropic of Capricorn which runs along 23.5 degrees south. This as well as the Tropic of Cancer runs along 13.5 degrees north!
Between these two lines, where the equator is the center line, is considered the tropics.
Being this system is warm core, at least is seems that way in satellite imagery, it would be classified as a subtropical cyclone. Being this is not a hurricane basin, there will be no naming of this system.

[Squall52]

I don't understand Bob, we've had systems develop North of that latitude in the North Atlantic basin and they've been classified tropical. This certainly does not look like a subtropical cyclone, besides the somewhat warmer cloud tops than what we normally see. Then again, even Isabel exhibited that sort of 'cold' appearance for a large part of its life cycle.
I agree on the naming thing though. Unless we see this basin continue to exhibit activity, there is no reason for them to name this single storm.

[wxman57]

This is actually a subtropical cyclone. This formed outside the tropics, and has tropical cyclone charateristics. The system, being it formed south of 10 degrees south, and let alone in the South Atlantic Ocean, a classification more then likely will not occur.
The system developed south of the Tropic of Capricorn which runs along 23.5 degrees south. This as well as the Tropic of Cancer runs along 13.5 degrees north!
Between these two lines, where the equator is the center line, is considered the tropics.
Being this system is warm core, at least is seems that way in satellite imagery, it would be classified as a subtropical cyclone. Being this is not a hurricane basin, there will be no naming of this system.

Would a hurrucane that forms in the northern Gulf of Mexico be called a subtropical cyclone? The latitude is the same north of the equator.

[Guest]

After what I've read, the Brazilians seem to be extra dumb.

They're good @ soccer though.

[Guest]

No, the gulf of mexico is in the Atlantic Hurricane Basin.
This is not in a tropical cyclone basin at all, and will either be considered as one of 3 things:
A strong gale, as the system after Ana last year was, and a lot of people gave heat towards the NHC for not naming it.
A Extratropical cyclone, being it's origin is not within a tropical cyclone basin.
Or, as I stated, and for the reasons I stated, a subtropical cyclone.
When it's all done and over, and the researchers study this a little more, we will have a true classification. This may not be until a paper is released after the research is completed. I am almost positive there will be some sort of study or reseasrch donme on this system.

[Derecho]

This is actually a subtropical cyclone. This formed outside the tropics, and has tropical cyclone charateristics. The system, being it formed south of 10 degrees south, and let alone in the South Atlantic Ocean, a classification more then likely will not occur.
The system developed south of the Tropic of Capricorn which runs along 23.5 degrees south. This as well as the Tropic of Cancer runs along 13.5 degrees north!
Between these two lines, where the equator is the center line, is considered the tropics.

Arrgh. "Subtropical" has to be the single most misunderstood word in tropical weather. It was bad enough when people had the mis-impression that every storm that wasn't perfectly symmetrical was "subtropical"...now we've got people incorrectly defining it by storm formation location.

Whether a given storm is "subtropical" has NOTHING TO DO WITH where it forms. Of course, you're more LIKELY to have them further away from the equator, and LESS likely closer to the equator, but it's not a component of defining a "Subtropical Storm."

And if that were the definition, EVERY storm that forms in the Gulf of Mexico north of the Bay of Campeche would be "subtropical." The 1935 Keys Cat 5 hurricane would have been a "Subtropical Storm." (At no point was the center of that storm EVER in "The Tropics.")

The "tropics" In the Atlantic only extend north to Cuba. We've had hundreds and hundreds of tropical systems form north of that in the "subtropics" that were NEVER "Subtropical Storms."

It's likely that at one time the Brazilian storm was subtropical, but it certainly isn't now and hasn't been for a LONG time..it's fully tropical.



Here's the OFFICIAL Definition from the NHC website:

Subtropical Cyclone:
A non-frontal low pressure system that has characteristics of both tropical and extratropical cyclones.

The most common type is an upper-level cold low with circulation extending to the surface layer and maximum sustained winds generally occurring at a radius of about 100 miles or more from the center. In comparison to tropical cyclones, such systems have a relatively broad zone of maximum winds that is located farther from the center, and typically have a less symmetric wind field and distribution of convection.

A second type of subtropical cyclone is a mesoscale low originating in or near a frontolyzing zone of horizontal wind shear, with radius of maximum sustained winds generally less than 30 miles. The entire circulation may initially have a diameter of less than 100 miles. These generally short-lived systems may be either cold core or warm core.