TYPHOONS
IN THE PHILIPPINES
For November the Colum volume 56 we cover the most frequent hazard that visits The Philippines – Typhoon.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
Did you know that Typhoon, Hurricane and Cyclone are all essentially the same? As they are all types of tropical storms. The only difference is where they are located.
They are given different names depending on where they appear. Hurricanes are tropical storms that form over the North Atlantic Ocean and Northeast Pacific. Cyclones are formed over the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Typhoons are formed over the Northwest Pacific Ocean.
FREQUENCY OF TYPHOON IN THE PHILIPPINES
The Philippines is the most typhoon visited country in the world with an average of 20 tropical cyclones annually. For the past 10 years, 2013 was the year when the Philippines experience more than 25 typhoons in a year, that is nearly once every two weeks on average.
With the strongest was TC Sening (Joan) in 1970 – 275 kph. Costliest, TC Haiyan (Yolanda) 2013 – USD 2.2B and Deadliest with TC Haiphong 1881 – 20K Dead.
Catanduanes is the most frequently visited province by powerful typhoons, hence it was dubbed as “the land of howling winds”
THE NAMING OF TROPICAL CYCLONE
Ever wonder how typhoons get their names? And why do they have names at all? Meteorologists long ago learned that naming tropical storms and hurricanes helps people remember the storms, communicate about them more effectively, and so stay safer if and when a particular storm strikes a coast. These experts assign names to Typhoons according to a formal list of names that is approved prior to the start of each hurricane season.
When does a storm receive a name? Tropical storms are given names when they display a rotating circulation pattern and wind speeds of 63 kilometres per hour. A tropical storm develops into a hurricane when wind speeds reach 119 kph.
The Philippines is the only country in the world that has its own system of naming tropical cyclones. The first tropical cyclone in the Philippines to be assigned a male name was Tropical Depression “BAROK”.
The Philippines repeats the same Typhoon local name every four years but had retired 10 names which exceeded 300 deaths and USD 20M damage cost to agriculture.
The longest period where no typhoon affected the Philippines was August 15, 2002, until April 15, 2003, or 8 silent months.
Source: Earthsky.org, NDRRMC, PAGASA and Typhoon2000
Written by : Lawrence Aporto and Ina Rachmawati
