Tropical Cyclone Weekly Summary #169 (October 23 - 30, 1994)

[Jack Beven]

This report is compiled from warnings issued by:
National Hurricane Center Central Pacific Hurricane Center
Naval Western Oceanography Center Fiji Meteorological Service
Meteorological Service of New Zealand Joint Typhoon Warning Center
Japanese Meteorological Agency Bureau of Meteorology, Australia
Philippine Meteorological Service Royal Observatory of Hong Kong
Indian Meteorological Department Reunion Meteorological Service
Mauritius Meteorological Service
(others may be added as they become available)


WEEKLY TROPICAL CYCLONE SUMMARY #169 OCTOBER 23 - 30, 1994

North Atlantic Basin: No tropical cyclones.

Eastern North Pacific Basin (E of 140 Deg. W): No tropical cyclones.

Central North Pacific Basin (180 Deg. W to 140 Deg. W):

Tropical Storm Nona: At the start of the summary period, Tropical Depres-
sion 3C was moving west with 30 kt winds. The depression continued west
through 25 October, when it briefly reached tropical storm strength. Nona's
peak intensity was 35 kt with a minimum central pressure of 1003 mb measured
by reconnaissance aircraft. The system weakened to a depression later that
day, and it dissipated the next day near 12N 172W.

Western North Pacific Basin (W of 180 Deg. W):

Typhoon Verne: At the start of the summary period, Verne was drifting
erratically near 18N 130E with 95 kt winds. Verne drifted south on 24 October
as it reached a peak intensity of 115 kt, and this motion continued through
26 October when the storm became stationary near 15N 129E. Verne turned north-
east on 27 October as it weakened to a minimal typhoon, then it turned north
the next day while weakening to a tropical storm. Verne turned northeast on
29 October and east-northeast on 30 October. At the end of the summary period,
Verne was continuing east-northeast with 50 kt winds.

While Verne did not affect any land areas during this period, it did cause
problems for shipping. Ship JPEX reported 50 kt winds and a pressure of 998
mb at 0000 UTC 27 October, with ship JGAC reporting 48 kt sustained winds and
a pressure of 997.4 mb at 1200 UTC 29 October. A drifting buoy reported a
980.9 mb pressure at 1000 UTC 29 October. There are still no reports of damage
or casualties from the Mariana Islands that Verne affected earlier in its
life.

Typhoon Teresa: At the start of the summary period, Teresa was moving
west-southwest to west across the South China Sea with 65 kt winds. Teresa
drifted west on 24 October as its winds increased to 75 kt, and it drifted
west-northwest to the Vietnam coast on 25 October. The typhoon weakened to a
tropical storm before making landfall early on 26 October. Teresa continued
west-northwest over land and dissipated later on 26 October.

There are no significant meteorological reports from the landfall region
in Vietnam, and so far there are no reports of damage or casualties. However,
ship DVPZ reported 41 kt sustained winds at 0000 UTC 25 October. Latest press
reports indicate that Teresa cause 20 deaths on Luzon in the Philippines (see
last week's summary).

Typhoon Wilda: At the start of the summary period, Wilda was moving west
toward the Mariana Islands with 100 kt winds. Wilda moved generally west-
southwest on 24 October, then it briefly stalled about 120 miles northeast of
Saipan on 25 October. It reached a peak intensity of 135 kt at this time.
Wilda moved northeast and weakened later on 25 October, and it moved generally
north-northeast on 26-27 October. The storm turned north-northwest on 28
October and northwest the next day while maintaining 85-90 kt winds. Wilda
turned north-northeast on 30 October, and at the end of the summary period it
was continuing this track with 85 kt winds.

Wilda was a large system that affected most of the Marianas. Saipan re-
ported a minimum pressure of 987.2 mb at 0000 UTC 25 October, along with 30
kt sustained winds gusting to 45 kt. Higher winds probably occurred, as no
further reports were received until after the peak effects on the island. The
Joint Typhoon Warning Center on Guam recorded a gust to 72 kt at 1547 UTC
24 October. Ship VMBD reported 61 kt sustained winds at 0600 UTC 25 October
and a minimum pressure of 991.0 mb 12 hours earlier. There are no reports of
damage or casualties at this time.

Tropical Storm Yuri: At the start of the summary period, Yuri was moving
rapidly westward with 35 kt winds. Yuri continued a general westward motion
through 25 October. It reached a peak intensity of 45 kt on 24 October, then
it weakened to a depression the next day. Yuri turned northwest on 26 October,
and it dissipated near 30N 154E on 27 October.

Tropical Storm Zelda: Tropical Depression 37W formed near 18N 167E on 28
October from a disturbance that moved southwest past Wake Island. The system
tracked generally west-southwestward through the remainder of the summary
period. The cyclone reached tropical storm strength on 29 October, and at the
end of the summary period Zelda was packing 40 kt winds.

North Indian Ocean Basin:

Tropical Cyclone 04B: A tropical depression formed near 10N 85E on 29
October. Initially moving west-northwest, the system turned northwest the
next day. Rapid strengthening ensued, and the system reached both tropical
storm and hurricane intensity on 30 October. At the end of the summary period,
TC-04B was near Madras, India, moving northwest with 65 kt winds.

This storm affected the eastern coast of India. Madras reported 40 kt
sustained winds and a pressure of 994.3 mb at 2100 UTC 30 October. Higher
winds and lower pressures probably occurred between the 3 hourly reports.
This storm has caused damage and casualties in eastern India, and further
details on these will be available in the next summary.

Author's note: There are major disagreements between intensities reported
by the Indian Meteorological Department and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
The IMD gave this system the designation of "severe cyclonic storm with core
of hurricane winds", which is their term for 65 kt or greater intensity. JTWC
indicated a peak intensity of 35 kt.

South Indian Ocean Basin (W of 135 Deg. E): No tropical cyclones.

South Pacific Ocean Basin (E of 135 Deg. E): No tropical cyclones.


Disclaimer: While an effort has been made to make sure this information is
accurate as possible, it was drawn from operational warnings that may not
always agree with the best track information published after the storm is
over. Please address any questions or comments on the information this
week to Jack Beven at Internet addresses:

be...@hrd-tardis.nhc.noaa.gov or jbe...@delphi.com

Past text copies of the Tropical Cyclone Weekly Summary can be obtained via e-
mail. Please send an e-mail message to Jack Beven if you are interested.

A digitized version of the weekly summary with DMSP polar orbiting imagery
is available over the World Wide Web. This is courtesy of Greg Deuel at the
DMSP satellite archive. It can be found at: http://web.ngdc.noaa.gov/ under
the Weekly Updated Items section of the DMSP Satellite Archive home page.

For more information on the imagery and how to retrieve the digitized
summary and images by other methods, please contact Greg Deuel at Internet
address:

g...@po-box.ngdc.noaa.gov.