Typhoon Haiyan Weather Data From Icyclone
Typhoon Haiyan Weather Data From Icyclone
Typhoon Haiyan Weather Data From Icyclone
storm location date chasers Super Typhoon HAIYAN (YOLANDA) Tacloban City, Leyte, Philippines 08 November 2013 Josh Morgerman, James Reynolds, Mark Thomas author Josh Morgerman
Location
We observed the passage of Super Typhoon HAIYAN in Tacloban City, Leyte, Philippines, at 11.2414N 125.0036E. We rode out the storm in Hotel Alejandro, in the heart of the Downtown district. As per radar (see Radar shots, below), the center of the cyclone crossed the Leyte coast between Tolosa and Dulag, very near the village of San Jose, at ~7 am PHT. This landfall point is ~15 n mi S of downtown Tacloban City. The city was in the N eyewall and just a couple of miles from the edge of the eye. The Chase Map shows our location (green marker) in relation to Haiyans center at landfall (red marker), as per radar. (Chase Map Detail is a closer view.)
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Overview
Haiyan was a small, fast-moving, extremely violent cyclone that made a direct hit on Tacloban City. Key observations (all times in this document PHT): Very destructive winds didnt start until about 6:30 amonly 45 minutes before the centers closest approach (~7:15 am). Highest winds occurred near or after the centers closest approach. The storm surge rose very suddenly and rapidly, and it peaked near or after the centers closest approach. The hotel flooded to a depth of ~4 ft. If the elevation at this location is truly 26 ftas indicated by USGSthat suggests a storm surge of up to ~30 ft. Its possible the elevation may have been as low as 15 ft, in which case, the surge was ~20 ft. (See more about this below, under Calibration.) Very destructive winds and storm-surge inundation lasted only a few hoursa short-duration event compared with a typical tropical-cyclone passage.
We deployed two devices for measuring air pressure. Lowest pressures and times are as follows: Device 1: 960.8 mb at 7:12 am Device 2: 960.3 mb at 7:20 am
Please note that all observations, aside from air-pressure data, are preliminary and are subject to change upon review of the time-stamped video footage. See more below Re: the air-pressure readings.
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Calibration
USGS data indicate the ground elevation at the hotel is ~26 ft. Before the storm, we attempted to verify this with a three-block walk to the waterfrontto eyeball itbut it was difficult to assess with confidence. Given this, we used 26 ft as our value. Device 1 was deployed in a small drawer in the hotel lobby, on the ground floor. Since it was several feet off the ground, the device was calibrated (for sea-level readings) using an altitude of 30 ft. Device 2 was deployed in our fourth-floor room. To calibrate this device, we used the air pressure from Device 1 as a reference, setting the altitude in Device 2 so the air pressure matched Device 1 (~60 ft).
Disruption of Device 1
Sometime after 7:30 am, storm surge flooded the hotel lobby, knocking over the piece of furniture holding Device 1. The drawer holding Device 1 was submerged for a timeuntil the storm died down and we were able to retrieve it. Its unclear what effect this may have had on the air-pressure data and there are no obvious irregularities in the trace that can help identify when the disruption occurred. However, this disruption happened after the lowest pressure was reached and the center was moving away from the city.
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More Imagery
Figure 7: RadarFar
Cebu radar at 07:00:59 am PHT, showing Haiyans center making landfall on the Leyte coast. At this time, Tacloban City (black square) was in the N eyewall. The lowest pressure in the city occurred ~15 minutes later.
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Questions or Feedback?
Get in touch: Josh Morgerman iCyclone [email protected]
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