Re: Just a bit off Topic here.....
Posted by
Chris in Tampa on 9/24/2018, 4:17 pm
They are responsible for naming everything that meets the criteria. If you start not naming things, adding subjectivity into the equation, it influences the ability to compare seasons. Sometimes storms are closer to land and sometimes they aren't. If you name only the ones nearer to land, and you have a season where there are many that aren't near land, the storm totals wouldn't be comparable from year to year even though there may have been the same amount of storms. They also have to think about shipping traffic. And some storms do weird things. You don't think they'll hit land and then they do.
As for subtropical storms in particular, here's something about them from Jeff Masters:
https://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/subtropical.asp
I think subtropical storms should be named. For wind, they can pose just as great of a risk as a tropical storm given the same wind speed, but they might have an even larger area of highest winds.
When you name both you don't get into whether or not it is or isn't fully tropical when it comes to naming.
I like the idea of there being a standard. I don't like TWC naming winter storms due to their subjectivity. If it doesn't hit a populated area, don't name it. You can't compare things form year to year. Although I have other issues with naming winter storms, such as there often won't be a center. Tropical storms and subtropical storms do have a center that you can track. Tropical storms have the highest wind speed near it and subtropical storms have a broader center, but they both pose a threat that I think having the NHC follow, rather than just other NWS warnings, is a good idea. These kinds of storms are more predictable in their impacts. I wouldn't name winter storms with an organized low pressure center because their impacts aren't necessarily worse around a center. Well away someone might get a lot more snow. NWS warnings specific to an area are better, such as regions that have lake effect snow. Tropical and subtropical storms aren't like that as much, generally the impacts will be worse nearer to the center. Something with an official name tells you that there is something, with a center where generally the worst of the weather will be near. Once you decide what should and shouldn't be named, I think you have to apply it everywhere. Every year that goes by in the satellite era is another year of data to compare year to year. That's helpful in determining trends. Would someone need to look at satellite imagery each year and count the number of storms that didn't come near land in order to compare the number of storms from year to year? Are there more subtropical storms forming in higher latitudes? Are more tropical storms forming from them? I don't know, but I would like to know. And given they are tracked each year, it's easier to see over time. |
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Just a bit off Topic here..... -
Shalista,
9/24/2018, 11:44 am Post A Reply
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