A new world record wind gust: 253 mph in Australia's Tropical Cyclone Olivia
The 6,288-foot peak of New Hampshire's Mount Washington is a forbidding landscape of wind-swept barren rock, home to some of planet Earth's fiercest winds. As a 5-year old boy, I remember being blown over by a terrific gust of wind on the summit, and rolling out of control towards a dangerous drop-off before a fortuitously-placed rock saved me. Perusing the Guinness Book of World Records as a kid, three iconic world weather records always held a particular mystique and fascination for me: the incredible 136°F (57.8°C) at El Azizia, Libya in 1922, the -128.5°F (-89.2°C) at the "Pole of Cold" in Vostok, Antarctica in 1983, and the amazing 231 mph wind gust (103.3 m/s) recorded in 1934 on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. Well, the legendary winds of Mount Washington have to take second place now, next to the tropical waters of northwest Australia. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has announced that the new world wind speed record at the surface is a 253 mph (113.2 m/s) wind gust measured on Barrow Island, Australia. The gust occurred on April 10, 1996, during passage of the eyewall of Category 4 Tropical Cyclone Olivia.
Figure 1. Instruments coated with rime ice on the summit of Mt. Washington, New Hampshire. Image credit: Mike Theiss.
Tropical Cyclone Olivia
Tropical Cyclone Olivia was a Category 4 storm on the U.S. Saffir-Simpson scale, and generated sustained winds of 145 mph (1-minute average) as it crossed over Barrow Island off the northwest coast of Australia on April 10, 1996. Olivia had a central pressure of 927 mb and an eye 45 miles in diameter at the time, and generated waves 21 meters (69 feet) high offshore. According to Black et al. (1999), the eyewall likely had a tornado-scale mesovortex embedded in it that caused the extreme wind gust of 253 mph. The gust was measured at the standard measuring height of 10 meters above ground, on ground at an elevation of 64 meters (210 feet). A similar mesovortex was encountered by a Hurricane Hunter aircraft in Hurricane Hugo of 1989, and a mesovortex was also believed to be responsible for the 239 mph wind gust measured at 1400 meters by a dropsonde in Hurricane Isabel in 2003. For reference, 200 mph is the threshold for the strongest category of tornado, the EF-5, and any gusts of this strength are capable of causing catastrophic damage.
Figure 2. Visible satellite image of Tropical Cyclone Olivia a few hours before it crossed Barrow Island, Australia, setting a new world-record wind gust of 253 mph. Image credit: Japan Meteorological Agency.
Figure 3. Wind trace taken at Barrow Island, Australia during Tropical Cyclone Olivia. Image credit: Buchan, S.J., P.G. Black, and R.L. Cohen, 1999, "The Impact of Tropical Cyclone Olivia on Australia's Northwest Shelf", paper presented at the 1999 Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas, 3-6 May, 1999.
Why did it take so long for the new record to be announced?
The instrument used to take the world record wind gust was funded by a private company, Chevron, and Chevron's data was not made available to forecasters at Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) during the storm. After the storm, the tropical cyclone experts at BOM were made aware of the data, but it was viewed as suspect, since the gusts were so extreme and the data was taken with equipment of unknown accuracy. Hence, the observations were not included in the post-storm report. Steve Buchan from RPS MetOcean believed in the accuracy of the observations, and coauthored a paper on the record gust, presented at the 1999 Offshore Technology Conference in Houston (Buchan et al., 1999). The data lay dormant until 2009, when Joe Courtney of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology was made aware of it. Courtney wrote up a report, coauthored with Steve Buchan, and presented this to the WMO extremes committee for ratification. The report has not been made public yet, and is awaiting approval by Chevron. The verified data will be released next month at a World Meteorological Organization meeting in Turkey, when the new world wind record will become official.
New Hampshire residents are not happy
Residents of New Hampshire are understandably not too happy about losing their cherished claim to fame. The current home page of the Mount Washington Observatory reads, "For once, the big news on Mount Washington isn't our extreme weather. Sadly, it's about how our extreme weather--our world record wind speed, to be exact--was outdone by that of a warm, tropical island".
Comparison with other wind records
Top wind in an Atlantic hurricane: 239 mph (107 m/s) at an altitude of 1400 meters, measured by dropsonde in Hurricane Isabel (2003).
Top surface wind in an Atlantic hurricane: 211 mph (94.4 m/s), Hurricane Gustav, Paso Real de San Diego meteorological station in the western Cuban province of Pinar del Rio, Cuba, on the afternoon of August 30, 2008.
Top wind in a tornado: 302 mph (135 m/s), measured via Doppler radar at an altitude of 100 meters (330 feet), in the Bridge Creek, Oklahoma tornado of May 3, 1999.
Top surface wind not associated with a tropical cyclone or tornado: 231 mph (103.3 m/s), April 12, 1934 on the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire.
Top wind in a typhoon: 191 mph (85.4 m/s) on Taiwanese Island of Lanya, Super Typhoon Ryan, Sep 22, 1995; also on island of Miyakojima, Super Typhoon Cora, Sep 5, 1966.
Top surface wind not measured on a mountain or in a tropical cyclone: 207 mph (92.5 m/s) measured in Greenland at Thule Air Force Base on March 6, 1972.
Top wind measured in a U.S. hurricane: 186 mph (83.1 m/s) measured at Blue Hill Observatory, Massachusetts, during the 1938 New England Hurricane.
References
Buchan, S.J., P.G. Black, and R.L. Cohen, 1999, "The Impact of Tropical Cyclone Olivia on Australia's Northwest Shelf", paper presented at the 1999 Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas, 3-6 May, 1999.
Black, P.G., Buchan, S.J., and R.L. Cohen, 1999, "The Tropical Cyclone Eyewall Mesovortex: A Physical Mechanism Explaining Extreme Peak Gust Occurrence in TC Olivia, 4 April 1996 on Barrow Island, Australia", paper presented at the 1999 Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas, 3-6 May, 1999.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
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Ah, sorry, totally misread that! :)
I'm glad I wasn't the only one. I guess that is what I get for trying to work and blog at the same time!
I must of read it correctly.
Even at work..I try to ignore work.. it makes the day much more pleasant :)
Link
Yeah, same here.
hahahaha
TROPICAL CYCLONE WARNING
TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVICE NUMBER 37
Issued by the BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY, DARWIN
at 11:00 pm CST [11:30 pm EST] Thursday 28 January 2010
A Cyclone WARNING continues for coastal and island communities from Cape Shield
in the NT to Burketown in Queensland, including Groote Eylandt and Mornington
Island.
A Cyclone WATCH continues for coastal and island communities from Burketown to
Pormpuraaw in Queensland.
At 9:30 pm CST [10:00 pm EST] Ex-Tropical Cyclone Olga was estimated to be 55
kilometres west of Borroloola and 255 kilometres south southwest of Alyangula,
moving northeast at 6 kilometres per hour.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Olga is forecast to move slowly offshore during Friday where
it is expected to redevelop into a tropical cyclone.
GALES with gusts to 110 kilometres per hour are expected to develop between Port
Roper and Burketown during Friday morning. GALES with gusts to 110 kilometres
per hour may develop between Cape Shield and Port Roper on Friday if the low
takes a more northerly track.
GALES are not expected between Burketown and Pormpuraaw within the next 24
hours. However, GALES may develop early on Saturday morning.
HEAVY RAIN may lead to significant stream rises and flooding of low-lying areas
in the Roper-McArthur and Arnhem Districts.
ABNORMALLY HIGH TIDES could cause SERIOUS FLOODING at the Northern Territory
coast and adjacent islands between Port McArthur and the Queensland Border
tonight.
ABNORMALLY HIGH TIDES are occurring along the Queensland Gulf of Carpentaria
coast and adjacent islands and are expected to exceed the high water mark at
high tide over the next few days.
People between Burketown in Queensland and Cape Shield in the Northern
Territory, including Groote Eylandt and Mornington Island, should take
precautions and listen to the next advice at 2 am CST [2:30 am EST]. If you are
unsure about precautions to be taken, information is available from your local
government or local State Emergency Service.
Details of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Olga at 9:30 pm CST [10:00 pm EST]:
.Centre located near...... 16.1 degrees South 135.8 degrees East
.Location accuracy........ within 95 kilometres
.Recent movement.......... towards the northeast at 6 kilometres per hour
.Wind gusts near centre... 85 kilometres per hour
.Severity category........ below cyclone intensity
.Central pressure......... 993 hectoPascals
The next advice will be issued by 2:00 am CST Friday 29 January [2:30 am EST
Friday 29 January].
______________________________________________________________________________________________
IDD20020
TROPICAL CYCLONE TECHNICAL BULLETIN: AUSTRALIA - NORTHERN REGION
Issued by DARWIN TROPICAL CYCLONE WARNING CENTRE
at: 1304 UTC 28/01/2010
Name: Ex-Tropical Cyclone Olga
Identifier: 07U
Data At: 1200 UTC
Latitude: 16.1S
Longitude: 135.8E
Location Accuracy: within 50 nm [95 km]
Movement Towards: northeast [044 deg]
Speed of Movement: 3 knots [6 km/h]
Maximum 10-Minute Wind: 30 knots [55 km/h]
Maximum 3-Second Wind Gust: 45 knots [85 km/h]
Central Pressure: 993 hPa
Radius of 34-knot winds NE quadrant:
Radius of 34-knot winds SE quadrant:
Radius of 34-knot winds SW quadrant:
Radius of 34-knot winds NW quadrant:
Radius of 48-knot winds NE quadrant:
Radius of 48-knot winds SE quadrant:
Radius of 48-knot winds SW quadrant:
Radius of 48-knot winds NW quadrant:
Radius of 64-knot winds:
Radius of Maximum Winds:
Dvorak Intensity Code: T2.5/2.5/S0.0/24HRS
Pressure of outermost isobar: 999 hPa
Radius of outermost closed isobar: 120 nm [220 km]
Storm Depth: Medium
FORECAST DATA
Date/Time : Location : Loc. Accuracy: Max Wind : Central Pressure
[UTC] : degrees : nm [km]: knots[km/h]: hPa
+12: 29/0000: 15.9S 136.7E: 080 [150]: 030 [055]: 994
+24: 29/1200: 16.3S 138.7E: 110 [205]: 045 [085]: 987
+36: 30/0000: 17.7S 140.5E: 140 [265]: 050 [095]: 983
+48: 30/1200: 19.5S 141.6E: 175 [325]: 030 [055]: 995
+60: 31/0000: 21.1S 142.1E: 220 [410]: 030 [055]: 994
+72: 31/1200: 22.2S 142.7E: 270 [500]: 025 [045]: 996
REMARKS:
Ex-TC Olga was located by surface and satellite data to be close to Borroloola.
Surface observations from Borroloola suggest the system has been slow-moving
over the last few hours. Overall convective structure has inproved slightly
during the past 24 hours with increased central convection. FT=2.5 based on
adjusted PAT.
Longer term, the system is expected to accelerate towards the E during Friday as
a middle-level trough amplifies over central Australia. Straightening of the
cirrus boundary in the SW quadrant suggests that this interaction has commenced.
The broad-scale environment remains favourable for intensification when system
moves over southern Gulf of Carpentaria waters, with divergent outflow, low
shear aloft, and strong monsoonal westerlies to the north. The official forecast
track has 24 hours over water allowing Olga to reach category 2 by landfall on
the Queensland coast.
Copyright Commonwealth of Australia
==
The next bulletin for this system will be issued by: 28/1930 UTC by Darwin TCWC.
Good morning, and welcome to your very first round of blog confusion, lol (I just re-read the stream). It happens all the time -- and can make for some humorous moments (exception being the aforementioned bad words -- cc/gw, shhhhh)!
Welcome back, CaneWarning. I've been in WU purgatory, but I'm trying to stay out now. I got a chuckle out of the 'toons you posted. (I think that was you?)
Cloudy & cool here just a hair north of DC. I still have to check today's weather to know if we will really get snow or not this weekend.
I understand. Welcome aboard.
My first comment on that is that it will be nothing close to the one in Dec, 2007. That one was 3 days of rain at 28 F...you know the famous storm that came very close to knocking out power for the whole state...
And, hi, my mom recently moved, but lived off of 71st St. in Tulsa, west side, near the Oaks. Nice to meet you.
How long were you in "time-out"?
Just 24 hours...seemed like a long 24 hours as I sat here at work yesterday and couldn't see the blog. Did I miss anything?
LOL....it's all good.....
I stayed away yesterday. GW arguing is a turn off.
They will laugh HARD like I did, imo. A lot of us are prob. still drinking our morning coffee after staying up too late blogging and trying to clear the cobwebs, too.
Canes, the only person I know who got out of jail early was P451, as he was trying to help me with an electrical problem ON the blog. I didn't even know what WU-mail was back then...seems like a long time ago.
Isn't funny to sit and groan at your computer screen and you can't do a darn thing about what's posted? Except WU-mail friends...I sent out many one and two word messages, like "ARRRGGGHHHH"!
NAM
GFS 3 DAYS from now.
Certainly. Probably not detectable for, say, some place like Baton Rouge, but our biggest cities do leave a measurable increase in lightning downwind of the city center. Houston is one where this has been studied. (An increase in lightning is an excellent indication of increased convection).
Reference and abstract: http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2001/2001GL012990.shtml
PDF here: http://ocean-alt.tamu.edu/ciams/heat/related/Orville_et_al_2001.pdf
And, yes, believe it or not, my friend Dr. N-G is a coauthor on this one, too, as is our current NHC director, Bill Read (but this is when he was at the HGX WFO).
I was here but not here, if you get what i mean.
Yeah, I sent out a few emails warning people not to get thrown in the slammer with me. :)
Do not discount the importance of the same for concrete, asphalt, and water (irrigation, water treatment plants, etc.)
Umm, there are very few setups where anthropogenic land use effects would change surface in anything but a positive direction, is my understanding.
Got any sources at all that support the notion of man-made surface land use changes that actually lower the surface temps (below that of a natural landscape)? Even for one period (such as day/night or summer/winter)?
I have never seen anything that supports that...
I don't blame you.
Updated: 4 min 47 sec ago
25 °C
Light Rain
Humidity: 94%
Dew Point: 24 °C
Wind: 15 km/h / 4.1 m/s from the ESE
Pressure: 1013 hPa (Steady)
Visibility: 4.0 kilometers
UV: 4 out of 16
Clouds: Mostly Cloudy 304 m
Mostly Cloudy 1371 m
(Above Ground Level)
First rain for me in weeks.We've had alot of bush fires on the plains.
Ahhh. The end result of what you are describing, I think, isn't drier air, but more clouds, rain, and higher humidity...at least outside of deserts. (at least in the thinking of increasing convection)
And, the increasing clouds and rain parts would reduce surface temps in the short run during the daytime, but the lingering humidity at night would have a warming effect. What is the net effect of a city's extra convection? I have no idea.
Nice to "see" you. How is the move going?
Have time for any quick weather thoughts?
Howdy and Good Morn!
How's the move? Any dust-induced sneeze fits, yet?
(not a jab...everyone has dust somewhere and moving always brings it out)
Hey, Storm!
you can still see the blog if your banned just clear your cookies and don't sign in. i did it the last time i was banned.
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