Hurricane Season 2014
Every year Hurricanes, Typhoons and Cyclones develop over the oceans. The storms that reach land can potentially cause devastation. Here are featured related imagery of storms throughout 2014 to demonstrate these remarkable, and sometimes deadly, weather formations throughout the year.
Please click the thumbnail images to view larger versions.
The season typically occurs between mid-May to the end of November, due to the warmer temperatures, but storms do sometimes form at other times of the year.
Storms that approach land are named so that they can be tracked by meteorologists.
- Cyclones take place over the Indian Ocean
- Hurricanes take place over the North Atlantic Ocean
- Typhoons take place over the Pacific Ocean
11 December 2014 - Typhoon Hagupit
This image from EUMETSAT's MetOp-B satellite, gives us another, closer, view of Typhoon Hagupit as it approached the eastern coast of the Philippines on 05 December.
It is a natural colour RGB image, with the location of the Philippines overlaid. Hagupit made landfall on 06 December, as anticipated, but had weakened before arrival, and caused less damage than had been feared. Over twenty people were killed, nevertheless, and the storm's winds damaged homes and infrastructure.
Credit: EUMETSAT 2014
04 December 2014 - Typhoon Hagupit
Typhoon Hagupit can be seen in this EUMETSAT image, which was created from a composite of infrared data over NASA's Blue Marble.
The view of the storm was acquired on 04 December 2014, and shows Hagupit in the Pacific Ocean on approach to the Philippines. It is expected to make landfall there on 06 December, and could potentially cause a great deal of damage.
Credit: EUMETSAT 2014
04 November 2014 - Tropical Cyclone Nilofar
EUMETSAT's Meteosat-7 acquired this view of Tropical Cyclone Nilofar at 06:30 UTC on 28 October 2014. At the time of this image, the storm was approaching northeastern India and Pakistan.
Nilofar developed on 25 October in the Arabian Sea. It's rare for cyclones to develop here due to the size of the Arabian Sea. The storm brought heavy rain to the area for several days, but caused no major damage or injuries.
Credit: EUMETSAT 2014
14 October 2014 - Cyclone Hudhud
MetOp-A acquired this view of Cyclone Hudhud at 04:14 UTC on 12 October 2014. The powerful cyclone was making landfall on the coast of India at the time of this image.
Cyclone Hudhud was a Category 4 storm at its peak, and left 24 people dead in India, as it passed over the states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. It left a great deal of damage in its wake, destroying infrastructure and tearing through mud and wood buildings in its path. Over 150,000 people had been evacuated in advance of the storm, however, which has been credited for saving many lives.
Credit: EUMETSAT 2014
08 October 2014 - Super Typhoon Vongfong
EUMETSAT's MetOp-B satellite acquired this view of Super Typhoon Vongfong early this morning (08 October). The storm is expected to make landfall in southern Japan in a few days time, following on from Super Typhoon Phanfone which struck Japan earlier this week and has claimed a total of six lives.
Although it is currently the strongest recorded storm of the year, it is forecast to weaken before it reaches Japan, but would still likely bring torrential rain and potential flooding.
Credit: EUMETSAT 2014
07 October 2014 - Super Typhoon Phanfone
NASA's Terra satellite acquired this view of Typhoon Phanfone on 03 October 2014. At the time of this image, the category 3 storm was approaching Japan and by the time it made landfall on 06 October it had been downgraded to a category one storm.
Nevertheless, one person died and thousands of homes were left without power due to the typhoon's effects. It also caused some flooding and mudslides before moving back out over the Pacific Ocean.
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
18 September 2014 - Hurricane Odile, Edouard and Typhoon Kalmaegi
This composite image, comprising of infrared data from the Geostationary satellites of EUMETSAT, NOAA and the JMA was captured at 09:00 (UTC) on Monday 15 September 2014 and shows three active storms:
Hurricane Odile, which brought floods and landslides to Baja California in Mexico.
Typhoon Kalmaegi, which is currently responsible for 24 deaths in the Philippines, China and Vietnam and affected tens of thousands of people, and also caused floods and landslides.
And Hurricane Edouard, which has been developing over the Atlantic Ocean for several days but has not made landfall anywhere.
Credit: EUMETSAT 2014
02 September 2014 - Hurricane Marie
NASA's Terra satellite acquired this view of Hurricane Marie on 26 August 2014 near the coast of Mexico. At the time of this image, the storm was a Category 2 hurricane.
Marie developed in the Pacific Ocean on 21 and 22 August and strengthened to a Category 4 hurricane on 24 August as it drew near to Mexico before weakening in the following days. While it caused powerful tides along the coast of Mexico and California, the storm never made landfall and no casualties were reported. By 29 August the storm had weakened considerably and was expected to dissipate over the next few days.
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
13 August 2014 - Typhoon Halong
Typhoon Halong can be seen in this image, which is a composite comprising infra red satellite imagery from the Geostationary satellites of EUMETSAT and the JMA, overlaying NASA's Blue Marble Next Generation.
The image was acquired on 6 August 2014, while the typhoon was approaching Japan. Ten people were killed by the storm's impact on the Philippines and Japan, and over a million people were advised to evacuate when the typhoon made landfall in Japan on 10 August. It brought heavy rain and flooding to the south-west of the country.
Credit: EUMETSAT 2014
28 May 2014 - Hurricane Amanda
Hurricane Amanda can be seen in this MetOp-B image, acquired 25 May 2014 as the storm was off the coast of Mexico.
The storm had reached Category 4 when this image was acquired and it set a record for being the earliest storm at that level to form in May in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Credit: EUMETSAT 2014
13 May 2014 - Typhoon Tapah
The MetOp-A satellite acquired this view of Typhoon Tapah on 29 April 2014.
The storm was over the Pacific Ocean at the time of this image, and there were concerns that it would pose a threat to the Mariana Islands. But the typhoon subsequently moved away from the islands, bringing strong winds but no damage or injuries.
This is the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean to be given the name Tapah; but none of them have caused any damage.
Credit: EUMETSAT 2014
17 April 2014 - Tropical Cyclone Ita
NASA's Aqua satellite acquired this view of Tropical Cyclone Ita on 11 April 2014, at 04:00 UTC, several hours before it made landfall near Cape Flattery.
At the time of this image, the storm was Category Four, and had winds as strong as 232 kilometres per hour.
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
15 April 2014 - Tropical Cyclone Ita
MetOp-A acquired this image of Tropical Cyclone Ita as the storm approached Australia on 10 April 2014. At its maximum the storm reached Category Five on the Saffir-Simpson scale, but when it made landfall in the state of Queensland the storm was Category Four.
As the storm moved inland it greatly weakened and dissipated, and fortunately caused no deaths. The storm affected thousands of people who took shelter from the powerful winds and flash flooding but no major damage was reported.
Credit: EUMETSAT 2014
09 April 2014 - Tropical Cyclone Hellen
This view of Cyclone Hellen was acquired at 07:20 UTC, on 30 March 2014, shortly before the Meteosat-10 image. This shows Hellen approaching Madagascar as seen by the MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite.
The latest reports indicate that almost 200 homes were destroyed in Madagascar and hundreds of people were forced to evacuate.
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
03 April 2014 - Tropical Cyclone Hellen
This Meteosat-10 image, acquired at 10:00 UTC on 30 March 2014, shows Cyclone Hellen over Madagascar.
When this Meteosat-10 Convection RGB image was acquired, Hellen had average wind speeds of 233 km/h (145 mph), equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane. Warnings were issued for Madagascar, especially for the risk of a large storm surge. On 31 March the cyclone had started to weaken to a strong tropical cyclone, as it started to make landfall.
Despite predictions, the storm moved over Madagascar instead of heading towards Mozambique, and quickly dissipated over Madagascar. Even so, three people were reported killed in Madagascar, and over a thousand were affected by the storm and subsequent flooding.
Credit: EUMETSAT 2014