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Tropical Storm Vamei

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Storms

   CAPTION: Tropical Storm Vamei (Typhoon 32W)

   Tropical storm  ( JMA)
   Category 1 typhoon ( SSHS)
   Typhoon Vamei shortly before landfall
   Typhoon Vamei shortly before landfall
     __________________________________________________________________

   Formed December 26, 2001
   Dissipated January 1, 2002
   Highest
   winds
   85 km/h (50 mph) (10-minute sustained)
   135 km/h (85 mph) (1-minute sustained)
   Lowest pressure 1006 mbar ( hPa)
   Damage Minor
   Fatalities 0
   Areas
   affected Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia
   Part of the
   2001 Pacific typhoon season
   2001 North Indian cyclone season

   Tropical Storm Vamei (international designation: 0126, JTWC
   designation: 32W, sometimes called Typhoon Vamei; formerly had the
   alternate name Tropical Storm 05B) was the 26th named storm of the 2001
   Pacific typhoon season. When it developed at 1.5° North, it earned the
   record for the storm that developed closest to the equator, breaking
   the record of Typhoon Sarah in 1956. In addition, Vamei became the only
   tropical cyclone in history to strike near Singapore when it hit the
   area in late December. Vamei crossed Indonesia and reformed in the
   North Indian Ocean, lasting until early the next year. The typhoon is
   named after a songbird with white feathers, popular to feeders in
   Macau.

Storm history

   Storm path
   Enlarge
   Storm path

   An area of convection 230 miles (370 km) east of Singapore developed
   from a monsoon trough disturbance under upper level divergence near the
   equator on December 25. It tracked westward, quickly organizing into
   Tropical Depression 32W on December 26 at only 1.4º north. An extremely
   small system, it continued to organize, and reached tropical storm
   strength that night only 104 miles (170 km) from the equator. Vamei's
   windfield was nearly cyclostrophic in nature, meaning it didn't rely on
   the coriolis effect to develop. Instead, it resembled a Meso-convective
   scale system.

   With well-defined outflow on both sides of the equator and a developing
   eye, the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre declared that Vamei had reached
   typhoon strength early on December 27, only 12 hours into its
   existence. Upper-level steering flow forced the storm westward, where
   the compact system reached a ship-reported peak of 87 mph sustained
   winds and gusts reaching 120 mph, just hours after being designated a
   typhoon by the JTWC. At this time, the storm was only 170 miles (280
   km) across, with strong winds confined to a 40 miles (65 km) radius.

   Later on December 27, Vamei made landfall on the southeastern part of
   the Malay Peninsula, about 35 miles (60 km) northeast of Singapore. It
   weakened over the peninsula, and emerged into the Straits of Malacca as
   a weakening tropical storm. Upper level diffluence caused Vamei to
   retain its convection, but the mountainous terrain caused it to
   continue to weaken. On December 28 it made landfall in Sumatra, and
   further degraded to a tropical depression. Operationally, Vamei was
   declared dissipated over Sumatra on December 28.
   Vamei restrengthening in the Indian Ocean
   Enlarge
   Vamei restrengthening in the Indian Ocean

   Upon reaching the Indian Ocean on December 29 the remnants of Vamei
   re-organized, and on December 30, it became Tropical Cyclone 5B.
   Operationally, the remnants were declared a new system, but because
   postseason analysis indicated Vamei's circulation survived over
   Sumatra, it was re-classified as a continuation of the system. Late on
   December 30, Vamei became a tropical storm again, but strong mid- to
   upper level southwesterly winds greatly weakened the storm. Vamei
   lasted until the new year, but succumbed to the shear and dissipated on
   January 1.

Unusual formation

   Vamei formed and reached tropical storm strength at 1.4º North, only 97
   nautical miles (160 km) from the equator. The previous closest storm
   was Typhoon Sarah of the 1956 Pacific typhoon season, which reached
   tropical storm strength at 2.2ºN. Cyclone Agni in the 2004 North Indian
   cyclone season broke Vamei's record for the closest-existing tropical
   cyclone to the equator, at 0.7ºN or only 48 miles (78 km) from the
   equator. However, Vamei's formation was still further south than
   Agni's, and it remains the tropical cyclone formation closest to the
   equator. Vamei's crossing from the Western Pacific into the Bay of
   Bengal was also a relatively rare phenomenon.

   Due to a lack of Coriolis effect near the equator, Vamei's formation
   startled many experts. Vamei formed because of two systems that
   happened to be interacting with each other; a circulation centre that
   formed near Borneo as well as a strong surge of winds, which created
   the spin and rotation of Vamei. However, as these occur often,
   questions were raised about why more equatorial storms fail to form in
   the South China Sea. It was determined that the terrain of the area
   puts a time constraint on such storms to form, hence not many do. It
   has been estimated that such perfect conditions will not repeat for
   another 100 to 400 years.

Impact

   Because Vamei was a very small system, its effects were relatively
   minor, with no reported casualties. The majority of what little damage
   occurred involved ships that were caught off guard by the unexpected
   power of the storm. Storm surge damage was also reported in the
   southern Malay Peninsula, while two U.S. Navy ships were damaged by
   Vamei. Upon moving through Singapore and southern Malaysia, it brought
   heavy rain and flooding. Uprooted trees were seen in Vamei's path, but
   little other damage occurred. In addition, air traffic was disrupted at
   the airport in Singapore. Traffic jams occurred from the slick roads,
   but the storm was downplayed as a "low pressure system". Indeed, the
   Japan Meteorological Agency's Typhoon Centre, the official warning
   agency for the Western North Pacific west of the International Date
   Line and north of the equator, only classified Vamei as a tropical
   storm. Overall, effects were minimal.

Retirement

   Because of a unique formation and track, the name Vamei was retired and
   replaced with Peipah.

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