Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Tropical cyclone


 * The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted 16:00, 27 February 2008.

Tropical cyclone

 * previous FAC

This article is being resubmitted to FAC because it appears many of the previous issues that came up in last year's FAC have been resolved. Thegreatdr (talk) 16:25, 21 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Weak Oppose First of all, the first sentence seems awkward. Second, the "Observations" section is under referenced. Third, the section "Interaction Between Typhoons" does not have any references. Also, does that section refer only to typhoons? Surely there is interaction between hurricanes and cyclones. not just typhoons. When these issues are addressed, I will support. Juliancolton The storm still blows...  16:30, 21 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Fixed first sentence and typhoon interaction notes. I'll look at the observations section.  What references look missing to you within that section? Thegreatdr (talk) 16:37, 21 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Most of it looks better already. Although, in my eyes, every paragraph should be sourced to get to FA status. I could be wrong, though. It is getting there, though. Juliancolton The storm still blows...  16:46, 21 February 2008 (UTC)
 * I have added a couple more references to the observations section, bringing the number of references to at least one per paragraph. Thegreatdr (talk) 16:55, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

There seems to be a problem with the check external links link. So far, one link (Atlantic tropical systems of 1993) does exist, though the checker says it does not. All previously dead links now work. Thegreatdr (talk) 02:48, 23 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Its not a bug, there are two citations named .  The first has a working link, the other doesn't.  — Dispenser 20:36, 23 February 2008 (UTC)
 * They are the same reference, so I used to ref name to merge them. Nishkid64 (talk) 20:58, 23 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Thegreatdr (talk) 03:13, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Support All the issues have been addressed. Great article. Weak Oppose The article's prose is great and most of the presentational style is good, but there are quite a few citation issues that should be addressed. When they are completed, I will gladly change my vote to Support.


 * This selection from "Eye and inner core" should probably be reworded because it currently has some sections that are verbatim or almost verbatim from the ref. "Associated with eyewalls are eyewall replacement cycles, which occur naturally in intense tropical cyclones. When cyclones reach peak intensity they usually have an eyewall and radius of maximum winds that contract to a very small size, around 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to 25 kilometres (16 mi). At this point, outer rainbands may organize into an outer ring of thunderstorms that slowly moves inward and robs the inner eyewall of its needed moisture and angular momentum. During this phase, the tropical cyclone weakens (i.e., the maximum winds die off somewhat and the central pressure goes up), but eventually the outer eyewall replaces the inner one completely. The storm can be of the same intensity as it was previously or, in some cases, it can be even stronger after the eyewall replacement cycle. Even if the cyclone is weaker at the end of the cycle, the storm may strengthen again as it builds a new outer ring for the next eyewall replacement."
 * Done. Thegreatdr (talk) 00:48, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Suggestion: Would it be smarter to present the bulk of the info in "Size" as a table instead of prose? It was done that way in the ref, and I think it would be easier to read that way.
 * Done. Thegreatdr (talk) 00:59, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
 * This sentence in "Size" needs a citation: "Other methods of determining a tropical cyclone's size include measuring the radius of gale force winds and measuring the radius of the central dense overcast."
 * The search for references led to a change in the passage. Done.  Thegreatdr (talk) 01:21, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
 * This selection from the first paragraph of "Mechanics" has no citation(s). "This provides the system with enough energy to be self-sustaining and causes a positive feedback loop that continues as long as the tropical cyclone can draw energy from its thermal reservoir, the warm water at the surface of the ocean. Factors such as a continued lack of equilibrium in air mass distribution would also give supporting energy to the cyclone. The rotation of the Earth causes the system to spin, an effect known as the Coriolis effect, giving it a cyclonic characteristic and affecting the trajectory of the storm."
 * The section has gained citations and been reworded. See if that satisfies your concerns.  Thegreatdr (talk) 20:40, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
 * This selection from "Major basins and related warning centers" is not cited. "The RSMCs and TCWCs, however, are not the only organizations that provide information about tropical cyclones to the public. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issues informal advisories in all basins except the Northern Atlantic and Northeastern Pacific. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) issues informal advisories and names for tropical cyclones that approach the Philippines in the Northwestern Pacific. The Canadian Hurricane Centre (CHC) issues advisories on hurricanes and their remnants when they affect Canada."
 * Done. Thegreatdr (talk) 01:30, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
 * This sentence from "Formation --> Factors" should probably be cited. "The formation of tropical cyclones is the topic of extensive ongoing research and is still not fully understood."
 * Done. Thegreatdr (talk) 01:34, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
 * These sentences in "Locations" need to be cited. (1)"Most tropical cyclones form in a worldwide band of thunderstorm activity called by several names: the Intertropical Discontinuity (ITD), the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), or the monsoon trough." (2)"Tropical cyclones originate on the eastern side of oceans, but move west, intensifying as they move. Most of these systems form between 10 and 30 degrees away of the equator, and 87% form no farther away than 20 degrees of latitude, north or south." (3)"However, it is possible for tropical cyclones to form within this boundary as Tropical Storm Vamei did in 2001 and Cyclone Agni in 2004."
 * Done. Thegreatdr (talk) 18:33, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
 * This selection from "Coriolis effect" needs citations. "The poleward portion of a tropical cyclone contains easterly winds, and the Coriolis effect pulls them slightly more poleward. The westerly winds on the equatorward portion of the cyclone pull slightly towards the equator, but, because the Coriolis effect weakens toward the equator, the net drag on the cyclone is poleward. Thus, tropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere usually turn north (before being blown east), and tropical cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere usually turn south (before being blown east) when no other effects counteract the Coriolis effect."
 * Done. Thegreatdr (talk) 18:52, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Suggestion In "Landfall", instead of providing three inline citations to the same ref, put one at the end of the section and include a brief HTML comment explaining that the whole section is covered by the ref.
 * The first paragraph of "Dissapation --> Factors" needs to be cited better.
 * Done. Thegreatdr (talk) 21:15, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
 * The first paragraph of "Artificial dissapation" probably needs more citations.
 * Done. Included a couple more citations. Thegreatdr (talk) 01:12, 26 February 2008 (UTC)
 * The information in the table at the end of "Intensity classification" (table title: "Tropical Cyclone Classifications (all winds are 10-minute averages)") needs to be cited.
 * Done. Thegreatdr (talk) 01:27, 26 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Issues in "Notable tropical cyclones"
 * You should probably find an English website to cite this sentence because (based on figures in the typhoon's Wikipedia) there appear to be discrepencies on how many casualties the storm caused. "Elsewhere, Typhoon Nina killed 29,000 in China due to a 2000-year flood that caused 62 dams including the Banqiao Dam to fail; another 145,000 died during the subsequent famine and epidemic."


 * Done. Thegreatdr (talk) 06:12, 26 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Need to be cited:
 * "''The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 is the deadliest natural disaster in the United States, killing an estimated 6,000 to 12,000 people in Galveston, Texas.'"
 * Done. Thegreatdr (talk) 02:51, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
 * "In addition to being the most intense tropical cyclone on record, Tip was the largest cyclone on record, with tropical storm-force winds 2,170 kilometres (1,350 mi) in diameter."
 * No action appears to be needed, as the reference for Tip is the same as Tracy, located one line below. Thegreatdr (talk) 02:54, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
 * "Hurricane John is the longest-lasting tropical cyclone on record, lasting 31 days in 1994."
 * Again, no action appears to be needed, as the reference for John is located after the following line. Thegreatdr (talk) 02:56, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
 * "John is the second longest-tracked tropical cyclone in the Northern Hemisphere on record, behind Typhoon Ophelia of 1960, which had a path of 8,500 miles (12,500 km). "
 * Again, no action appears to be needed, as the reference for John/Ophelia track lengths is located after the following line. Thegreatdr (talk) 02:57, 25 February 2008 (UTC)


 * This sentence in "Global warming" may need to be cited. "Both Emanuel and Webster et al. consider sea surface temperatures to be vital in the development of cyclones."
 * Done. Thegreatdr (talk) 18:38, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
 * This sentence in "Related cyclone types" needs to be cited. "From space, extratropical storms have a characteristic "comma-shaped" cloud pattern. Extratropical cyclones can also be dangerous when their low-pressure centers cause powerful winds and high seas."
 * Done. Thegreatdr (talk) 18:26, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
 * You should probably provide more citations in "Tropical cyclones in popular culture". Thingg &#8853; &#8855;  19:34, 24 February 2008 (UTC)
 * The above issues should all be addressed now. If not, please let us know so we can more fully correct them.  Thegreatdr (talk) 01:28, 26 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Great job with the article. Definately FA status. Thingg &#8853; &#8855;  15:56, 26 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Support. I'm sure I could find some small thing that could be done, but I believe the article, as a whole, passes all of the FA criteria. ♬♩ Hurricanehink ( talk ) 06:03, 26 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Support After seeing that the issues have been addressed, and that the article is looking much better, I change my vote to support. Juliancolton The storm still blows...  13:42, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Notes: This is really awkward, and the punctuation makes it hard to get through: can it be cleaned up somehow?
 * Scientists at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research estimate that a tropical cyclone releases heat energy at the rate of 50 to 200 exajoules ((1018 J) per day. That is about 1 PW (1015 watt). For comparison, this rate of energy release is equivalent to 70 times the world energy consumption of humans (and 200 times the world-wide electrical generating capacity ), or to exploding a 10-megaton nuclear bomb every 20 minutes.

Also, most of the citations say Retrived on, a few say accessed, most of the full dates in citations are wikilinked, a few aren't, please make consistent. Sandy Georgia (Talk) 18:31, 26 February 2008 (UTC)
 * The ones that said "accessed" were changed to "retrieved", and all the dates are now wikilinked and in the same format. I made a change to the text in the awkward sentence.  Not sure how much better it is, but I gave it a shot.  Thegreatdr (talk) 04:33, 27 February 2008 (UTC)
 * No, the problem was the excess parentheses and commas which made the sentence awkward and hard to get through. I changed it to this, please see if this is correct:
 * Scientists at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research estimate that a tropical cyclone releases heat energy at the rate of 50 to 200 exajoules (1018 J) per day, equivalent to about 1 PW (1015 watt). This rate of energy release is equivalent to 70 times the world energy consumption of humans and 200 times the world-wide electrical generating capacity, or to exploding a 10-megaton nuclear bomb every 20 minutes.
 * Sandy Georgia (Talk) 05:09, 27 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Looks good to me. Thanks for the help SandyGeorgia.  Thegreatdr (talk) 05:45, 27 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Support - Article looks better since nomination, issues addressed, and I feel that this comprehensive detailed article now meets the criteria. Hello32020 (talk) 00:18, 27 February 2008 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.