Wikipedia:WikiProject Tropical cyclones/Acceptable sources

This is a non-exhaustive list of sources usually acceptable sources within typhoon and hurricane season or storm articles, written for editors new to the WikiProject who want a quick summary of the project resources, or for passing editors who would like to contribute to the articles under WPTC's scope.

This is usually backed by editor consensus, so if you have any comments, feel free to use the project talk page.

Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres
Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres are internationally-accepted institutions for tracking tropical cyclones. They are the primary source for data on pressure, wind speeds, and movement among others. In the event that multiple sources of data are available, the RSMC for that basin should take priority, even if other sources disagree.


 * National Hurricane Center/NOAA – for North Atlantic and Northeastern Pacific hurricanes.
 * Central Pacific Hurricane Center – for satellite fixes of Northwestern Pacific and Northeastern Pacific hurricanes.
 * Japan Meteorological Agency – for Northwestern Pacific typhoons.
 * India Meteorological Department – for North Indian cyclones.
 * Météo-France La Reunion – for Southwest Indian cyclones.
 * Australia's Bureau of Meteorology Offices – for Australian cyclones.
 * Fiji Meteorological Service – for South Pacific cyclones.

In basins not monitored by the CPHC or the NHC, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center will be used for 1-minute sustained winds.

Government meteorological services
Most, if not all, government programs, websites, and press releases are reliable. Although some of these might provide their own cyclone data, RSMCs should take priority over them.
 * Joint Typhoon Warning Center
 * National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
 * Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration
 * Vietnam's National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting
 * United Kingdom's Met Office (UKMET)
 * Brazilian Navy Hydrographic Center

Established reliable sources
These include sources that are known to bring reliable information. These include the Colorado State University and the Free University of Berlin.

Qualified expert information
Professional meteorologists may also be used as a reference, as long as their qualifications are verifiable. Reports, posts, or Tweets (although this is subject to its own policy) from them are usually acceptable.
 * Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist in the Department of Atmospheric Science at the Colorado State University.
 * Levi Cowan, a meteorologist at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science.
 * Matthew Cappucci, a meteorologist from Harvard University, and a writer for The Washington Post.

Reliable news sources
Any reliable news source can be used as a source for cyclone impacts and aftermath. This includes the Capital Weather Gang, a subsection of The Washington Post, and other news publications. These news sources must also pass Reliable sources.

Other sources
Anything on the project resources list is inherently an acceptable source for WPTC pages.

When in doubt, feel free to ask the WikiProject talk page or anyone in the WikiProject IRC or Discord, all of which are linked on the project page.