Severe local storms

Severe weather associated with thunderstorms (tornadoes, hail, high winds, and flash floods) is reviewed with emphasis on the processes that are responsible. The basis for forecasting severe thunderstorms in reviewed. The parts of the world that are most vulnerable to various kinds of severe weather and the nature of the threats are described. The current state of the climatology of severe thunderstorms and problems and importance of improving climatological information are described. The lack of high-quality climatological information makes it very difficult to determine differences in event occurrence during different periods of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in most of the world and almost impossible to detect changes associated with global climate change. It is argued, however, that the threats from severe thunderstorms are generally underestimated in many parts of the world. In genera, the effects of severe local storms are concentrated in a small number of events. Death tolls and damage in "average "years are typically smaller than the totals from individual events in other years. As a result, maintaining public awareness and preparedness activities is difficult since the threat of rare, extremely damaging events, is small at any individual location and time. (AU)

Japan tsunami warning system; present status and future plan

The Japan Meteorological agency (JIMA) monitors seismic activity 24 hours a day using various seismographs installed throughout Japan. Most Of The seismic waveform data have been telemetered to the six Regional tsunami warning centers (RTWCS) which are responsible for each announced region through the dedicated telephone lines on a real - time basis. The tsunami warning system of JMA has been and will continue to be renewed at suitable times as new technology becomes available (AU)

Disasters caused by heavy rainfall

Rainfall disaster have been deeply noticed since the ancient age of human beingn. In spite of the development of modern technology the problems related to them are not yet solved today. In addition, new types of disaster caused by heavy rainfall have been lately observed. We, the experts of disaster prevention, have to discuss keenly about rainfall disasters in order to foresee new types of disaster which may accur in the future. The discussion in this note is prepared to get general knowledges of rainfall disaster, such as types of disaster, observations, design rainfall, and countermeasures (AU)

Radar for weather surveillance

A weather radar is one of the most powerful tools to survey typhoons and local downpours, which are responsible for the most of weather - caused damage in Japan. This article first shows the principle of a radar device, and then outline its typical application to such fields as typhoon watch and thunderhead detection. another important application to flood warning has been described in the 1983 version (volume 7) by the present author (AU)

Atlas of the tropical Pacific ocean annual cycle

Data for this Tropical Pacific Ocean Atlas comes from monthly gridded analyses of temperature and current data over a ten year (1983-1992)period generated by an ocean-data assimilation system at the National Meteorological Center, Washington D.C. This atlas showsmaps of the long-term mean, monthly standar deviation, mean anual cycle for suface and subsurface quanties of the tropical Pacific Ocean. The main focus of this atlas is subsurface variations, but the surface wind-stress curl and sea-surface temperature are also included for completeness. The main variables considered here are subsurface temperature, currents, and the depth of the 20ºC isotherm during the course of the annual cycle are also shown. Data are shown on level surfaces at selected depths, depth integrated, and on meridional and zonal cross sections (AU)

Importancia de la meteorología respecto de las inundaciones de Puerto San José, Iztapa, Quetzal

Este trabajo contiene la evaluación de diferentes fenómenos meteorológicos e hidrológicos responsables de los desastres naturales, especialmente las inundaciones. De aquí parte la importancia de la meteorología a la hora de predecir la ocurrencia de inundaciones, especialmente tomando en cuenta tres lugares de Guatemala que son: Puerto San José, Puerto Iztapa y Puerto Quetzal y las condiciones atmosféricas que se dan antes de que el fenómeno ocurra. Presenta un estudio pormenorizado de las causas y efectos de las inundaciones en estos lugares, concluyendo con algunas recomendaciones que permitan mitigar los efectos que puedan causar las inundaciones