========================================================================= Updates to NHC archive b-decks (e-mails from Michael Brennan) E-mail, 11/29/2013: This morning I pushed out updated b-decks for 6 Atlantic basin TCs to the ATCF archives on the NHC ftp server (ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/atcf/). The new b-decks for for these systems now include entries for the landfall times: AL051855 AL021998 AL081999 AL131999 AL112000 AL042008 E-mail, 03/11/2014: You will now find the final 2013 EP and AL ATCF decks on the NHC ftp server. These include the final best track data for all 2013 Atlantic and East Pacific tropical cyclones: ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/atcf/archive/2013/ Note that CPHC has not completed the final best tracks for the three TCs that formed in the central North Pacific basin in 2013, so those decks are not in the archives yet. I'll post them when they become available. E-mail, 04/10/2014: I just pushed out the newly-updated Atlantic b-decks for 1946-1950 and Camille (AL091969) to the archives on the NHC FTP server: ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/atcf/archive/ Below is text from emails sent by Chris Landea in the last couple of weeks describing the changes. Cheers, Mike 1946-1950 Revisions to the hurricane database were accomplished by obtaining the original observations collected \u2013 mainly by ships, weather stations, and the early Hurricane Hunter Navy and Army Air Force aircraft reconnaissance planes \u2013 and assessing the storms based upon our understanding of hurricanes today. The reanalysis also allowed \u201cdiscovering\u201d of tropical storms and hurricanes that occurred, but were not yet officially recognized as such in the official records. 1946 to 1950 was an active period for hurricanes with 13 striking the continental United States, whereas an average five year span would have about nine U.S. hurricane impacts. Five of the 13 were major hurricane status \u2013 Category 3, 4, or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale \u2013 at U.S. landfall and all five struck Florida. These are a Category 4 hurricane in Fort Lauderdale in 1947, a Category 4 hurricane in Everglades City in 1948, a Category 4 hurricane in Lake Worth in 1949, Category 3 Hurricane Easy in Cedar Key in 1950, and Category 4 Hurricane King in Miami in 1950. Of these, King and the 1948 and 1949 hurricanes were upgraded from a Category 3 to a Category 4 based upon the reanalysis. Having five major hurricanes making landfall in Florida is a record for a five year period, equaled only by the early 2000s. In addition, nine new tropical storms were discovered and added into the database for this five year period. Andrew Hagen, Donna Sakoskie, Daniel Gladstein, Sandy Delgado, Astryd Rodriguez, Chris Landsea and the NHC Best Track Change Committee all made substantial contributions toward the reanalysis of these hurricane seasons. This research is supported in part by the NOAA Climate Program Office. Camille A re-analysis of the database for Hurricane Camille, an extremely intense hurricane that devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast on the night of August 17, 1969, has been completed. Based upon this reassessment, Hurricane Camille is indicated at landfall on the Mississippi coast to have been a Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale with peak sustained winds of 150 kt (175 mph) and a central pressure of 900 mb. This is the same category as analyzed originally, but the peak sustained winds were reduced from 165 kt (190 mph) and the central pressure lowered from 909 mb. Camille is also reanalyzed to have undergone genesis as a tropical cyclone 18 hours earlier than first indicated on August 14, 1969. Revisions to the Camille\u2019s database were accomplished by obtaining the original observations collected \u2013 mainly by ships, weather stations, coastal radars, Navy/Air Force/Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) Hurricane Hunter aircraft reconnaissance planes, ESSA/NASA satellite imagery \u2013 and analyzing Camille based upon our understanding of hurricanes today. (The agency ESSA is now the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - NOAA.) E-mail, 06/08/2014: Chris Landsea recently made many minor changes to the ATCF Atlantic basin b-deck archive based on errors and items that were discovered internally at NHC and through external feedback. Today I pushed those updated b-decks to the ATCF archive on the NHC public ftp server (ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/atcf/archive/). Note that these changes have already been made to the HURDAT2 database. The "storm.table" file has also been updated to include the 1988 non-developing TDs. Here are details on the changes: 1. Added the non-developing TDs for 1988 (bal131988.dat through bal191988.dat), which were previously missing from the ATCF. 2. Added multiple asynoptic landfall/intensity points for 1989 to 2011, which were in TCRs, but were not in the b-decks. 3. Added multiple asynoptic landfall/intensity points for 1983 to 1988, which were in TCRs, but pre-dated the ATCF and thus were not in the b-decks. 4. Typographic errors in b-decks for al011928, al071934, al071944, and al191974. A list of all of the storms with modified b-decks can be found below. Mike 1928 al011928 1934 al071934 1944 al071944 1974 al191974 1983 al031983 al041983 1984 al101984 1985 al021985 al041985 al051985 al091985 al101985 al111985 al121985 al131985 1986 al021986 al051986 1987 al121987 al131987 1988 al031988 al071988 al081988 al111988 al121988 al131988 al141988 al151988 al161988 al171988 al181988 al191988 1989 al021989 al041989 al051989 al101989 al111989 al141989 1990 al051990 1991 al031991 al091991 al121991 1994 al121994 1995 al061995 1997 al051997 1998 al031998 al081998 al131998 1999 al021999 al051999 al081999 al101999 al141999 2000 al072000 al092000 al152000 al192000 2002 al142002 2004 al062004 2005 al032005 2008 al042008 al062008 al162008 2009 al042009 al062009 2011 al082011 al092011 E-mail, 06/30/2014: The final ATCF decks for the 3 2013 central Pacific TCs have been added to the ATCF data archive on the NHC ftp server. These include the final best track data for all 2013 Central Pacific tropical cyclones: ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/atcf/archive/2013/ E-mail, 03/09/2015: I just pushed out the final 2014 ATCF decks that are hosted on the NHC ftp server (ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/atcf/archive/2014/), which includes the final best track data for all 2014 Atlantic and east Pacific tropical cyclones, except for the following storms: EP07 (Genevieve) EP09 (Iselle) EP10 (Julio) For these three storms, only the NHC portion of the final best track has been posted in the "archives" area - in other words, these tracks end at 140W. The rest of the final best track information will be added when it is received from CPHC and JTWC. The remainder of the information for these three storms, including the working best tracks from CPHC and JTWC, remain in the "real time" section of the FTP server: ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/atcf/ Note that the 2014 CP storms (CP01, CP02) also remain in the real time section of the FTP server pending the final best tracks from CPHC. E-mail, 05/26/2015: The following Atlantic ATCF best track files (b-decks) in the archives on the NHC FTP server have been updated to reflect changes from the reanalysis project and to correct errors. 1951-1955 (all storms) AL021876 AL031938 AL011941 AL151949 AL031974 AL041974 AL051974 For 1951-1955 storms have been renumbered to reflect the inclusion of new systems. Beginning in 1954, the available a-decks have also been renumbered for consistency. Also, the storm.table file has also been updated to reflect the changes. The data can be accessed at: ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/atcf/archive/ E-mail, 07/07/2015: The final 2014 ATCF decks from CPHC for CP01 and CP02 have been posted to the NHC ftp server: ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/atcf/archive/2014/