When it comes to dynamic cloud movement, it is the typhoon (west of the International Date Line) or hurricane (east of the Date Line) that springs to mind. The globe on the left can be used to view the movement of clouds every twelve hours from late August to early September 2005, coinciding with Hurricane Katrina in North America, and typhoon Nos. 11, 13 and 14 off Japan. Operate the globe to track their courses.
Hurricane Katrina
Katrina first appeared on August 24 2005, developing into a Category 5 hurricane by the 28th, climbing to a maximum air pressure at its center of 902hpa, and a top speed of over 80m per second. On August 29 it made landfall in Louisiana, swamping the city of New Orleans with the loss of over 1400 lives and 15 trillion yen in property, making it the worst natural disaster in American history. [Corresponding to buttons below globe: 01-12]
Katrina was the 11th hurricane in the United States for 2005. In the US, hurricanes are given female names in alphabetical order as they occur: thus this hurricane came to start with a "K", the 11th letter of the alphabet.
Hurricane Katrina (8.28.2005) © NASA
* For details on the damage caused by Katrina, see Wikipedia etc.
Anticyclones in the Pacific
and the movement of typhoons
Between August 25 and September 3, an area of high pressure (anticyclone) built up in the Pacific to the south of Japan. This led to typhoons, which can be seen progressing clockwise around the perimeter of the anticyclone. First of all typhoon No. 11 may be observed moving north from south of Honshu, making landfall on August 26, then changing course to the east, weakening and moving off to the south-east. [01-06]
Typhoon No. 13, which arose on the 27th, moves across the ocean to the south of Japan in a west-north-west direction, however blocked by the area of high pressure in the Pacific, is unable to turn north, and continues heading west, making landfall on the Chinese mainland. [06-16]
Typhoon No. 14, which developed on the 29th, follows the WNW path of typhoon No. 13, however by September 3 the area of high pressure in the Pacific had weakened, so changed course to the north, landing in the west of Japan bringing heavy rain and flooding to several areas. [10-28]
Typhoon Nos. 13 and 14 (2005) © Think the Earth ProjectA feature of typhoon No. 14 was its very large eye. On September 5, the eye of No. 14 to the south of Kyushu measured over 100km in diameter. [23]
Apart from typhoons and hurricanes, no doubt you can see clouds of various shapes in motion, constantly changing. Try viewing the Earth from different angles, and make some discoveries of your own.
The Earth now
Press the "Latest update" button to see the latest cloud situation from the last six hours. The shadow of the sun on the Earth corresponds to the current time.