Neutercane
From Open Encyclopedia
A neutercane is an obsolete meteorological term that was used between 1972 and 1973 by the National Hurricane Center. It was introduced by Dr. Robert Simpson, creator of the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. The American Meteorological Society (AMS) Glossary of Meteorology describes a neutercane as "a large storm possessing both tropical and extratropical characteristics". However this is not entirely accurate as one characteristic of the system is that it is mesoscale, not more than a couple of hundred miles in diameter.
History
NHC originally described it as "a subtropical cyclone which has acquired a synoptic scale area of sustained winds of storm or hurricane strength with a radius of maximum winds much less than 100 nautical miles and whose thermal structure is intermediate between the typical cold core subtropical and the warm core tropical cyclone." It forms in horizontal shear zones near dying cold fronts or in occluded extratropical lows, and exists almost entirely over warm ocean waters.
The first identified neutercane was Neutercane Bravo, which developed in August 1972 northeast of Bermuda and went on to become Hurricane Betty. In late September, an advisory was issued for Neutercane Charlie. However resistance to the term cropped up among meteorologists. The word neutercane suggested that hurricane is a compound word (with the pronoun "her" -- at that time, all hurricanes received women's names), and that neuter referred to a gender rather than the proper term of neutral.
The term was retired in 1973 by Dr. Neil Frank, the new NHC director. It was not used in AMS journals after 1976. Systems that have neutercane characteristics are now loosely referred to as subtropical cyclones or subtropical storms.
Naming
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See also
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