Hector (cloud)
{{short description|Regularly recurring thundercloud}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Use Australian English|date=December 2018}}
Image:HectorCloud.jpg in Darwin looking northwest at a distance of approximately {{convert|80|km|abbr=on}}]]
Hector is a cumulonimbus thundercloud cluster that forms regularly nearly every afternoon on the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory of Australia, from approximately September to March each year.[http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/the-cloud-called-hector/ The cloud called Hector]. The Cloud Appreciation Society. Retrieved on 2010-11-30.{{cite journal |doi=10.5194/acp-9-15-2009 |url=http://www.atmos-chem-phys.org/9/15/2009/acp-9-15-2009.pdf |title=Aerosol and thermodynamic effects on tropical cloud systems during TWPICE and ACTIVE |journal=Atmos. Chem. Phys. |volume=9 |pages=15–24 |year=2009 |author=P. T. May |issue=1 |bibcode=2009ACP.....9...15M |display-authors=etal |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Beringer |first1=Jason |last2=Tapper |first2=Nigel J. |last3=Keenan |first3=Tom D. |title=Evolution of maritime continent thunderstorms under varying meteorological conditions over the Tiwi Islands |doi=10.1002/joc.622 |year=2001 |pages=1021 |volume=21 |journal=International Journal of Climatology |url=http://arts.monash.edu.au/ges/staff/jberinger/pubs/evolution-of-maritime-continent-thunderstorms.pdf |bibcode=2001IJCli..21.1021B |issue=8 |s2cid=129777034 |access-date=25 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301173520/http://arts.monash.edu.au/ges/staff/jberinger/pubs/evolution-of-maritime-continent-thunderstorms.pdf |archive-date=1 March 2011 |url-status=dead}} Hector, or sometimes Hector the Convector, is known as one of the world's most consistently large thunderstorms; specifically, a small mesoscale convective system (MCS) or large multicellular thunderstorm. It reaches heights of approximately {{convert|20|km|ft}}.{{cite journal |last=Crook |first=N. Andrew |title=Understanding Hector: The Dynamics of Island Thunderstorms |journal=Monthly Weather Review |date=1 June 2001 |volume=129 |issue=6 |pages=1550–1563 |doi=10.1175/1520-0493(2001)129<1550:UHTDOI>2.0.CO;2 |bibcode = 2001MWRv..129.1550C |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1234729|doi-access=free }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/02/weather/weather-thunderstorm-hector-australia/index.html |title=Hector arrives promptly at 3pm. But Hector isn't a person |website=CNN |date=2 April 2022 }}
History
Image:Hector cloud from Gunn Point.jpg ]]
Named by pilots during the Second World War, the recurring position of the thunderstorm made it a navigational beacon for pilots and mariners in the region. A mesoscale phenomenon, Hector is caused primarily by a collision of several sea breeze boundaries across the Tiwi Islands and is known for its consistency and intensity.{{cite journal |last=Beringer |first=Jason |author2=Tapper, Nigel J. |author3=Keenan, Tom D. |title=Evolution of maritime continent thunderstorms under varying meteorological conditions over the Tiwi Islands |journal=International Journal of Climatology |date=30 June 2001 |volume=21 |issue=8 |pages=1021–1036 |doi=10.1002/joc.622 |bibcode = 2001IJCli..21.1021B |s2cid=129777034 }} Lightning flash rates and updraft speeds are notable aspects of this thunderstorm and during the 1990s National Geographic magazine published a comprehensive study of the storm with pictures of damaged trees and details of updraft speeds and references to tornadic events.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}} The consistency of the phenomenon is caused by frequently occurring atmospheric conditions due to the sea and due to topography, and the underlying atmospheric environment constitutes a distinct microclimate (which are common with islands, especially ones exhibiting significant topographic relief).
Since the late 1980s the thunderstorm complex has been the subject of many meteorological studies, many centred on Hector itself,{{cite news |last=Barker |first=Anne |title=Researchers to investigate impact of storms |url=http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2005/s1506283.htm |accessdate=11 July 2011 |work=The World Today |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=14 November 2005}}{{cite news |last=Casben |first=Liv |title=Scientists complete storm study |url=http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2006/s1570007.htm |accessdate=11 July 2011 |work=PM |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=14 February 2006}}{{cite news |title=Our changing atmosphere |url=http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=107 |accessdate=11 July 2011 |work=Planet Earth Online |publisher=Natural Environment Research Council |date=23 April 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006050822/http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/features/story.aspx?id=107 |archivedate=6 October 2011}} but also utilising the consistency of the storm cell to study other aspects of thunderstorms, lightning, atmospheric boundaries, and marine and terrain effects on the atmosphere.
See also
{{Portal|Weather}}