Wikipedia:WikiProject Tropical cyclones/Newsletter/Archive 45

Volume XLV, Issue 45, January 15, 2021 ←(Previous issues) 42 · 43 · 44 · 45 · 46 → The Hurricane Herald: Wikipedia's 20th Anniversary and New Year's Special Edition! The Hurricane Herald is the semi-regular newsletter of WikiProject Tropical Cyclones. The newsletter aims to provide in summary the recent activities and developments of the WikiProject, in addition to global tropical cyclone activity. The Hurricane Herald has been running since its first edition ran on June 4, 2006. If you wish to receive or discontinue subscription to this newsletter, please visit the mailing list. This issue of The Hurricane Herald covers all project related events from December 1, 2020–January 15, 2021. This edition's editors and authors are MarioJump83, Hurricanehink, Destroyeraa, Chicdat, Typhoon2013, CycloneFootball71, Hurricane Noah, LightandDark2000, Cyclone Toby (editor's pick for member of the month), Skarmory, and Shift674. Please visit this page and bookmark any suggestions of interest to you. This will help improve the newsletter and other cyclone-related articles. Past editions can be viewed here.

WikiProject Tropical Cyclones: News & Developments New articles since the last newsletter include: Hurricane Heather Hurricanes in Belize Hurricanes in Central America Hurricanes in Honduras List of depressions and deep depressions in the North Indian Ocean List of Georgia hurricanes List of named storms (C) List of named storms (D) List of named storms (P) List of named storms (R) List of strong typhoons List of typhoons List of Western Pacific tropical storms Tropical cyclones in 1977 Tropical cyclones in 2002 Tropical Storm Karen (2019) Tropical Storm Merbok (2017) Tropical Storm Yagi (2018) Typhoon Cimaron (2018) Typhoon Louise–Marge (also a new GA!) New GA's include: Cyclone Ava Hurricane Beryl (last GA of 2020) Hurricane Chris (2018) Typhoon Alice (1953) (first GA of 2021!) Typhoon Louise–Marge (also a new article!) Typhoon Ike was also promoted from GA to A-class article. Member of the month (Editor's Choice) – Cyclone Toby Cyclone Toby first joined Wikipedia in July 2020 as I like hurricanes. Since then, they have become one of the most active editors taking the initiative of fulfilling article requests, as well as helping us work on finishing many drafts we have. These articles include Hurricanes in Hispaniola, Hurricanes in Nicaragua, and Hurricanes in Honduras, as well as helping out getting Effects of Hurricane Dorian in the Carolinas (a long-standing draft that took many efforts to get it published to mainspace) into, as of this editing, GAN. There are more articles Cyclone Toby is currently working on than just what was listed. Also, Cyclone Toby is one of the kinder members of WPTC, actively welcoming many new editors that edited articles under WikiProject Tropical cyclones banner as well as inviting some of these editors to the project, in which their influence ended up getting more editors to WPTC without any invitation. We thank Cyclone Toby for work they have done in the last year, which was a horrible year for many of us but Toby is one of many bright spots that helped us get through this year. As we enter the new year, we wish Cyclone Toby to keep up their work and eventually complete these drafts, which ultimately leads to clearing the backlog of drafts within the project. 2018 Featured Topic Update Featured Articles promoted (May 22–December 31) Hurricane Lane (2018) Hurricane Willa Tropical Storm Vicente (2018) Hurricane Hector (2018) Hurricane Walaka Good Articles promoted (May 25–December 31) Tropical Storm Bolaven (2018) Tropical Storm Sanba (2018) 2018 Pacific hurricane season Tropical Storm Ampil Tropical Storm Ewiniar (2018) Hurricane Chris (2018) Cyclone Ava Hurricane Beryl Current Candidates Typhoon Jebi (2018) Hurricane Bud (2018) New Articles (Only C and below) Cyclone Owen Cyclone Titli Cyclone Zorbas Tropical Depression Josie Tropical Depression Usman Tropical Storm Toraji (2018) Tropical Storm Usagi (2018) Tropical Storm Yagi (2018) Typhoon Cimaron (2018) Next Steps WikiProject To-Do Here are some tasks you can do: Requests: List of named storms from E to H and M to O, List of Atlantic tropical storms and other intensity lists, Pacific typhoon seasons from 1902 to 1938, Australian region cyclone seasons from 1963 to 1970, South Pacific cyclone seasons from 1958 to 1969, Tropical cyclones in 1978 to 2001, 1870 Straits of Florida hurricane, 1864 Calcutta cyclone, Hurricanes in Mexico, Tropical cyclone effects by region, more... Citation needed: Make sure articles like for example Pacific hurricane and Cyclone Owen are cited properly. Cleanup: Tropical cyclones in India, Tropical cyclones in Myanmar, Tropical cyclones in Sri Lanka, List of Texas hurricanes (pre-1900), Typhoon Faxai and other storms in 2019 Pacific typhoon season (and the season article itself), 2020 Pacific typhoon season Expand: List of depressions and deep depressions in the North Indian Ocean, List of South-West Indian Ocean tropical cyclones, Seasonal summaries and global condition sections for nearly every tropical cyclones by year articles, Pacific hurricane season timelines and earlier season articles in 1950s, 1941/1942/1943/1944 Pacific typhoon seasons, most of the List of named storms articles, Tropical Storm Fay (2008) Stubs: Typhoon Trix (1952), 1876 Bengal cyclone, 1971 Odisha cyclone, 1978 Sri Lanka cyclone, Typhoon Kathleen (1947), 1900s/1910s/1920s/1930s North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons, 1900s/1920s/1930s Australian region cyclone seasons, more... 2018 Global FT push: some goals for the 2018 Global FT include the creation or improvement of many other articles listed in the first section on the WPTC talk page. Also please join our task force! Current assessment table Assessments valid as of this printing. Depending on when you may be viewing this newsletter, the table may be outdated. See here for the latest, most up to date statistics. As of this issue, there are 164 featured articles and 70 featured lists. There are 133 A-class articles, and 1,010 good articles. There are only 71 B-class articles, perhaps because because most articles of that quality already passed a GA review. There are 415 C-class articles, 788 start-class articles, and 182 stub-class articles, with 23 lists, and 9 current articles. These figures mean that slightly more than half of the project is rated a GA or better. Typhoon Warren was the 1000th GA in the project. About the assessment scale → Project Goals & Progress The following is the current progress on the three milestone goals set by the WikiProject as of this publishing. They can be found, updated, at the main WikiProject page. 250 featured pages: 91.2% complete 200 featured articles: 79.5% complete 1500 good articles: 73.1% complete Storms of the month over the last year Month Storm December 2020 Cyclone Yasa November 2020 Hurricane Iota October 2020 Typhoon Goni (2020) September 2020 Cyclone Ianos August 2020 Hurricane Laura July 2020 Hurricane Isaias June 2020 Tropical Storm Cristobal (2020) May 2020 Cyclone Amphan April 2020 Cyclone Harold March 2020 Cyclone Herold February 2020 Cyclone Damien January 2020 Cyclone Tino December 2019 Cyclone Ambali November 2019 Cyclone Bulbul October 2019 Typhoon Hagibis Storm of the month and other tropical activity for December through January 15, 2021 Storm of the month for December  – Cyclone Yasa Atlantic – This season, after being the most active on record for its basin, in terms of tropical cyclone formation, officially ended on November 30. Eastern Pacific – This season, along with the Atlantic hurricane season, ended on November 30. Western Pacific – Tropical Storm Krovanh (Vicky) developed over the Philippine Sea. The storm is the third tropical cyclone to receive the name Vicky in the year 2020. The storm made landfall on Palawan on December 19, and eventually moved into the South China Sea. North Indian Ocean – Activity continued into December, with the strengthening of Cyclonic Storm Burevi in the Bay of Bengal. Burevi then made landfall in Sri Lanka a few days later. South-West Indian Ocean – The third cyclone of the season, Tropical Storm Bongoyo, formed, gradually strengthening over open waters. Within a few weeks, the season began to ramp up, with the formation Tropical Storm Chalane, before it made landfall on Madagascar and in Mozambique. After a tropical depression left the basin, another system would form, becoming Tropical Storm Danilo. Australian region – A tropical low formed, slowly developing, before gaining tropical-storm strength winds. Soon after, another tropical low formed, this making landfall along the Pilbara Coast of Australia with tropical storm-force winds. Within just a few days, yet another tropical low formed that made landfall along the Kimberly Coast. After a series of two more lows, another system formed. This low would strengthen into Tropical Cyclone Imogen, before making landfall along the Queensland Coast. South Pacific – The first system of the season, 01F, formed on December 11. Within a few days, the season began to ramp up, with the development of Tropical cyclones Yasa and Zazu, with the former rapidly intensifying and becoming a powerful Category 5-equivalent cyclone. South Atlantic – On December 27, Subtropical Storm Oquira, the second storm of the season, formed in the South Atlantic, off the coast of Brazil. The system lasted for several days as a subtropical storm while moving away from Brazil, before transitioning into an extratropical low on December 31. Storm of the year 2020 – Hurricane Eta Write the next issue of The Hurricane Herald → Member of the month (edition) – Jason Rees New WikiProject Members since the last newsletter More information can be found here. This list lists members who have joined/rejoined the WikiProject since the release of the last issue. Sorted chronologically. Doge1941 (talk · contribs) Tropical Storm Angela (talk · contribs) HurricaneKappa (talk · contribs) KingLucarius (talk · contribs) Hurricanestudier123 (talk · contribs) 2 0 D a r t h S a n d M a n 0 5 (talk · contribs) iBlazeCat (talk · contribs) FuturPDUCTIONS (talk · contribs) SputtyTheSputnik (talk · contribs) AveryTheComrade (talk · contribs) (added because of userbox) Poxy4 (talk · contribs) SovietCyclone (talk · contribs) Gummycow (talk · contribs) Chong Yi Lam (talk · contribs) German2k2k (talk · contribs) Wikihelp7586 (talk · contribs) StopBoi (talk · contribs) Final-Fantasy-HH (talk · contribs) TheActiniumSpoon (talk · contribs) Ididntknowausername (talk · contribs) Dalandaniel (talk · contribs) BrownieKing (talk · contribs) Bunny04032010 (talk · contribs) Purplemountainman (talk · contribs) (first new member of WPTC in 2021!) 2003 LN6 (talk · contribs) To our new members: welcome to the project, and happy editing! Feel free to check the to-do list at the bottom right of the newsletter for things that you might want to work on. To our veteran members: thank you for your edits and your tireless contributions! Featured Content From December 1, 2020 to January 15, 2021, these featured articles were promoted: From the Main Page: Documents WikiProject related materials that have appeared on the main page from December 1, 2020–January 15, 2021 in chronological order. Today's Featured Article/List December 8, 2020 - Cyclone Chapala January 12, 2021 - Hurricane Alex (2016) Did you know...? December 9, 2020 - Typhoon Alice (1953) December 13, 2020 - Cyclone Gati December 17, 2020 - Tropical Storm Merbok (2017) There are currently two featured article candidates: Typhoon Jebi (2018) Hurricane Bud (2018) A year in review: WPTC's accomplishments in 2020 2020 has been a hard year for many of us. Depending on where you live, the COVID-19 pandemic began as early as January. In most of the world, the pandemic ramped up in February and March, reaching its first peak in April–May. A second wave struck in June–August, which saw cases dramatically increase across the globe, while the third and largest wave began around October. However, during this pandemic, through lock-downs and online learning, as well as the the insanely active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, our WikiProject saw a huge influx of new editors showing interest in editing tropical cyclone articles. Here, we will take a look at the stats: New members of WPTC since January 1, 2020: AC5230, Weatherman27, Chicdat, Rd003, Hurricaneboy23, Chlod, Destroyeraa, NOOBSKINSPAMMER, HurricaneMichael2018, JoeMT615, MarioJump83, Buttons0603, Robloxsupersuperhappyface, ChessEric, Allen2, Mazum24, Modokai, CodingCyclone, Gumballs678, Janm 7, Cyclone Toby, Hurricanehuron33, Hurricane21, TornadoLGS, Iseriously, Jupiter50, ARegularWisconsinite, CyclonicStormYutu, ARay10, Gex4pls, Nioni1234, Dannisom, HurricaneCovid, Skarmory, Moline1, HurricaneIcy, Beraniladri19, HurricaneEdgar, Miguel 04012010, Cyclonetracker, Dam222, Hi 022828, Elijahandskip, TovarishhUlyanov, Animem 1, Shift674, Cyclone Corona, ThePelicanThing, FinnTheHurricaneFanatic, 8medalkid, Vida0007, TFESS, KILLERXR, Doge1941, Tropical Storm Angela, HurricaneKappa, KingLucarius, Hurricanestudier123, 2 0 D a r t h S a n d M a n 0 5, iBlazeCat, FuturPDUCTIONS, SputtyTheSputnik, AveryTheComrade, Poxy4, SovietCyclone, Gummycow, Chong Yi Lam, German2k2k, Wikihelp7586, StopBoi, Final-Fantasy-HH, TheActiniumSpoon, Ididntknowausername, Dalandaniel, BrownieKing, Bunny04032010 New GAs since January 1, 2020: Hurricane Erin (1995), Typhoon Halola, 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Kirk (2018), Effects of Hurricane Wilma in Mexico, Hurricane Audrey, 2018 Atlantic hurricane season, 1916 Pensacola hurricane, Paleotempestology, 1934 Atlantic hurricane season, 1916 Virgin Islands hurricane, Cyclone Indlala, Typhoon Cecil (1985), Meteorological history of Hurricane Florence, 1929 Bahamas hurricane, 1938 Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Olga (2019), 1923 Atlantic hurricane season, 1893 San Roque hurricane, 2006–07 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season, Typhoon Zeke, Typhoon Amy (1991), Typhoon Yunya (1991), Effects of Hurricane Dorian in the Caribbean, Typhoon Sarika, Typhoon Warren, Typhoon Holly (1984), Typhoon Eli (1992), Typhoon Alex (1987), Typhoon Irving (1982), Tropical Storm Bolaven (2018), Tropical Storm Sanba (2018), Tropical Storm Nanmadol (2017), 2018 Pacific hurricane season, Hurricane Dolores (2015), Typhoon Percy (1990), Tropical Storm Ampil, Typhoon Jebi (2018), Tropical Storm Ewiniar (2018), Hurricane Barry (2019), Tropical Storm Bertha (2020), Tropical Storm Arthur (2020), Hurricane Chris (2018), Typhoon Louise–Marge, Cyclone Ava, Hurricane Beryl New FAs since January 1, 2020: Tropical Storm Ileana (2018), Cyclone Chapala, Racer's hurricane, Hurricane Humberto (2019), Tropical Storm Zelda (1991), Hurricane Lane (2018), 1916 Texas hurricane, Hurricane Willa, Meteorological history of Hurricane Dorian, Tropical Storm Vicente (2018), Hurricane Hector (2018), Hurricane Walaka Sockpuppetry in WPTC, by LightandDark2000 Due to recent incidents involving sockpuppetry within WPTC, I invited some editors to address the problem of socking inside the project. MarioJump83! Sockpuppetry is a serious offense committed by various users on Wikipedia. Our own WPTC is not immune to this travesty. WPTC has seen its fair share of abuse from serial vandals and LTAs throughout the years. From 2013 through 2018, IPhonehurricane95 vandalized dozens of tropical cyclone articles and created more than 200 sock accounts. For several years, mostly spanning a two-year period from 2013 to 2014, IPhonehurricane95 defaced numerous tropical cyclone articles, mostly ones that he had once contributed to, were major storms, or were storms in an active tropical cyclone season. He also attacked essentially every single active editor on WPTC at the time, and he went on to attack every single Admin and CheckUser who had ever blocked him, in addition to making making racist remarks and threats of harassment. He eventually went cross-wiki, forcing the intervention of Stewards. In July 2014, he began including graphic 9/11 images in his vandalism, which further damaged the image of the project. IPhonehurricane95's vandalism inspired several copy-cat vandals, including one who has continued to plague the project to this day. This is a problem with LTAs and serial vandals – those who aren't stopped quickly enough and early on often bring bad publicity to the project, in addition to elevating the risk of copycat inspiring knock-offs. In 2016, IPhonehurricane95's socking spree dramatically decreased, with the LTA disappearing in 2018. Sockpuppetry on WPTC has not been nearly as bad since then, but sockpuppetry persisted on WPTC afterward, even to this day. Recent LTAs that WPTC had to deal with include Fly High in the Sky and Wyatt2049, and possibly Evlekis, with the later two engaging in a campaign of vandalism claiming fake Category 5 upgrades (or Category 0 downgrades) that attracted a lot of bad publicity. Recently, some users dabbled with socking, which got them into trouble. With the recent breaches of trust on WPTC and the confirmation of socking by CUs in several of the newer members, some members of WPTC have called for WPTC members to be vetted by CUs. In the past year alone, a few editors who had recently joined the project came out as sockmasters who went on to become LTAs, further adding to the pressure on WPTC. Personally, I feel that the newer users who joined within the past 6 months with a history of disruption should be examined by a CheckUser, but long-standing CU policy is to not investigate anyone unless there are serious allegations of sockpuppetry (with evidence). This policy exists for good reason, and these requests for blanket CUs may very well be turned down, if proposed. Sockpuppetry is not only bad for the reputation and integrity of the project. It is also harmful to the well-being of editors on the site, especially when they become the targets of attacks. In addition, sockpuppetry breaks the trust of the community when the said offender is a trusted and valued member of the community, no matter the level and duration of the offense. Those editors have to work hard to regain the trust of the community, and in some cases, trust may never be restored. Perhaps equally as bad, sockpuppetry leads to false accusations of the practice and claims of intentional bad faith against both reformed ex-sockpuppeteers and non-socking editors alike. This further damages the reputation of the site, while unnecessarily inflaming tensions between editors on the project and damaging the cohesion between the community. These aspersions also hurt well-meaning editors on the site, and can have the unwanted consequences of embittering them or prompting them to go into retirement. While there are users on WPTC who are dedicated to rooting out and combatting vandals and sockpuppeteers on the site (including some who are a part of the Counter-Vandalism Unit), this is a responsibility that the entire project needs to bear as a whole, since socking is an issue that affects the entire project in one way or another. Editors should be willing and able to investigate potential cases of socking and other types of abusive behavior, while maintaining good faith at the same time. Sockpuppetry is serious issue and an ongoing challenge to the project. Equally as bad are unfounded allegations of the abuse against editors with a long-standing history of being a net-positive. However, together, as a community, we can combat this menace to safeguard the integrity and accuracy of WPTC articles, and make Wikipedia a healthy, productive environment. ~ LightandDark2000 🌀

Comments

Note from an editor of Hurricane Herald

From what I know, this will be the first edition of Hurricane Herald to have a comments section. I added this section in response to Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Tropical cyclones#Member of the Month (MoTM) selection process, for which the consensus is to let the community select the MoTM, not someone picking the MoTM. In response, this will be the first edition to have comments section ever put up. To be honest, The Bugle and The Signpost had comments section for quite some time now. MarioJump83!

@MarioJump83: Is this for the 45th edition or the 46th edition? ~ Destroyer🌀🌀 16:11, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

@Destroyeraa:, it is the 45th edition. Sorry for interrupting. 🌀Weatherman27🏈 (Chat|Edits|sandbox) 16:40, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

@Weatherman27: Thanks! Though I though this user was getting the award. We can have a duo-MoTM for this edition. ~ Destroyer🌀🌀 17:05, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

@Destroyeraa: No problem. Ah, that was who I remember thinking should get it, and I remember there was a discussion on him getting it, but yeah I agree with doing a duo motm. 🌀Weatherman27🏈 (Chat|Edits|sandbox) 18:32, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Well then. In this edition, there will be two MoTM's, with separate barnstars. The community pick will have the original Cyclone Barnstar, while my pick has the v2.0 barnstar (but I consider the original one to have a greater honor though...) MarioJump83! 05:03, 8 January 2021 (UTC)

Nominations for MoTM

Jason Rees (talk · contribs)

1. I am glad to nominate Jason Rees as the MoTM of this edition. MarioJump83! 08:41, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
2. Support Jason Rees is a good person, and has done a lot of work this month. 🐔 Chicdat  ^{Bawk to me!} 11:32, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
3. Support I agree with Chicdat. Jason Rees is the Good Person for this. Dam222 🌋 (talk) 12:13, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
4. Support Jason has never gotten this award before. He has done exemplary work for WPTC since 2008. ~ Destroyer🌀🌀 16:10, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
5. Support – Jason Rees is a superb candidate, and I don't think that he has ever been recognized as MoTM before. And he has done some impressive work in the past year. LightandDark2000 🌀 (talk) 18:03, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
6. Support despite this stopping my chance of being MotM (thank you for making an editors choice section, Mario), I do agree that Jason deserves more than I do. Stay safe, Cyclone Toby 21:05, 7 January 2021 (UTC)
7. Support Jason Rees would be a great person for MotM; he has been on Wikipedia for a long time and really deserves his award. HurricaneCovid _(contribs) 01:51, 8 January 2021 (UTC)
8. Comment Thank you for the nomination @MarioJump83: and for the kind words @Chicdat, Dam222, Destroyeraa, LightandDark2000, Cyclone Toby, and HurricaneCovid:. The only thing I will say in response is that I was given the member of the month award several years ago now by @Hurricanehink:.Jason Rees (talk) 14:25, 8 January 2021 (UTC)

Comments for The Renewal and Growth of WPTC by LightandDark2000 (talk · contribs)

I love that piece. My dream is of a WPTC where articles constantly bloom, where almost all the articles are high-quality, but also one where all users are created equal – that is to say, welcoming to newcomers and easy to join. 🐔 Chicdat  ^{Bawk to me!} 11:42, 15 January 2021 (UTC)