Perfect storm

The phrase perfect storm originates from the 1997 book "The Perfect Storm" which refers to the simultaneous occurrence of weather events which, taken individually, would be far less powerful than the storm resulting of their chance combination. Such occurrences are rare by their very nature, so that even a slight change in any one event contributing to the perfect storm would lessen its overall impact.

Since the 2000 movie by the same name, the phrase has gained popularity and grown to mean any event where a combination of circumstances will aggravate a situation drastically. The term is also used to describe a hypothetical hurricane that happens to hit at a region’s most vulnerable area, resulting in the worst possible damage by a hurricane of its magnitude.

The phrase was awarded the top prize by Lake Superior State University in their 2007 list of words that deserve to be banned for overuse.cite web |url=http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0160393320080101 |title=Wordsmiths, avoid these words.. |publisher=Reuters |author=Andrew Stern |date=2008-01-01 |accessdate=2008-06-19]

Origin

The 1991 Halloween Nor’easter is the event that gave rise to the idiom "perfect storm". In 1993, journalist and author Sebastian Junger planned to write a book about that particular storm and, in the course of his research, he spoke with Bob Case, who had been a deputy meteorologist in the Boston office of the National Weather Service at the time of the storm. Case described to Junger the confluence of three different weather-related phenomena that combined to create what Case referred to as the "perfect" situation to generate such a storm. From that, Junger coined the phrase "perfect storm" and chose to use "The Perfect Storm" as the title of his book. Junger published his book in 1997 and its success brought the phrase into popular culture. Its adoption was accelerated with the release of the 2000 feature film adaptation of Junger's book.

Although the 1991 Halloween Nor'easter was a powerful storm by any measure, there have been other storms that have exceeded its strength. According to Case, the type of convergence of weather events to which he was referring — warm air from a low-pressure system coming from one direction, a flow of cool and dry air generated by a high-pressure from another direction, and tropical moisture provided by Hurricane Grace — while unusual, is not exceptionally rare or unique, despite the way the phrase is commonly used. [(2000, June 29). " [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/06/000628101549.htm Meteorologists Say 'Perfect Storm' Not So Perfect] ", "Science Daily"] [West, James. (2000, July 6). " [http://www.usatoday.com/weather/movies/ps/psname.htm The naming of 'The Perfect Storm'] ", "USA Today"]

ee also

*Butterfly effect
*Synergy

References

External links

* [http://www.uscg.mil/news/PerfectStorm/Realstorm.html The Real Perfect Storm] , United States Coast Guard images from October 1991
* [http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/satellite/satelliteseye/cyclones/pfctstorm91/pfctstorm.html National Climate Data Center]