Influence of vertical wind shear on the ocean response to tropical cyclones based on satellite observations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingru Sun ◽  
Gabriel Vecchi ◽  
Brian Soden
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Vertical Wind ◽  
Ocean Response

scholarly journals The Unexpected Rapid Intensification of Tropical Cyclones in Moderate Vertical Wind Shear. Part I: Overview and Observations

2018 ◽  
Vol 146 (11) ◽  
pp. 3773-3800 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Ryglicki ◽  
Joshua H. Cossuth ◽  
Daniel Hodyss ◽  
James D. Doyle
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Convective Cloud ◽  
Vertical Wind ◽  
Rapid Intensification ◽  
Brightness Temperatures ◽  
Idealized Modeling ◽  
Hurricane Prediction ◽  
Upper Level

Abstract A satellite-based investigation is performed of a class of tropical cyclones (TCs) that unexpectedly undergo rapid intensification (RI) in moderate vertical wind shear between 5 and 10 m s−1 calculated as 200–850-hPa shear. This study makes use of both infrared (IR; 11 μm) and water vapor (WV; 6.5 μm) geostationary satellite data, the Statistical Hurricane Prediction Intensity System (SHIPS), and model reanalyses to highlight commonalities of the six TCs. The commonalities serve as predictive guides for forecasters and common features that can be used to constrain and verify idealized modeling studies. Each of the TCs exhibits a convective cloud structure that is identified as a tilt-modulated convective asymmetry (TCA). These TCAs share similar shapes, upshear-relative positions, and IR cloud-top temperatures (below −70°C). They pulse over the core of the TC with a periodicity of between 4 and 8 h. Using WV satellite imagery, two additional features identified are asymmetric warming/drying upshear of the TC relative to downshear, as well as radially thin arc-shaped clouds on the upshear side. The WV brightness temperatures of these arcs are between −40° and −60°C. All of the TCs are sheared by upper-level anticyclones, which limits the strongest environmental winds to near the tropopause.

scholarly journals Rainfall Mechanisms for One of the Wettest Tropical Cyclones on Record in Australia—Oswald (2013)

2020 ◽  
Vol 148 (6) ◽  
pp. 2503-2525
Author(s):  
Difei Deng ◽  
Elizabeth A. Ritchie
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Heavy Rainfall ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Monsoon Trough ◽  
Vertical Wind ◽  
Lower Latitude ◽  
Cape York ◽  
Frictional Convergence

Abstract Tropical Cyclone Oswald (2013) is considered to be one of the highest-impact storms to make landfall in northern Australia even though it only reached a maximum category 1 intensity on the Australian category scale. After making landfall on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula, Oswald turned southward, and persisted for more than 7 days moving parallel to the coastline as far south as 30°S. As one of the wettest tropical cyclones (TCs) in Australian history, the favorable configurations of a lower-latitude active monsoon trough and two consecutive midlatitude trough–jet systems generally contributed to the maintenance of the Oswald circulation over land and prolonged rainfall. As a result, Oswald produced widespread heavy rainfall along the east coast with three maximum centers near Weipa, Townsville, and Rockhampton, respectively. Using high-resolution WRF simulations, the mechanisms associated with TC Oswald’s rainfall are analyzed. The results show that the rainfall involved different rainfall mechanisms at each stage. The land–sea surface friction contrast, the vertical wind shear, and monsoon trough were mostly responsible for the intensity and location for the first heavy rainfall center on the Cape York Peninsula. The second torrential rainfall near Townsville was primarily a result of the local topography and land–sea frictional convergence in a conditionally unstable monsoonal environment with frictional convergence due to TC motion modulating some offshore rainfall. The third rainfall area was largely dominated by persistent high vertical wind shear forcing, favorable large-scale quasigeostrophic dynamic lifting from two midlatitude trough–jet systems, and mesoscale frontogenesis lifting.

scholarly journals Further examination of the thermodynamic modification of the inflow layer of tropical cyclones by vertical wind shear

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 327-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Riemer ◽  
M. T. Montgomery ◽  
M. E. Nicholls
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Numerical Experiments ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Vertical Wind ◽  
Experimental Setup ◽  
Power Machine ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Recent work has developed a new framework for the impact of vertical wind shear on the intensity evolution of tropical cyclones. A focus of this framework is on the frustration of the tropical cyclone's power machine by shear-induced, persistent downdrafts that flush relatively cool and dry (lower equivalent potential temperature, θe) air into the storm's inflow layer. These previous results have been based on idealised numerical experiments for which we have deliberately chosen a simple set of physical parameterisations. Before efforts are undertaken to test the proposed framework with real atmospheric data, we assess here the robustness of our previous results in a more realistic and representative experimental setup by surveying and diagnosing five additional numerical experiments. The modifications of the experimental setup comprise the values of the exchange coefficients of surface heat and momentum fluxes, the inclusion of experiments with ice microphysics, and the consideration of weaker, but still mature tropical cyclones. In all experiments, the depression of the inflow layer θe values is significant and all tropical cyclones exhibit the same general structural changes when interacting with the imposed vertical wind shear. Tropical cyclones in which strong downdrafts occur more frequently exhibit a more pronounced depression of inflow layer θe outside of the eyewall in our experiments. The magnitude of the θe depression underneath the eyewall early after shear is imposed in our experiments correlates well with the magnitude of the ensuing weakening of the respective tropical cyclone. Based on the evidence presented, it is concluded that the newly proposed framework is a robust description of intensity modification in our suite of experiments.

scholarly journals A new paradigm for intensity modification of tropical cyclones: thermodynamic impact of vertical wind shear on the inflow layer

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 10711-10775 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Riemer ◽  
M. T. Montgomery ◽  
M. E. Nicholls
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Vertical Wind ◽  
Vertical Shear ◽  
Carnot Cycle ◽  
Close Link ◽  
Storm Intensity ◽  
Intensity Evolution

Abstract. An important roadblock to improved intensity forecasts for tropical cyclones (TCs) is our incomplete understanding of the interaction of a TC with the environmental flow. In this paper we re-visit the classical idealised numerical experiment of tropical cyclones (TCs) in vertical wind shear on an f-plane. We employ a set of simplified model physics – a simple bulk aerodynamic boundary layer scheme and "warm rain" microphysics – to foster better understanding of the dynamics and thermodynamics that govern the modification of TC intensity. A suite of experiments is performed with intense TCs in moderate to strong vertical shear. In all experiments the TC is resilient to shear but significant differences in the intensity evolution occur. The ventilation of the TC core with dry environmental air at mid-levels and the dilution of the upper-level warm core are two prevailing hypotheses for the adverse effect of vertical shear on storm intensity. Here we propose an alternative and arguably more effective mechanism how cooler and drier (lower θe) air – "anti-fuel" for the TC power machine – can enter the core region of the TC. Strong and persistent downdrafts flux low θe air from the lower and middle troposphere into the boundary layer, significantly depressing the θe values in the storm's inflow layer. Air with lower θe values enters the eyewall updrafts, considerably reducing eyewall θe values in the azimuthal mean. When viewed from the perspective of an idealised Carnot-cycle heat engine a decrease of storm intensity can thus be expected. Although the Carnot cycle model is – if at all – only valid for stationary and axisymmetric TCs, a strong correlation between the downward transport of low θe into the boundary layer and the intensity evolution offers further evidence in support of our hypothesis. The downdrafts that flush the inflow layer with low θe air are associated with a quasi-stationary region of convective activity outside the TC's eyewall. We show evidence that, to zero order, the formation of the convective asymmetry is driven by the balanced dynamical response of the TC vortex to the vertical shear forcing. Thus a close link is provided between the thermodynamic impact in the near-core boundary layer and the balanced dynamics governing the TC vortex evolution.

scholarly journals The Unexpected Rapid Intensification of Tropical Cyclones in Moderate Vertical Wind Shear. Part II: Vortex Tilt

2018 ◽  
Vol 146 (11) ◽  
pp. 3801-3825 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Ryglicki ◽  
James D. Doyle ◽  
Yi Jin ◽  
Daniel Hodyss ◽  
Joshua H. Cossuth
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Deep Convection ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Vertical Wind ◽  
Rapid Intensification ◽  
Model Simulations ◽  
Observational Analysis ◽  
Idealized Model ◽  
Cold Anomaly

Abstract We investigate a class of tropical cyclones (TCs) that undergo rapid intensification (RI) in moderate vertical wind shear through analysis of a series of idealized model simulations. Two key findings derived from observational analysis are that the average 200–850-hPa shear value is 7.5 m s−1 and that the TCs displayed coherent cloud structures, deemed tilt-modulated convective asymmetries (TCA), which feature pulses of deep convection with periods of between 4 and 8 h. Additionally, all of the TCs are embedded in an environment that is characterized by shear associated with anticyclones, a factor that limits depth of the strongest environmental winds in the vertical. The idealized TC develops in the presence of relatively shallow environmental wind shear of an anticyclone. An analysis of the TC tilt in the vertical demonstrates that the source of the observed 4–8-h periodicity of the TCAs can be explained by smaller-scale nutations of the tilt on the longer, slower upshear precession. When the environmental wind shear occurs over a deeper layer similar to that of a trough, the TC does not develop. The TCAs are characterized as collections of updrafts that are buoyant throughout the depth of the TC since they rise into a cold anomaly caused by the tilting vortex. At 90 h into the simulation, RI occurs, and the tilt nutations (and hence the TCAs) cease to occur.

Distribution of Helicity, CAPE, and Shear in Tropical Cyclones

2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 274-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Molinari ◽  
David Vollaro
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Vertical Wind ◽  
Ambient Wind ◽  
Hurricane Bonnie ◽  
Azimuthal Asymmetries ◽  
Dividing Line

Abstract The previous study of helicity, CAPE, and shear in Hurricane Bonnie (1998) was extended to all eight tropical cyclones sampled by NASA during the Convection and Moisture Experiments (CAMEX). Storms were categorized as having large or small ambient vertical wind shear, with 10 m s−1 as the dividing line. In strongly sheared storms, the downshear mean helicity exceeded the upshear mean by a factor of 4. As in the previous study, the helicity differences resulted directly from the tropical cyclone response to ambient shear, with enhanced in-up-out flow and veering of the wind with height present downshear. CAPE in strongly sheared storms was 60% larger downshear. Mean inflow near the surface and the depth of the inflow layer each were 4 times larger downshear. At more than 30% of observation points outside the 100-km radius in the downshear right quadrant, midlatitude empirical parameters indicated a strong likelihood of supercells. No such points existed upshear in highly sheared storms. Much smaller upshear–downshear differences and little likelihood of severe cells occurred in storms with ambient wind shear below 10 m s−1. In addition to these azimuthal asymmetries, highly sheared storms produced 30% larger area-averaged CAPE and double the area-averaged helicity versus relatively unsheared storms. The vortex-scale increase in these quantities lessens the negative impact of large vertical wind shear.

scholarly journals Reevaluating the Role of the Saharan Air Layer in Atlantic Tropical Cyclogenesis and Evolution

2010 ◽  
Vol 138 (6) ◽  
pp. 2007-2037 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. Braun
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Vertical Wind ◽  
Vertical Shear ◽  
Tropical Cyclogenesis ◽  
Saharan Air Layer ◽  
The Individual

Abstract The existence of the Saharan air layer (SAL), a layer of warm, dry, dusty air frequently present over the tropical Atlantic Ocean, has long been appreciated. The nature of its impacts on hurricanes remains unclear, with some researchers arguing that the SAL amplifies hurricane development and with others arguing that it inhibits it. The potential negative impacts of the SAL include 1) vertical wind shear associated with the African easterly jet; 2) warm air aloft, which increases thermodynamic stability at the base of the SAL; and 3) dry air, which produces cold downdrafts. Multiple NASA satellite datasets and NCEP global analyses are used to characterize the SAL’s properties and evolution in relation to tropical cyclones and to evaluate these potential negative influences. The SAL is shown to occur in a large-scale environment that is already characteristically dry as a result of large-scale subsidence. Strong surface heating and deep dry convective mixing enhance the dryness at low levels (primarily below ∼700 hPa), but moisten the air at midlevels. Therefore, mid- to-upper-level dryness is not generally a defining characteristic of the SAL, but is instead often a signature of subsidence. The results further show that storms generally form on the southern side of the jet, where the background cyclonic vorticity is high. Based upon its depiction in NCEP Global Forecast System meteorological analyses, the jet often helps to form the northern side of the storms and is present to equal extents for both strengthening and weakening storms, suggesting that jet-induced vertical wind shear may not be a frequent negative influence. Warm SAL air is confined to regions north of the jet and generally does not impact the tropical cyclone precipitation south of the jet. Composite analyses of the early stages of tropical cyclones occurring in association with the SAL support the inferences from the individual cases noted above. Furthermore, separate composites for strongly strengthening and for weakening storms show few substantial differences in the SAL characteristics between these two groups, suggesting that the SAL is not a determinant of whether a storm will intensify or weaken in the days after formation. Key differences between these cases are found mainly at upper levels where the flow over strengthening storms allows for an expansive outflow and produces little vertical shear, while for weakening storms, the shear is stronger and the outflow is significantly constrained.

scholarly journals Lightning in Eastern North Pacific Tropical Cyclones: A Comparison to the North Atlantic

2015 ◽  
Vol 144 (1) ◽  
pp. 225-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie N. Stevenson ◽  
Kristen L. Corbosiero ◽  
Sergio F. Abarca
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclones ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
North Pacific ◽  
Wind Shear ◽  
Inner Core ◽  
Vertical Wind Shear ◽  
Vertical Wind ◽  
Intensity Change ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Atlantic

Abstract As global lightning detection has become more reliable, many studies have analyzed the characteristics of lightning in tropical cyclones (TCs); however, very few studies have examined flashes in eastern North Pacific (ENP) basin TCs. This study uses lightning detected by the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) to explore the relationship between lightning and sea surface temperatures (SSTs), the diurnal cycle, the storm motion and vertical wind shear vectors, and the 24-h intensity change in ENP TCs during 2006–14. The results are compared to storms in the North Atlantic (NA). Higher flash counts were found over warmer SSTs, with 28°–30°C SSTs experiencing the highest 6-hourly flash counts. Most TC lightning flashes occurred at night and during the early morning hours, with minimal activity after local noon. The ENP peak (0800 LST) was slightly earlier than the NA (0900–1100 LST). Despite similar storm motion directions and differing vertical wind shear directions in the two basins, shear dominated the overall azimuthal lightning distribution. Lightning was most often observed downshear left in the inner core (0–100 km) and downshear right in the outer rainbands (100–300 km). A caveat to these relationships were fast-moving ENP TCs with opposing shear and motion vectors, in which lightning peaked downmotion (upshear) instead. Finally, similar to previous studies, higher flash densities in the inner core (outer rainbands) were associated with nonintensifying (intensifying) TCs. This last result constitutes further evidence in the efforts to associate lightning activity to TC intensity forecasting.

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