Initial Maintenance of Tropical Cyclone Size in the Western North Pacific

Abstract A tropical cyclone (TC) size parameter, which is defined here as the radius of 15 m s−1 near-surface wind speed (R15), is calculated for 145 TCs in the western North Pacific during 2000–05 based on QuikSCAT oceanic winds. For the 73 TCs that intensified to typhoon intensity during their lifetimes, the 33% and 67% respective percentiles of R15 at tropical storm intensity and at typhoon intensity are used to categorize small, medium, and large TCs. Whereas many of the small TCs form from an easterly wave synoptic pattern, the monsoon-related formation patterns are favorable for forming medium to large TCs. Most of these 73 TCs stay in the same size category during intensification, which implies specific physical mechanisms for maintaining TC size in the basin. The 18 persistently large TCs from the tropical storm to the typhoon stage mostly have northwestward or north-northwestward tracks, while the 16 persistently small TCs either move westward–northwestward in lower latitudes or develop at higher latitudes with various track types. For the large TCs, strong low-level southwesterly winds exist in the outer core region south of the TC center throughout the intensification period. The small TCs are more influenced by the subtropical high during intensification. The conclusion is that it is the low-level environment that determines the difference between large and small size storms during the early intensification period in the western North Pacific.

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Wind Structure Discrepancies between Two Best Track Datasets for Western North Pacific Tropical Cyclones

Monthly Weather Review ◽

10.1175/mwr-d-16-0163.1 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 144 (12) ◽

pp. 4533-4551 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jinjie Song ◽

Philip J. Klotzbach

Keyword(s):

Tropical Cyclone ◽

North Pacific ◽

Western North Pacific ◽

Shape Parameter ◽

Surface Wind ◽

Japan Meteorological Agency ◽

Wind Structure ◽

Linear Relationships ◽

Wind Analysis ◽

Joint Typhoon Warning Center

Abstract Symmetric and wavenumber-1 asymmetric characteristics of western North Pacific tropical cyclone (TC) outer wind structures are compared between best tracks from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) from 2004 to 2014 as well as the Multiplatform Tropical Cyclone Surface Wind Analysis (MTCSWA) product from 2007 to 2014. Significant linear relationships of averaged wind radii are obtained among datasets, in which both gale-force and storm-force wind radii are generally estimated slightly smaller (much larger) by JTWC (JMA) than by MTCSWA. These correlations are strongly related to TC intensity relationships discussed in earlier work. Moreover, JTWC (JMA) on average represents a smaller (greater) derived shape parameter than MTCSWA does, implying that JTWC (JMA) typically assesses a more compact (less compact) storm than MTCSWA. For the wavenumber-1 asymmetry, large differences among datasets are found regardless of the magnitude or the direction of the longest radius. JTWC estimates more asymmetric storms than JMA, and it provides greater wavenumber-1 asymmetry magnitudes on average. Asymmetric storms are most frequently oriented toward the east, northeast, and north in JTWC and MTCSWA, whereas they are most frequently oriented toward the southeast, east, and northeast in JMA. The direction of the longest gale-force (storm force) wind radius in JTWC is statistically rotated 18° (32°) clockwise to that in JMA. Although the wind radii in JTWC are of higher quality than those in JMA when using MTCSWA as a baseline, there remains a need to provide a consistent and reliable wind radii estimating process among operational centers.

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A Physical Basis for the Probabilistic Prediction of the Accumulated Tropical Cyclone Kinetic Energy in the Western North Pacific

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/jcli-d-12-00679.1 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 26 (20) ◽

pp. 7981-7991 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Hye-Mi Kim ◽

Myong-In Lee ◽

Peter J. Webster ◽

Dongmin Kim ◽

Jin Ho Yoo

Keyword(s):

Tropical Cyclone ◽

Kinetic Energy ◽

El Niño ◽

North Pacific ◽

Wind Shear ◽

Western North Pacific ◽

El Nino ◽

Vertical Wind Shear ◽

Tropical Storm ◽

Probabilistic Prediction

Abstract The relationship between El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and tropical storm (TS) activity over the western North Pacific Ocean is examined for the period from 1981 to 2010. In El Niño years, TS genesis locations are generally shifted to the southeast relative to normal years and the passages of TSs tend to recurve to the northeast. TSs of greater duration and more intensity during an El Niño summer induce an increase of the accumulated tropical cyclone kinetic energy (ACE). Based on the strong relationship between the TS properties and ENSO, a probabilistic prediction for seasonal ACE is investigated using a hybrid dynamical–statistical model. A statistical relationship is developed between the observed ACE and large-scale variables taken from the ECMWF seasonal forecast system 4 hindcasts. The ACE correlates positively with the SST anomaly over the central to eastern Pacific and negatively with the vertical wind shear near the date line. The vertical wind shear anomalies over the central and western Pacific are selected as predictors based on sensitivity tests of ACE predictive skill. The hybrid model performs quite well in forecasting seasonal ACE with a correlation coefficient between the observed and predicted ACE at 0.80 over the 30-yr period. A relative operating characteristic analysis also indicates that the ensembles have significant probabilistic skill for both the above-normal and below-normal categories. By comparing the ACE prediction over the period from 2003 to 2011, the hybrid model appears more skillful than the forecast from the Tropical Storm Risk consortium.

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Dropsonde Observations of Intense Typhoons in 2017 and 2018 in the T-PARCII Project

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-12614 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Kazuhisa Tsuboki ◽

Hiroyuki Yamada ◽

Tadayasu Ohigashi ◽

Taro Shinoda ◽

Kosuke Ito ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Wind Speed ◽

Tropical Cyclone ◽

North Pacific ◽

Western North Pacific ◽

Maximum Wind Speed ◽

Central Pressure ◽

The South ◽

Main Island ◽

Maximum Wind ◽

Typhoon Intensity

Typhoon is a tropical cyclone in the western North Pacific and the South China Sea. It is the most devastating weather system in East Asia. Strong winds and heavy rainfalls associated with a typhoon often cause severe disasters in these regions. There are many cases of typhoon disasters even in the recent decades in these regions. Furthermore, future projections of typhoon activity in the western North Pacific show that its maximum intensity will increase with the climate change. However, the historical data of typhoon (best track data) include large uncertainty after the US aircraft reconnaissance of typhoon was terminated in 1987. Another problem is that prediction of typhoon intensity has not been improved for the last few decades. To improve these problems, in situ observations of typhoon using an aircraft are indispensable. The T-PARCII (Tropical cyclone-Pacific Asian Research Campaign for Improvement of Intensity estimations/forecasts) project is aiming to improve estimations and forecasts of typhoon intensity as well as storm track forecasts.In 2017, the T-PARCII team performed dropsonde observations of intense Typhoon Lan in collaboration with Taiwan DOTSTAR, which was the most intense typhoon in 2017 and caused huge disaster over the central Japan. It was categorized as a supertyphoon by JTWC and as a very intense and huge typhoon by JMA. Typhoon Lan moved northeastward to the east of the Okinawa main island and it was located around 23 N on 21 and 28 N on 22 October. In these two days, we made dropsonde observations at the center of the eye and in the surrounding area of the eyewall. The observations showed that the central pressure of Lan slightly increases from 926 hPa on 21 to 928 hPa on 22 October with the northward movement. On the other hand, The JMA best track data indicate that the central pressure decreases from 935 hPa on 21 to 915 hPa on 22 October. The observations also showed a significant double warm core structure in the eye and the maximum wind speed along the eyewall. The dropsonde data were used for forecast experiments. The result shows an improvement of typhoon track prediction.The T-PARCII team also made aircraft observations of Typhoon Trami during the period from 25 to 28 September 2018 in collaboration with the SATREPS ULAT group and DOTSTAR. Trami was almost stationary during the period to the south of the Okinawa main island. Then, it moved northward and finally made a landfall over the central part of Japan. This also caused a big disaster and electricity was shut down for several days in the central part of Japan. Typhoon Trami showed a drastic change of intensity from 25 to 26 September with a large change of eye size from about a diameter of 60 km to 200 km. Dropsonde observations showed the change of central pressure and maximum wind speed as well as the thermodynamic structure of the eye.

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A Statistical Analysis on the Dependence of Tropical Cyclone Intensification Rate on the Storm Intensity and Size in the North Atlantic

Weather and Forecasting ◽

10.1175/waf-d-14-00141.1 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 692-701 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Jing Xu ◽

Yuqing Wang

Keyword(s):

Tropical Cyclone ◽

North Atlantic ◽

Turning Point ◽

Surface Wind ◽

Surface Wind Speed ◽

Outer Core ◽

Near Surface ◽

Storm Intensity ◽

The North ◽

Intensity Prediction

Abstract The dependence of tropical cyclone (TC) intensification rate IR on storm intensity and size was statistically analyzed for North Atlantic TCs during 1988–2012. The results show that IR is positively (negatively) correlated with storm intensity (the maximum sustained near-surface wind speed Vmax) when Vmax is below (above) 70–80 knots (kt; 1 kt = 0.51 m s−1), and negatively correlated with storm size in terms of the radius of maximum wind (RMW), the average radius of gale-force wind (AR34), and the outer-core wind skirt parameter DR34 (=AR34 − RMW). The turning point for Vmax of 70–80 kt is explained as a balance between the potential intensification and the maximum potential intensity (MPI). The highest IR occurs for Vmax = 80 kt, RMW ≤ 40 km, and AR34 = DR34 = 150 km. The high frequency of occurrence of intensifying TCs occurs for Vmax ≤ 80 kt and RMW between 20 and 60 km, AR34 ≤ 200 km, and DR34 ≤ 150 km. Rapid intensification (RI) often occurs in a relatively narrow parameter space in storm intensity and both inner- and outer-core sizes. In addition, a theoretical basis for the intensity dependency has also been provided based on a previously constructed simplified dynamical system for TC intensity prediction.

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A Pressure-Based Analysis of the Historical Western North Pacific Tropical Cyclone Intensity Record

Monthly Weather Review ◽

10.1175/mwr-d-12-00323.1 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 141 (8) ◽

pp. 2611-2631 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Kenneth R. Knapp ◽

John A. Knaff ◽

Charles R. Sampson ◽

Gustavo M. Riggio ◽

Adam D. Schnapp

Keyword(s):

Tropical Cyclone ◽

North Pacific ◽

Western North Pacific ◽

North Pacific Ocean ◽

Ground Truth ◽

Historical Record ◽

Wind Pressure ◽

Central Pressure ◽

Typhoon Intensity ◽

Annual Activity

Abstract The western North Pacific Ocean is the most active tropical cyclone (TC) basin. However, recent studies are not conclusive on whether the TC activity is increasing or decreasing, at least when calculations are based on maximum sustained winds. For this study, TC minimum central pressure data are analyzed in an effort to better understand historical typhoons. Best-track pressure reports are compared with aircraft reconnaissance observations; little bias is observed. An analysis of wind and pressure relationships suggests changes in data and practices at numerous agencies over the historical record. New estimates of maximum sustained winds are calculated using recent wind–pressure relationships and parameters from International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) data. The result suggests potential reclassification of numerous typhoons based on these pressure-based lifetime maximum intensities. Historical documentation supports these new intensities in many cases. In short, wind reports in older best-track data are likely of low quality. The annual activity based on pressure estimates is found to be consistent with aircraft reconnaissance and between agencies; however, reconnaissance ended in the western Pacific in 1987. Since then, interagency differences in maximum wind estimates noted here and by others also exist in the minimum central pressure reports. Reconciling these recent interagency differences is further exasperated by the lack of adequate ground truth. This study suggests efforts to intercalibrate the interagency intensity estimate methods. Conducting an independent and homogeneous reanalysis of past typhoon activity is likely necessary to resolve the remaining discrepancies in typhoon intensity records.

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Differences in Western North Pacific Tropical Cyclone Activity among Three El Niño Phases

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/jcli-d-20-0162.1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 33 (18) ◽

pp. 7983-8002

Author(s):

Jinjie Song ◽

Philip J. Klotzbach ◽

Yihong Duan

Keyword(s):

Tropical Cyclone ◽

El Niño ◽

North Pacific ◽

Western North Pacific ◽

El Nino ◽

Walker Circulation ◽

The Philippines ◽

Central Pacific El Niño ◽

Low Level ◽

Sst Anomalies

AbstractThe impacts of El Niño on tropical cyclone (TC) activity over the western North Pacific (WNP) are examined through investigation of three types of tropical Pacific warming episodes according to where the maximum sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies occur in the equatorial Pacific: the eastern Pacific El Niño (EPE), the central Pacific El Niño (CPE), and the mixed El Niño (ME). More TCs form over the eastern part of the WNP in all three El Niño types, whereas the frequency of TCs over the western part of the WNP increases as the peak SST anomalies migrate from east to west. Although TCs more frequently recurve at higher latitudes during EPE and CPE, the most frequent region for recurving is much closer to the East Asian continent in CPE years than in EPE years. In contrast, more TCs track westward and threaten the Philippines in ME years. The increased TC genesis over the western part of the WNP can be explained by enhanced low-level relative vorticity, reduced vertical wind shear, and increased maximum potential intensity during CPE and increased midlevel moisture during EPE and ME. This increase is further related to updraft anomalies near the date line driven by an anomalous Walker circulation and an anomalous low-level cyclonic circulation over the WNP. The TC track differences among the different El Niño types are linked to the east–west shift of the western Pacific subtropical high, possibly caused by an anomalous Hadley circulation from 120° to 130°E that is strongly coupled with the anomalous Walker circulation.

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The Controlling of the Subtropical High Leading Modes on the Spatial Pattern of Tropical Cyclone Genesis in the Western North Pacific and Tracks Landing on the East Coast of China

Atmosphere ◽

10.3390/atmos13010079 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 79

Author(s):

Tingting Fan ◽

Yuxing Yang ◽

Shibin Xu

Keyword(s):

Tropical Cyclone ◽

North Pacific ◽

Western North Pacific ◽

East Coast ◽

Vertical Wind Shear ◽

Subtropical High ◽

Circulation System ◽

Low Level ◽

Region I ◽

Region Ii

As a prime circulation system, the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) significantly impacts tropical cyclone (TC) activities over the western North Pacific (WNP), especially TCs landing on the east coast of China; however, the associated mechanism is not firmly established. This study investigates the underlying dynamic impact of the first two empirical orthogonal function (EOF) modes of the WPSH on the interannual variability in the genesis and number of TCs landing over the WNP. The results show that these two dominant modes control the WNP TC activity over different subregions via different environmental factors. The first mode (EOF1) affects the TC genesis number over region I (105°–128° E, 5°–30° N) (r = −0.49) and region II (130°–175° E, 17°–30° N) (r = −0.5) and controls the TCs landing on the east coast of China, while the second mode (EOF2) affects the TC genesis number over region III (128°–175° E, 5°–17° N) (r = −0.69). The EOF1 mode, a southwest-northeast-oriented enhanced pattern, causes the WPSH to expand (retreat) along the southwest-northeast direction, which makes both mid-low-level relative humidity and low-level vorticity unfavorable (favorable) for TC genesis in region I and region II and steers fewer (more) TC tracks to land on the coast of China. The EOF2 mode features a strengthened WPSH over the southeast quarter of the WNP region. The active (inactive) phases of this mode control the low-level vorticity and vertical wind shear in region III, which lead to less (more) TC genesis over this region. The prediction equations combining the two modes of the WPSH for the total number of TCs and TCs that make landfall show high correlation coefficients. Our findings verify the high prediction skill of the WPSH on WNP TC activities, provide a new way to predict TCs that will make landfall on the east coast of China, and help to improve the future projection of WNP TC activity.

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Dependence of Tropical Cyclone Intensification Rate on Sea Surface Temperature, Storm Intensity, and Size in the Western North Pacific

Weather and Forecasting ◽

10.1175/waf-d-17-0095.1 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 523-537 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Jing Xu ◽

Yuqing Wang

Keyword(s):

Tropical Cyclone ◽

Surface Temperature ◽

Sea Surface Temperature ◽

North Atlantic ◽

North Pacific ◽

Western North Pacific ◽

Numerical Models ◽

Outer Core ◽

Sea Surface ◽

Storm Intensity

Abstract This study extends the statistical analysis on the dependence of tropical cyclone (TC) intensification rate (IR) on sea surface temperature (SST), storm initial intensity (maximum sustained surface wind speed Vmax), and storm size, in terms of the radius of maximum wind (RMW), the radius of 34-kt (AR34; 1 kt = 0.51 m s−1) wind, and the outer-core wind skirt parameter DR34 (= AR34 − RMW), for North Atlantic TCs to western North Pacific (WNP) TCs during 1982–2015. Results show that the relationship between the TC maximum potential intensification rate (MPIR) and SST also exists in the WNP. TC IR depends strongly on TC intensity and structure, consistent with the findings for North Atlantic TCs. TC IR is positively (negatively) correlated with storm intensity when Vmax is below (above) 70 kt and negatively correlated with the RMW. Rapid intensification (RI) occurs only in a relatively narrow range of parameter space in storm intensity and both inner- and outer-core sizes, with the highest IR appearing for Vmax = 70 kt, RMW ≦ 40 km, AR34 = 150 km, and DR34 = 100 km. The highest frequency of occurrence of intensifying TCs occurs for Vmax ~ 40–60 kt, RMW ~ 20–60 km, AR34 = 200 km, and DR34 = 120 km. Overall, these values are very similar to those for TCs in the North Atlantic. These results suggest the need for the realistic initialization of TC structure in numerical models and the inclusion of size parameters in statistical TC intensity prediction schemes.

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Respective and combined impacts of regional SST anomalies on tropical cyclogenesis in different sectors of the western North Pacific

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-1034 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Renguang Wu

Keyword(s):

Tropical Cyclone ◽

North Pacific ◽

Environmental Variables ◽

Western North Pacific ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

North Atlantic Ocean ◽

Vertical Motion ◽

Vertical Shear ◽

Low Level ◽

Sst Anomalies

Tropical cyclone activity over the western North Pacific (WNP) is subjected to impacts of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the three tropical oceans. In this talk, the interannual variations in the tropical cyclone (TC) over the WNP and the influences of regional SST anomalies are documented by separating the WNP into four quadrants considering SST-induced non-uniform environmental changes. It will be shown that the TC variations in the northwest and southeast quadrants are related to both equatorial central-eastern Pacific (EPO) and tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) SST anomalies. The TC variation in the northeast quadrant is mainly related to tropical North Atlantic Ocean (TNA) SST anomalies. The main environmental variables differ for the TC variations in the four quadrants. Low-level (850-hPa) vorticity is important for the TC variations in the northwest, southwest and southeast quadrants. Mid-level (700-hPa) humidity contributes to the TC variations in the northwest, northeast and southeast quadrants. The vertical shear has a supplementary contribution to the TC variation in the southeast quadrant. The potential intensity negatively affects the TC variations in the southwest and southeast quadrants. The remote SST anomalies modulate different environmental variables over the WNP. The TIO SST influence is manifested in the low-level vorticity and vertical motion. The TNA SST impact occurs through the low-level vorticity change. The EPO SST effect occurs via changing the low-level vorticity and vertical motion as well as the mid-level moisture and vertical shear. The environmental variables experience more prominent changes when SST anomalies coexist in two remote regions. Numerical experiments confirm the EPO and TIO SST anomaly impacts on the environmental conditions affecting the WNP TC variations.

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Improvement of Tropical Cyclone Track Forecast over the Western North Pacific Using a Machine Learning Method

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-13648 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Kyoungmin Kim ◽

Dong-Hyun Cha ◽

Jungho Im

Keyword(s):

Machine Learning ◽

Tropical Cyclone ◽

North Pacific ◽

Western North Pacific ◽

Numerical Models ◽

Forecast Error ◽

Selection Method ◽

Tropical Storm ◽

Track Forecast ◽

Forecast Lead Time

&#160;The accurate tropical cyclone (TC) track forecast is necessary to mitigate and prepare significant damage. TC has been predicted by the numerical models, statistical models, and machine learning methods in previous researches. However, those models are separately used for TC track forecast, and historical data with satellite images were used as input variables for machine learning without forecast data from numerical models. In this study, we corrected the TC track forecast of a numerical model by artificial neural network (ANN). TCs that occurred from 2006 to 2015 over the western North Pacific were hindcasted by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, and all categories of TCs except for tropical depression (i.e., tropical storm, severe tropical storm, and typhoon) from June to November were included in this study. We evaluated the performance of TC track forecast in terms of duration, translation speed, and direction compared with the best track data. The simulated positions of TCs at 24-hour, 48-hour, and 72-hour forecast lead time were used as variables for training and testing ANN. To optimize the number of neurons in ANN, simulated TCs were divided into two parts; TCs in 2006-2014 for ANN optimization and those in 2015 for a blind test. Also, the output selection method based on the forecast error of the WRF was applied to exclude the outlier of ANN results. By applying the output selection, the forecast error of ANN was further reduced than that of the WRF. As a result, ANN with the output selection method could improve TC track forecast by about 15% compared to the WRF. Also, the effect of ANN tended to increase when the forecast error of the WRF was large. The output selection method was particularly effective by excluding outliers of ANN results when the forecast error of the WRF was small.&#8251; This research was supported by Next-Generation Information Computing Development Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT (NRF-2016M3C4A7952637).

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