Modulation of High-Latitude Tropical Cyclone Recurvature by Solar Radiation

In this study,idealized simulations are conducted to investigate potential influences of solar radiation on the tropical cyclone(TC) recurvature at higher latitudes.Results indicate that TC track is sensitive to the seasonal variation of radiative forcing at higher latitudes.In the absence of a background flow,TCs at higher latitudes tend to recurve(remain northwestward) in the cold(warm) season.This feature is an additional aspect of the so-called intrinsic recurvature property of TC movement at high latitude.Physically,the greater meridional gradient of temperature in the cold season due to solar radiative forcing would induce a larger thermal wind,which affects the upper-level anticyclonic circulation and associated outflow.The structure changes of TC,mainly at upper-levels,modulate the steering flow for TC,leading to a higher probability of TCs at higher latitudes to recurve in the cold season than in the warm season.

Impacts of Steering Flows with Different Timescales on the Track of Typhoon Sanba(2012)

Typhoon Sanba(2012),the strongest tropical cyclone(TC)of the year worldwide,moved northward almost along130°longitude during its lifetime and passed through different background flows from low to high latitudes.The steering flows with different timescales for Sanba are retrieved by using the NCEP reanalysis data with the total wind field separated into:a mean state,an interannual component,an intraseasonal component,and a synoptic component.Our analysis indicates that the intraseasonal timescale wave train(WT)with east–west oriented circulations made the largest contribution to the movement of Sanba.The effects of the environmental steering with different timescales on Sanba’s movement are investigated with numerical simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting(WRF)model.In the control simulation,total fields from the NCEP reanalysis are used as initial and boundary conditions,and the northward motion of Sanba is well captured.In sensitivity experiments,each of the intraseasonal and interannual components is removed one at a time.The steering vectors associated with these timescales can explain their influences on the movement of Sanba in the experiments.Vorticity budget analyses indicate that the horizontal vorticity advection made the largest contribution to the movement of the storm.

Factors controlling northward and north-eastward moving tropical cyclones near the coast of East Asia

The impacts of multi-time-scale flows on northward and north-eastward moving tropical cyclones(TCs)near the east coast of China in August and September are investigated using reanalysis data from 1982 to 2012.TCs of interest are under the influence of the subtropical high-pressure system in the western North Pacific(WNP).In August when the subtropical highpressure system is strong and close to the coast line,most TCs in the region move northward,while more TCs move north-eastward in September when the subtropical highpressure system retreats to the east.To investigate the influence from different time-scales,the environmental flow is divided intofour components,the synoptic flow,the intraseasonal flow,the interannual flow and the climatological background field.Analysis of steering flows between 25°N and 30°N indicates that the meridional steering vectors from all time-scales point to the north,dominated by the intraseasonal component.The deciding factor on whether a TC moves to the north or north-east between 25°N and 30°N is the zonal steering vector.For the northward moving group,the sum of the zonal steering from all time-scales is very small.On the other hand,the north-east moving group has a net eastward zonal component mainly contributed by the climatological mean flow.Several individual cases that stood out from the majority of the group are analyzed.For those cases,the intraseasonal flow plays an important role in affecting the movement of the TCs mainly through the wave train,in which a cyclonic circulation is located to the north-west(north)and an anticyclonic circulation to the south-east(east)of TCs.The analysis of the steering vectors indicates the importance of all components with different timescales to the movement of TCs.

DEPENDENCE OF TROPICAL CYCLONE INTENSIFICATION ON THE CORIOLIS PARAMETER

The dependence of tropical cyclone(TC) intensification on the Coriolis parameter was investigated in an idealized hurricane model. By specifying an initial balanced vortex on an f-plane, we observed faster TC development under lower planetary vorticity environment than under higher planetary vorticity environment. The diagnosis of the model outputs indicates that the distinctive evolution characteristics arise from the extent to which the boundary layer imbalance is formed and maintained in the presence of surface friction. Under lower planetary vorticity environment, stronger and deeper subgradient inflow develops due to Ekman pumping effect, which leads to greater boundary layer moisture convergence and condensational heating. The strengthened heating further accelerates the inflow by lowing central pressure further. This positive feedback loop eventually leads to distinctive evolution characteristics.The outer size(represented by the radius of gale-force wind) and the eye of the final TC state also depend on the Coriolis parameter. The TC tends to have larger(smaller) outer size and eye under higher(lower) planetary vorticity environment. Whereas the radius of maximum wind or the eye size in the current setting is primarily determined by inertial stability, the TC outer size is mainly controlled by environmental absolute angular momentum.

Comparison of Controlling Parameters for Near-Equatorial Tropical Cyclone Formation between Western North Pacific and North Atlantic

In this study,the differences in spatial distribution and controlling parameters for the formation of near-equatorial tropical cyclones(NETCs)between the western North Pacific(WNP)and the North Atlantic(NA)are investigated.NETCs exhibit distinctive spatial variabilities in different basins.Over the past few decades,the majority of NETCs took place in WNP while none was observed in NA.The mechanism behind such a distinguishing spatial distribution difference is analyzed by using statistical methods.It is noted that the dynamical variables such as low-level relative vorticity and vertical wind shear(VWS)are likely the primary controlling parameters.Compared with NA,larger low-level vorticity and smaller VWS appear over WNP.The increase of vorticity attributes a lot to the turning of northeast trade wind.NETCs in WNP tend to occur in the areas with VWS less than 9 m s^(-1),while the VWS in NA generally exceeds 10 m s^(-1).On the other hand,the sea surface temperature in the near-equatorial region of both of the two oceans exceeds 26.5℃and the difference of mid-level moisture is not significant;thus,thermal factors have little contribution to the distinction of NETC activities between WNP and NA.Intraseasonal oscillation(ISO)and synoptic-scale disturbances in WNP are also shown to be more favorable for NETC genesis.More NETCs were generated in ISO active phase.Synoptic-scale disturbances in WNP obtain more energy from the mean flows through the barotropic energy conversion process.The overall unfavorable thermal and dynamic conditions lead to the absence of NETCs in NA.