Identification

Title

The intensity- and size-dependent response of tropical cyclones to increasing vertical wind shear

Abstract

This study describes a set of idealized simulations in which westerly vertical wind shear increases from 3 to 15 m s(-1) at different stages in the life cycle of an intensifying tropical cyclone (TC). The TC response to increasing shear depends on the intensity and size of the TC's tangential wind field when shear starts to increase. For a weak tropical storm, increasing shear decouples the vortex and prevents intensification. For category 1 and stronger storms, increasing shear causes a period of weakening during which vortex tilt increases by 10-30 km before the TCs reach a near-steady category 1-3 intensity at the end of the simulations. TCs exposed to increasing shear during or just after rapid intensification tend to weaken the most. Backward trajectories reveal a lateral ventilation pathway between 8- and 11-km altitude that is capable of reducing equivalent potential temperature in the inner core of these TCs by nearly 2 degrees C. In addition, these TCs exhibit large reductions in diabatic heating inside the radius of maximum winds (RMW) and lower-entropy air parcels entering downshear updrafts from the boundary layer, which further contributes to their substantial weakening. The TCs exposed to increasing shear after rapid intensification and an expansion of the outer wind field reach the strongest near-steady intensity long after the shear increases because of strong vertical coupling that prevents the development of large vortex tilt, resistance to lateral ventilation through a deep layer of the middle troposphere, and robust diabatic heating within the RMW.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d75q50nb

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2021-11-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact