The role of outer rainband convection in governing the eyewall replacement cycle in numerical simulations of tropical cyclones

2014 ◽  
Vol 119 (13) ◽  
pp. 8049-8072 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenduo Zhu ◽  
Ping Zhu
Author(s):  
Muhammad Naufal Razin ◽  
Michael M. Bell

AbstractHurricane Ophelia (2005) underwent an unconventional eyewall replacement cycle (ERC) as it was a Category 1 storm located over cold sea surface temperatures near 23°C. The ERC was analyzed using airborne radar, flight-level, and dropsonde data collected during the Hurricane Rainband and Intensity Change Experiment (RAINEX) intensive observation period on 11 September 2005. Results showed that the spin-up of the secondary tangential wind maximum during the ERC can be attributed to the efficient convergence of absolute angular momentum by the mid-level inflow of Ophelia’s dominantly stratiform rainbands. This secondary tangential wind maximum strongly contributed to the azimuthal mean tangential wind field, which is conducive for increased low-level supergradient winds and corresponding outflow. The low-level supergradient forcing enhanced convergence to form a secondary eyewall. Ophelia provides a unique example of an ERC occurring in a weaker storm with predominantly stratiform rainbands, suggesting an important role of stratiform precipitation processes in the development of secondary eyewalls.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Pulmano ◽  
Leya Joykutty

Eyewall replacement cycles (ERCs) are events that occur in intense tropical cyclones (TCs) and are difficult to predict.  An ERC event involves a secondary outer eyewall that surrounds the inner eyewall.  The outer eyewall slowly moves towards the eye and weakens the inner eyewall, eventually replacing the inner eyewall.  During this process, wind speeds lower and the structure of a TC becomes disorganized, further weakening the storm.  TCs often restrengthen after an ERC.  Little is known about the process and as such, poses an obstacle to forecasters.  The Automated Rotational Center Hurricane Eye Retrieval (ARCHER) Microwave-based Probability of Eyewall Replacement Cycle (MPERC) is an algorithm that uses 89-95 GHz passive microwave imagery and intensity estimates from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC), or the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) to predict the possibility of an ERC.  The effectiveness and ability of ARCHER MPERC was analyzed and compared to the NHC’s official reports on all Atlantic Basin tropical cyclones from 2017 to 2019.   MPERC ultimately predicted seventeen ERCs in nine tropical cyclones.  Of those, seven were valid ERCs.  The algorithm works well, predicting approximately 41% of the total number of predictions correctly.  However, MPERC did not predict five ERCs that were cited by the NHC.  It was further found that it was true that MPERC produces incorrect results in sheared and dry environments.


2015 ◽  
Vol 42 (22) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ping Zhu ◽  
Zhenduo Zhu ◽  
Sundararaman Gopalakrishnan ◽  
Robert Black ◽  
Frank D. Marks ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (8) ◽  
pp. 2489-2502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morgan E O’Neill ◽  
Diamilet Perez-Betancourt ◽  
Allison A. Wing

Abstract A recent observational analysis has reported significant repeating diurnal signals propagating outward at cloud-top height from tropical cyclone centers. Modeling studies suggest that the visible upper-level impacts reflect a diurnal cycle through the depth of the troposphere. In this study, the possibility of wavelike diurnal responses in tropical cyclones is characterized using 3D cloud-resolving numerical simulations with and without a diurnal cycle. Diurnal waves can only begin to propagate well beyond the storm core, and the outflow region is most receptive to near-core diurnal propagation because of its anticyclonic flow. The tropical cyclone structure appears particularly hostile to diurnal wave propagation during periods when the eyewall experiences a temporary breakdown similar to an eyewall replacement cycle.


1997 ◽  
Vol 125 (6) ◽  
pp. 1185-1211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L. Kaplan ◽  
Steven E. Koch ◽  
Yuh-Lang Lin ◽  
Ronald P. Weglarz ◽  
Robert A. Rozumalski

Author(s):  
Ping Zhu ◽  
Andrew Hazelton ◽  
Zhan Zhang ◽  
Frank Marks ◽  
Vijay Tallapragada

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