Hurricane Eyewall Replacement Cycle Thermodynamics and the Relict Inner Eyewall Circulation

Sitkowski, Matthew; Kossin, James P.; Rozoff, Christopher M.; Knaff, John A.

doi:10.1175/mwr-d-11-00349.1

Cited by 31 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…1). These diagrams show that the simulated eyewall replacement cycle is fully consistent with observations of the phenomena (e.g., Willoughby et al 1982;Houze et al 2007;Bell et al 2012;Sitkowski et al 2012) and with other realistic numerical integrations (e.g., Abarca and Corbosiero 2011;Zhou and Wang 2011;Zhou et al 2011). Figure 1 shows the radius-height structure of azimuthally averaged tangential wind velocity and secondary circulation at select times during the RAMS integration, within 200 km of the system-scale circulation center.…”

Section: A Secondary Eyewall Formation In the Rams Integrationsupporting

confidence: 78%

Departures from Axisymmetric Balance Dynamics during Secondary Eyewall Formation

Abarca

Montgomery

2014

Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences

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Departures from axisymmetric balance dynamics are quantified during a case of secondary eyewall formation. The case occurred in a three-dimensional mesoscale convection-permitting numerical simulation of a tropical cyclone, integrated from an initial weak mesoscale vortex in an idealized quiescent environment. The simulation exhibits a canonical eyewall replacement cycle. Departures from balance dynamics are quantified by comparing the azimuthally averaged secondary circulation and corresponding tangential wind tendencies of the mesoscale integration with those diagnosed as the axisymmetric balanced response of a vortex subject to diabatic and tangential momentum forcing. Balance dynamics is defined here, following the tropical cyclone literature, as those processes that maintain a vortex in axisymmetric thermal wind balance.The dynamical and thermodynamical fields needed to characterize the background vortex for the SawyerEliassen inversion are obtained by azimuthally averaging the relevant quantities in the mesoscale integration and by computing their corresponding balanced fields. Substantial differences between azimuthal averages and their homologous balance-derived fields are found in the boundary layer. These differences illustrate the inappropriateness of the balance assumption in this region of the vortex (where the secondary eyewall tangential wind maximum emerges). Although the balance model does broadly capture the sense of the forced transverse (overturning) circulation, the balance model is shown to significantly underestimate the inflow in the boundary layer. This difference translates to unexpected qualitative differences in the tangential wind tendency. The main finding is that balance dynamics does not capture the tangential wind spinup during the simulated secondary eyewall formation event.

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Section: A Secondary Eyewall Formation In the Rams Integrationsupporting

confidence: 78%

Departures from Axisymmetric Balance Dynamics during Secondary Eyewall Formation

Abarca

Montgomery

2014

Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences

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“…An ERC was also observed using a simple axisymmetric model, provided that the lower troposphere was sufficiently moist. More recently, improved resolution and full-physics TC simulations have resulted in a renewed interest for understanding secondary eyewall formation (SEF) and ERCs that affect hurricane structure and therefore intensity (Abarca and Corbosiero 2011;Sitkowski et al 2012;Rozoff et al 2012). Results indicated that any forcing mechanism that produces sufficiently strong and sustained latent heating outside of the primary eyewall will promote SEF and that an increased radial extension of strong winds makes the vortex spinup associated with latent heating more efficient .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamical and Physical Processes Leading to Tropical Cyclone Intensification under Upper-Level Trough Forcing

Leroux

Plu

Barbary

et al. 2013

Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences

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The rapid intensification of Tropical Cyclone (TC) Dora (2007, southwest Indian Ocean) under upper-level trough forcing is investigated. TC–trough interaction is simulated using a limited-area operational numerical weather prediction model. The interaction between the storm and the trough involves a coupled evolution of vertical wind shear and binary vortex interaction in the horizontal and vertical dimensions. The three-dimensional potential vorticity structure associated with the trough undergoes strong deformation as it approaches the storm. Potential vorticity (PV) is advected toward the tropical cyclone core over a thick layer from 200 to 500 hPa while the TC upper-level flow turns cyclonic from the continuous import of angular momentum. It is found that vortex intensification first occurs inside the eyewall and results from PV superposition in the thick aforementioned layer. The main pathway to further storm intensification is associated with secondary eyewall formation triggered by external forcing. Eddy angular momentum convergence and eddy PV fluxes are responsible for spinning up an outer eyewall over the entire troposphere, while spindown is observed within the primary eyewall. The 8-km-resolution model is able to reproduce the main features of the eyewall replacement cycle observed for TC Dora. The outer eyewall intensifies further through mean vertical advection under dynamically forced upward motion. The processes are illustrated and quantified using various diagnostics.

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“…Potential applications of the TC parametric model include analytical or numerical model initialization for wind specification, hurricane risk model (e.g., Vickery and Twisdale 1995), model of wind-driven sea and other oceanic response to TC (e.g., Phadke et al 2003), stormsurge inundation (e.g., Jelesnianski 1966), climatology of intensity and wind structure and pressure changes associated with ERCs (e.g., Sitkowski et al 2011), and others. Also, it is possible for the parametric model to construct a two-dimensional horizontal wind and pressure fields for such applications.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An echo-free moat and a saddleshaped wind profile were situated between each pair of concentric eyewalls. Good examples of the primary, secondary, and tertiary tangential wind maxima within concentric eyewalls were also provided in McNoldy (2004) and Sitkowski et al (2011), which displayed flight-level tangential wind profiles observed by aircraft in Hurricanes Juliette (2001) and Frances (2004), respectively. According to Sitkowski et al (2011), several TCs exhibiting multiple wind maxima show evidence of multiple ERCs.…”

Section: Partitioned Pressure-wind Profilesmentioning

confidence: 90%

A New Parametric Tropical Cyclone Tangential Wind Profile Model

Wood¹,

White²,

Willoughby³

et al. 2013

Monthly Weather Review

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A new parametric tropical cyclone (TC) wind profile model is presented for depicting representative surface pressure profiles corresponding to multiple-maxima wind profiles that exhibit single-, dual-, and triplemaximum concentric-eyewall wind peaks associated with the primary (inner), secondary (first outer), and tertiary (second outer) complete rings of enhanced radar reflectivity. One profile employs five key parameters: tangential velocity maximum, radius of the maximum, and three different shape velocity parameters related to the shape of the profile. After tailoring the model for TC applications, a gradient wind is computed from a cyclostrophic wind formulated in terms of the cyclostrophic Rossby number. A pressure, via cyclostrophic balance, was partitioned into separate pressure components that corresponded to multiple-maxima cyclostrophic wind profiles in order to quantitatively evaluate the significant fluctuations in central pressure deficits. The model TC intensity in terms of varying growth, size, and decay velocity profiles was analyzed in relation to changing each of five key parameters. Analytical results show that the first shape velocity parameter, changing a sharply to broadly peaked wind profile, increases the TC intensity and size by producing the corresponding central pressure fall. An increase (decrease) in the second (third) shape velocity parameter yields the pressure rise (fall) by decreasing (increasing) the inner (outer) wind profile inside (outside) the radius of the maximum. When a single-maximum tangential wind profile evolves to multiple-maxima tangential wind profiles during an eye replacement cycle, the pressure falls and rises are sensitively fluctuated.

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Hurricane Eyewall Replacement Cycle Thermodynamics and the Relict Inner Eyewall Circulation

Cited by 31 publications

References 48 publications

Departures from Axisymmetric Balance Dynamics during Secondary Eyewall Formation

Departures from Axisymmetric Balance Dynamics during Secondary Eyewall Formation

Dynamical and Physical Processes Leading to Tropical Cyclone Intensification under Upper-Level Trough Forcing

A New Parametric Tropical Cyclone Tangential Wind Profile Model

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