Modulation of Clouds and Rainfall by Tropical Cyclone's Cold Wakes

Ma, Zhanhong; Fei, Jianfang; Wang, Danyang; Huang, Xiaogang

doi:10.1029/2020gl088873

Cited by 41 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…In the Z. Ma et al. (2020) analysis, the anomalous winds clearly show the presence of a strong surface wind divergence centered along the line of maximum SST anomaly in the cold wake (see their Figure 2d). This is consistent with the action of the pressure adjustment mechanism and induces downward motion above the cold wake, reducing cloud cover and rainfall.…”

Section: Surface Ocean Sst Structures Contribute To Small‐scale Atmosmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…The study by Z. Ma et al. (2020) fills this gap, demonstrating that tropical cyclones affect winds and suppress cloud cover and rainfall 1 week after their passage. Their results, obtained using a combination of satellite observations over a 10‐year long period, indicate a mean reduction of precipitation of about 15% with respect to the prestorm period.…”

Section: The Fate Of the Cold Wakes And Their Longer Term Effectsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In the Z. Ma et al (2020) analysis, the anomalous winds clearly show the presence of a strong surface wind divergence centered along the line of maximum SST anomaly in the cold wake (see their fig. 2d).…”

Section: Surface Ocean Sst Structures Contribute To Small Scale Atmosmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Z. Ma et al (2020) use a combination of satellite derived data and demonstrate that winds, clouds, and rainfall are largely modified by the cold wake. This stimulates further research to understand whether the effects are just local or whether they also modify the seasonal mean basinwide insolation at the surface.…”

Section: Plain Language Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Air‐Sea Interactions in the Cold Wakes of Tropical Cyclones

Pasquero

Desbiolles

Meroni

2021

Geophysical Research Letters

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The climate system is composed of different compartments which communicate and exchange properties at their boundaries, such as at the air-sea interface, modifying momentum, gas concentrations, heat, and moisture content. The air-sea fluxes depend on the thermal, chemical, and dynamical disequilibrium between the upper ocean and the lower atmosphere. Despite being crucial for both weather and climate phenomena, their observations are still challenging, especially at high-spatiotemporal resolution (Cronin et al., 2019; Gentemann et al., 2020). Air-sea fluxes are enhanced in presence of strong winds, which favor the vertical mixing both in the atmosphere and in the ocean, inhibiting the formation of a very shallow interface layer in quasi-equilibrium conditions that would limit further exchanges. Strong winds increase sensible heat flux and evaporation from the ocean into the atmosphere and input momentum into the upper ocean, generating turbulence that deepens the oceanic mixed layer. Both processes tend to reduce the sea surface temperature (SST). Atmospheric internal dynamics generates variability in the surface winds at the synoptic scale (O(1,000 km) and more), driving an upper ocean response that results in a widespread negative correlation between largescale winds and SST (see Figure 1a, the positive correlation in the eastern equatorial Pacific is due to the dynamics of El Niño Southern Oscillation, which is a fully coupled phenomenon). At smaller scales, the negative correlation disappears (see Figure 1b), indicating that winds no longer drive ocean surface conditions but rather are affected by SST mesoscale and submesoscale variability (O(100s km) and less). The scale separation between the two behaviors is thus related to the scale of the instabilities that generate balanced structures in the two media. Tropical cyclones are atmospheric phenomena with a size of O(100s km), in between atmospheric synoptic scales and oceanic mesoscales. They both affect and are affected by the SST

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Section: Surface Ocean Sst Structures Contribute To Small‐scale Atmosmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: The Fate Of the Cold Wakes And Their Longer Term Effectsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Surface Ocean Sst Structures Contribute To Small Scale Atmosmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Plain Language Summarymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Air‐Sea Interactions in the Cold Wakes of Tropical Cyclones

Pasquero

Desbiolles

Meroni

2021

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…The total, potential impact of an SST cold wake on a TC is not strictly through the local SST boundary condition, but also through the larger‐scale atmospheric adjustment to the cold wake. A cold SST anomaly in the subtropical North Atlantic may, for example, alter (likely weaken) the vertical stratification of the atmosphere directly above (Ma et al., 2020). This may, then, have an influence on the atmospheric circulation (including vertical shear and steering‐level winds) throughout the basin.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Feedback of Cold Wakes on Tropical Cyclones

Karnauskas

Zhang

Emanuel

2021

Geophysical Research Letters

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Tropical cyclones (TCs) cause negative sea surface temperature anomalies by vertical mixing and other processes. Such cold wakes can cover substantial areas and persist for a month or longer. It has long been hypothesized that cold wakes left behind by intense TCs reduce the likelihood of subsequent TC development. Here, we combine satellite observations, a global atmospheric model, and a high‐resolution TC downscaling model to test this hypothesis and examine the feedback of cold wakes on subsequent TC tracks and intensities. Overall, cold wakes reduce the frequency of weak to moderate events but increase the incidence of very intense events. There is large spatial heterogeneity in the TC response, such as a southward shift of track density in response to cold wakes similar to that generated by Florence (2018). Cold wakes may be important for modeling and forecasting TCs, interpreting historical records and understanding feedbacks in a changing climate.

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Statistical linkage between coastal El Niño–Southern Oscillation and tropical cyclone formation over the western North Pacific

Song

Klotzbach

Duan

2021

Atmospheric Science Letters

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This study investigates the modulation of tropical cyclone (TC) formation over the western North Pacific (WNP) by coastal El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). There is a significant inverse relationship between WNP TC frequency during July–October from 1961 to 2019 and simultaneous Niño 1+2 sea surface temperature anomalies. TC formation is significantly suppressed and enhanced over the subtropical and equatorial WNP during coastal El Niño, respectively, while TC formation exhibits opposite‐signed anomalies during La Niña. This north–south dipolar pattern during coastal ENSO is distinct from the pattern observed in basin‐wide ENSO events. Additional analyses show that coastal ENSO influences WNP TC formation through modulation of the large‐scale environment. Changes in mid‐level moisture and low‐level vorticity appear to be the primary large‐scale influences on TC formation during both coastal ENSO phases. These changes can be further linked to the anomalous large‐scale circulation over the WNP during coastal ENSO.

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Modulation of Clouds and Rainfall by Tropical Cyclone's Cold Wakes

Cited by 41 publications

References 36 publications

Air‐Sea Interactions in the Cold Wakes of Tropical Cyclones

Air‐Sea Interactions in the Cold Wakes of Tropical Cyclones

The Feedback of Cold Wakes on Tropical Cyclones

Statistical linkage between coastal El Niño–Southern Oscillation and tropical cyclone formation over the western North Pacific

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