A Comparative Study on the Offshore Intensification of Supertyphoon Rammasun (2014) and Typhoon Rumbia (2013): the Role of Summer Monsoon

Abstract

The offshore intensification mechanisms of Supertyphoon Rammasun (2014) and Typhoon Rumbia (2013) are analyzed and compared based on the best track typhoon data provided by the Shanghai Typhoon Institute of China Meteorological Administration (STI/CMA), ECMWF (CMA and JMA) objective (subjective) predicted typhoon track and intensity, and reanalysis data of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR). Results show that the offshore sea surface temperature over 28 °C was conducive to the intensification of the two typhoons in the coastal area prior to their landfall in South China. Rammasun was embedded in an extremely active phase of a 10–20-day oscillation in the summer monsoon over the South China Sea and western North Pacific prior to its landfall. The low-level jet transported warm and moist air to the inner core of Rammasun and the deepening of the southwesterly monsoon flow up to 200 hPa reduced vertical wind shear, both favorable for the offshore rapid intensification of Rammasun. In 2013, the summer monsoon over the South China Sea and western North Pacific experienced quasi-20-day and quasi-10-day oscillations. The out of phase of the two oscillations resulted in relatively weak tropical and subtropical summer monsoon flow prior to the landfall of Rumbia. As a result, the low-level monsoon flow transported relatively less moist air into Rumbia, and the shallow monsoon flow was not conducive to the weakening of vertical wind shear, resulting in a less rapid offshore intensification of Rumbia than Rammasun.