A Composite Study of the Interactions between Tropical Cyclones and Upper-Tropospheric Troughs

Abstract

The objective of this study is to understand how interactions with upper-tropospheric troughs affect the intensity of tropical cyclones. The study includes all named Atlantic tropical cyclones between 1985 and 1996. To minimize other factors affecting intensity change, times when storms are over subcritical sea surface temperatures (≤26°C) or near landfall are removed from the sample. A trough interaction is defined to occur when the eddy momentum flux convergence calculated over a 300–600-km radial range is greater than 10 (m s−1) day−1. The trough interaction cases are separated into four composites: (i) favorable superposition [tropical cyclone intensifies with an upper-tropospheric potential vorticity (PV) maximum within 400 km of the tropical cyclone center], (ii) unfavorable superposition, (iii) favorable distant interaction (upper PV maximum between 400 and 1000 km from the tropical cyclone center), and (iv) unfavorable distant interaction. For comparison, two additional composites are created: (v) favorable no trough, and (vi) unfavorable no trough. Tropical cyclones over warm water and away from land are more likely to intensify than weaken after an interaction with an upper-level trough; 78% of superposition cases and 61% of distant interaction cases deepened. In the favorable superposition composite, intensification begins soon after a small-scale upper-tropospheric PV maximum approaches the storm center. As in previous studies, the PV maximum subsequently weakens, most likely due to diabatic heating, and never crosses the center and reverses the deepening. In the favorable distant interaction composite, the upper PV maximum remains well to the west of the tropical cyclone center, and intensification is not due to superposition. Strong upper-level divergence occurs downshear of the center, and an upper-level jet is located poleward of the maximum divergence. The center of the intensifying tropical cyclone is located in the right entrance region of the jet, where upward motion is favored. It is argued that the tropical cyclone and upper-level jet develop in a coupled fashion. In the unfavorable distant interaction composite, weakening is attributed to a slightly larger and stronger upper PV maximum than occurs in the favorable distant interaction composite, which induces about 5 m s−1 more vertical wind shear over the tropical cyclone center. The fairly subtle PV changes that bring about this increase in vertical shear may help account for the difficulty in forecasting tropical cyclone intensity change during distant trough interactions. The no-trough composites have dramatically smaller azimuthal asymmetries than those involving trough interactions. The major distinguishing factor between deepening and filling storms in the no-trough composites is the magnitude of the vertical wind shear.