Environmental influences on the intensity change of tropical cyclones in the western North Pacific

Abstract

The atmospheric and oceanic conditions are examined during different stages of the lifecycle of western North Pacific tropical cyclones (TCs), with the intention to understand how the environment affects the intensity change of TCs in this area. It is found that the intensification usually occurs when the underlying sea surface temperature (SST) is higher than 26°C. TCs usually experience a rapid intensification when the SST is higher than 27.5°C while lower than 29.5°C. However, TCs decay or only maintain its intensity when the SST is lower than 26°C. The intensifying TCs usually experience a low-to-moderate vertical wind shear (2–10 m s−1). The larger the vertical wind shear, the slower the TCs strengthen. In addition, the convective available potential energy (CAPE) is much smaller in the developing stage than in the formation stage of TCs. For the rapidly intensifying TCs, the changes of SST, CAPE, and vertical wind shear are usually small, indicating that the rapid intensification of TCs occurs when the evolution of the environment is relatively slow.