Factors Controlling Multiple Tropical Cyclone Events in the Western North Pacific*

Abstract

Abstract The statistical feature of occurrence of multiple tropical cyclone (MTC) events in the western North Pacific (WNP) is examined during summer (June–September) for the period of 1979–2006. The number of MTC events ranged from one to eight per year, experiencing a marked interannual variation. The spatial distance between the TCs associated with MTC events is mostly less than 3000 km, which accounts for 73% of total samples. The longest active phase of an MTC event lasts for nine days, and about 80% of the MTC events last for five days or less. A composite analysis of active and inactive MTC phases reveals that positive low-level (negative upper-level) vorticity anomalies and enhanced convection and midtropospheric relative humidity are the favorable large-scale conditions for MTC genesis. About 77% of the MTC events occurred in the region where either the atmospheric intraseasonal (25–70 day) oscillation (ISO) or biweekly (10–20 day) oscillation (BWO) is in a wet phase. The overall occurrence of the MTC events is greatly regulated by the combined large-scale impact of BWO, ISO, and the lower-frequency (90 days or longer) oscillation. On the interannual time scale, the MTC frequency is closely related to the seasonal mean anomalies of 850-hPa vorticity, outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), and 500-hPa humidity fields. The combined ISO and BWO activity is greatly strengthened (weakened) in the WNP region during the MTC active (inactive) years.