On the weakening of Hurricane Lili, October 2002

Abstract

This paper addresses the weakening of Hurricane Lili of October 2002 just before it made landfall in Louisiana. This hurricane weakened from a category 4 storm on October 3, 2002 at 0000 UTC to a category 1 storm on October 3, 2002 at 1300 UTC. This sudden drop in intensity has been a subject of considerable interest. In this paper we explore a forecast model diagnostic approach that explores the contribution to the hurricane intensity changes arising from a number of dynamical and physical possibilities. Running several versions of a global model at very high resolution, the relative contribution to the intensity drop of Lili arising from cooler sea surface temperatures, dry air advection into the storm, advective non-linear dynamics, non-advective dynamics, and shallow and deep cumulus convection was examined. This line of inquiry led to the conclusion that dry air advection from the north into the storm and the slightly cold sea surface temperatures were not the primary contribution to the observed pressure rise by 22 hPa. The primary contribution to the pressure rise was found to be the ‘rest of dynamics’ (the non-advective dynamics). The shallow convection contributed slightly to an overall cooling, i.e. a weakening of the warm core of Lili. The effects of deep cumulus convection appeared to be opposite, i.e. towards maintaining a strong storm. A primary term in the ‘rest of dynamics’, the advection of Earth’s angular momentum into the storm, is identified as a major contributor for the intensity change in the analysis. This feature resembles an intrusion of dry air into the core of the storm. This intrusion contributes to a reduction of spin and an overall rapid weakening of the hurricane. The angular momentum partitioning appears quite revealing on the sudden demise of Lili.