Abstract
This study quantifies the amount of rainfall supplied by tropical cyclones (TCs) to Cuba. It uses the long–term global gridded Multi–Source Weighted–Ensemble Precipitation (MSWEP) v2 data set, with a resolution of 0.1° in latitude and longitude, and a temporal resolution of 3 h during the hurricane seasons from 1980–2016. During this study period, 146 TCs were identified within a 500–km radius of Cuba. The contribution of TCs to the total precipitation over Cuba during the cyclonic season was ~11%. The maximum contribution occurs in October and November, representing 18% and 28% of the total precipitation, respectively. The interannual precipitation contribution shows a positive correlation (~0.74) with the number of TCs, but without a significant trend for the period. A climatological spatial analysis of the rainfall associated with TCs revealed great heterogeneity, although the major contribution was observed along the southern coast of the eastern and central provinces of Cuba, and in the western province of Pinar del Río. No significant difference was observed between the number of TCs that affected Cuba and their rainfall contribution under the positive and negative phases of the El Niño Southern Oscillation. However, the negative phase of the NAO led to an increase in the genesis of TCs that later affected Cuba, which led to a greater contribution to precipitation compared to that obtained from TCs during the positive phase of this oscillation. Our results also confirm that anomalous warmth of the tropical Atlantic Ocean, revealed through the Atlantic Meridional Mode, and enlargement of the Atlantic Warm Pool, enhances the genesis in the North Atlantic Basin of the TCs that affect Cuba, which was associated with an increase of the rainfall contribution to the total precipitation compared to that calculated for TCs formed during the opposite phases.
Highlights
Tropical cyclones (TCs) are one of the most destructive atmospheric systems on the planet.The strong winds, storm surges, and heavy rains associated with these systems usually cause severe damage to ecosystems, agriculture, economies, and even human life in many regions, but in the most vulnerable countries [1,2]
TCs are denoted as tropical depressions if winds are less than m/s, as tropical storms (TS) if they range from to m/s, and as hurricanes (HU) if winds are higher than m/s [68]
According to the criterion used here, Cuban territory was affected by a total of 146 systems, with a maximum in 2005 (12 TCs), followed by 1988, 2008 and 2010 with seven TCs each; in 1983, 1989 and 1997 only one TC occurred each year (Figure 2a)
Summary
Tropical cyclones (TCs) are one of the most destructive atmospheric systems on the planet.The strong winds, storm surges, and heavy rains associated with these systems usually cause severe damage to ecosystems, agriculture, economies, and even human life in many regions, but in the most vulnerable countries [1,2]. Tropical cyclones (TCs) are one of the most destructive atmospheric systems on the planet. The rainfall associated with TCs can play a positive role as a source of fresh water, even becoming the most important factor in increasing the level of dams and other surface water deposits [3]. 50% in some continental regions, depending on the characteristics and evolution of the wind field, topographic effects, atmospheric humidity, and size. This is mainly due to the proximity of these systems to the coastline [5,6,7]
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