Trends of Tropical Cyclone Translation Speed over the Western North Pacific during 1980−2018

Abstract

Tropical cyclone (TC) translation speed often affects the time of strong wind attacks and precipitation accumulation in the areas that TCs pass through. Therefore, the trend of TC translation speed has important implications for TC-related risks in the current and future climate. In this paper, the trends of TC translation speed over the Western North Pacific (WNP) from 1980 to 2018 are analyzed, and TC lifetime maximum intensity (LMI) is proposed as a factor related to the interdecadal change of translation speed. During the periods with accurate data, 1980–1997 shows a decreasing trend in TC translation speed while an increasing trend was found in 1998–2018. The main lifetime period contributing to a TC translation speed change is before the occurrence of the LMI. The change in the trend is related to both the TC’s characteristics itself and the environmental factors. For the period 1998–2018, an increasing trend of TC intensity has a significant influence on the trend of translation speed. For the environmental factors, a trend of east wind enhancement at and above 500 hPa as the steering flow is found mostly correlated in the active TC region of the WNP with westward translation before reaching LMI, accompanied by a weakening trend of 200–850 hPa vertical wind shear, and an increasing trend of potential intensity.