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Evidence of the Gulf Stream's influence on tropical cyclone intensity
Author(s) -
Bright Robert J.,
Xie Lian,
Pietrafesa Leonard J.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2002gl014920
Subject(s) - tropical cyclone , atlantic hurricane , trough (economics) , storm , climatology , gulf stream , geology , latitude , tropical cyclone scales , environmental science , cyclone (programming language) , meteorology , oceanography , geography , geodesy , field programmable gate array , computer science , computer hardware , economics , macroeconomics
Historical storm data and satellite imagery are analyzed to determine the intensity changes and storm‐related characteristics of 53 coastal and landfalling tropical cyclones (TCs) from Florida to North Carolina that passed over the Gulf Stream (GS) during the period 1944–2000. It appears that less intense storms (Category 2 or weaker), as well as those occurring earlier in the Atlantic hurricane season, are more likely to be strengthened by the GS. In addition, 81% of the Category 2 or weaker storms that intensified based on both maximum wind speed (MWS) and minimum central pressure (MCP) had tracks approximately parallel to the GS, while 3 of the 5 major (Category 3–5) hurricanes that intensified based on both MWS and MCP tracked perpendicular to the GS. The presence of an upstream mid‐latitude trough could have contributed to the intensification of the weaker TCs by steering them along the GS.