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Sea‐surface temperatures and tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin
Author(s) -
Michaels Patrick J.,
Knappenberger Paul C.,
Davis Robert E.
Publication year - 2006
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 - 10.1029/2006gl025757
Subject(s) - tropical cyclone , atlantic hurricane , sea surface temperature , climatology , tropical cyclone scales , tropical cyclogenesis , tropical cyclone rainfall forecasting , african easterly jet , environmental science , tropical atlantic , cyclone (programming language) , storm , tropical wave , geology , oceanography , field programmable gate array , computer science , computer hardware
Whereas there is a significant relationship between overall sea‐surface temperature (SST) and tropical cyclone intensity, the relationship is much less clear in the upper range of SST normally associated with these storms. There, we find a step‐like, rather than a continuous, influence of SST on cyclone strength, suggesting that there exists a SST threshold that must be exceeded before tropical cyclones develop into major hurricanes. Further, we show that the SST influence varies markedly over time, thereby indicating that other aspects of the tropical environment are also critically important for tropical cyclone intensification. These findings highlight the complex nature of hurricane development and weaken the notion of a simple cause‐and‐effect relationship between rising SST and stronger Atlantic hurricanes.