Large-Scale Characteristics of Rapidly Intensifying Tropical Cyclones in the North Atlantic Basin

Abstract

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) and Statistical Hurricane Intensity Prediction Scheme (SHIPS) databases are employed to examine the large-scale characteristics of rapidly intensifying Atlantic basin tropical cyclones. In this study, rapid intensification (RI) is defined as approximately the 95th percentile of over-water 24-h intensity changes of Atlantic basin tropical cyclones that developed from 1989 to 2000. This equates to a maximum sustained surface wind speed increase of 15.4 m s?1 (30 kt) over a 24-h period. It is shown that 31% of all tropical cyclones, 60% of all hurricanes, 83% of all major hurricanes, and all category 4 and 5 hurricanes underwent RI at least once during their lifetimes. The mean initial (t = 0 h) conditions of cases that undergo RI are compared to those of the non-RI cases. These comparisons show that the RI cases form farther south and west and have a more westward component of motion than the non-RI cases. In addition, the RI cases are typically intensifying at a faster rate during the previous 12 h than the non-RI cases. The statistical analysis also shows that the RI cases are further from their maximum potential intensity and form in regions with warmer SSTs and higher lower-tropospheric relative humidity than the non-RI cases. The RI cases are also embedded in regions where the upper-level flow is more easterly and the vertical shear and upper-level forcing from troughs or cold lows is weaker than is observed for the non-RI cases. Finally, the RI cases tend to move with the flow within a higher layer of the atmosphere than the non-RI cases. A simple technique for estimating the probability of RI is described. Estimates of the probability of RI are determined using the predictors for which statistically significant differences are found between the RI and non-RI cases. Estimates of the probability of RI are also determined by combining the five predictors that had the highest individual probabilities of RI. The probability of RI increases from 1% to 41% when the total number of thresholds satisfied increases from zero to five. This simple technique was used in real time for the first time during the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season as part of the Joint Hurricane Testbed (JHT).