HR: 1340h
AN: A13E-1607 [Abstracts]
TI: Examination of the Influence of the State of the Gulf Stream on Storms in the North Atlantic
AU: * Booth, J F
EM: jbooth@atmos.washington.edu
AF: University of Washington, 408 ATG Bldg.
Box 351640, Seattle, WA 98195-1640, United States
AU: Kelly, K A
EM: kkelly@apl.washington.edu
AF: University of Washington, 408 ATG Bldg.
Box 351640, Seattle, WA 98195-1640, United States
AU: Patoux, J
EM: jerome@atmos.washington.edu
AF: University of Washington, 408 ATG Bldg.
Box 351640, Seattle, WA 98195-1640, United States
AU: Thompson, L
EM: luanne@ocean.washington.edu
AF: University of Washington, 408 ATG Bldg.
Box 351640, Seattle, WA 98195-1640, United States
AU: Dickinson, S
EM: suzanne@apl.washington.edu
AF: University of Washington, 408 ATG Bldg.
Box 351640, Seattle, WA 98195-1640, United States
AB:
A cyclone tracking algorithm is applied to 7 years of QuikSCAT data merged with re-analysis data from ECMWF to
create a Lagrangian storm track data set. To characterize the storms we compare several metrics: central
pressure, pressure difference, and vorticity. Good correspondence was found between all of the intensity
measures. We confirm previous findings that the greatest intensification of storms coincides with the warm core
of the Gulf Stream region. To investigate feedbacks between storm growth and the Gulf Stream, we composite the
sensible and latent heat fluxes during and prior to storm events. Separately, the variance of the high-frequency
meridional winds from the re-analysis data is calculated to create an Eulerian storm track climatology. The storm
activity found from both the Eulerian and Lagrangian perspectives is compared with indices of the ocean state,
including upper ocean heat content, current strength and the structure of the sea surface temperature, to assess
the importance of the ocean conditions for storm track behavior.
DE: 1616 Climate variability (1635, 3305, 3309, 4215, 4513)
DE: 3307 Boundary layer processes
DE: 3364 Synoptic-scale meteorology
DE: 4504 Air/sea interactions (0312, 3339)
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting