More Turbulence Means Less Intensity

摘要

With the help of the Blue Ice supercomputer at the Computational and Information Systems Laboratory, researchers have recently been able to detect turbulence in hurricanes that occurs on such a small scale that it does not appear on global or regional weather models. Yongsheng Chen and Rich Rotunno of the Mesoscale & Microscale Meteorology (MMM) Division of the European Severe Storms Laboratory found that, at a resolution of 202 yards (185 meters), their model showed a smooth ring of strong wind around the eye. But at the smallest resolution of 68 yards (62 meters), the model revealed the eyewall to be composed of small, turbulent segments. They also found that peak minute-long winds drop.The scientists speculate that the turbulence helps slow down the intensification of the storm.