Explosive Cyclogenesis: A Case Study of the Veterans' Day Storm of 11-12 November 1987.

摘要

An important breeding ground for explosive cyclone development is off the east coast of the United States, near Cape Hatteras. An important factor in cyclone development is the enormous energy requirement needed for explosive deepening of these systems. The presence of the warm Gulf Stream current in the western Atlantic provides a significant portion of this energy. This energy source, coupled with strong upper and lower level forcing, provides the mechanisms responsible for rapid intensification of these significant weather-producing storms. In this study, a case of explosive cyclogenesis is examined. It was discovered that the intensification phase of this storm, called the Veteran's Day Storm of November 1987, was related to the strong sea surface temperature (SST) gradient present off the east coast of the United States. The SST gradient was analyzed using Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data. The upper and lower level forcing mechanisms were studied using conventional weather products from the National Meteorological Center and special analyses made available from the NASA Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheric Sciences in Greenbelt, MD. The presence of strong positive vorticity advection, significant upper level divergence, and an atmospheric lid were among the major contributors responsible for intensification of this storm. (jhd)