Forcing Mechanisms For Heavy Precipitation in the Extratropical Transition of Atlantic Hurricanes

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dc.contributor.advisorSparling, Lynn C
dc.contributor.authorDixon, Ross Donnelly
dc.contributor.departmentPhysics
dc.contributor.programPhysics, Atmospheric
dc.date.accessioned2015-10-14T03:13:25Z
dc.date.available2015-10-14T03:13:25Z
dc.date.issued2009-01-01
dc.description.abstractFreshwater flooding is the number one inland killer associated with hurricanes that make landfall in the Mid-Atlantic region. Although great improvements in hurricane track forecasting have been made over the past decade, forecasting hurricane intensity change and rainfall has remained problematic. This challenge becomes even more difficult after the storm makes landfall. Over land, storms typically weaken; however, strong nonlinear interactions with mid-latitude systems or forcing from terrain can reintensify the storm or trigger extreme precipitation events. The goal of the work presented here is to better understand the physical processes that lead to heavy precipitation and storm reintensification during the extratropical transition of hurricanes in the Mid-Atlantic region. We use the North American Regional Reanalysis to analyze in detail two landfalling storms: Hurricane Gaston (2004) and Hurricane Ernesto (2006). Both storms presented forecast challenges and both resulted in heavy precipitation, although through different mechanisms. Gaston was shown to create its own baroclinic zone, which led to heavy rainfall and latent heat release which allowed the storm to briefly rejuvenate over land. Ernesto interacted strongly with an upper level trough and jet, which created a secondary circulation that fueled the storm with moisture from the Atlantic. A potential vorticity analysis shows evidence for a case of stolen identity and possible stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE). Diabatic forcing in the mesoscale proved to be most important in the transition of Gaston, whereas synoptic scale interactions were crucial to the evolution of Ernesto, which also occluded very quickly. The various spatial scales and rapid transitions of both these storms provide insight into the forecasting challenges during these transition events.
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.genretheses
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/M29T0Q
dc.identifier.other10179
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/1056
dc.languageen
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Theses and Dissertations Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Graduate School Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Student Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Physics Department Collection
dc.rightsThis item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please see http://aok.lib.umbc.edu/specoll/repro.php or contact Special Collections at speccoll(at)umbc.edu.
dc.sourceOriginal File Name: Dixon_umbc_0434M_10179.pdf
dc.subjectExtratropical Transition
dc.subjectfrontogenesis
dc.subjecthurricanes
dc.subjectmid-Atlantic
dc.subjectNARR
dc.subjectprecipitation
dc.titleForcing Mechanisms For Heavy Precipitation in the Extratropical Transition of Atlantic Hurricanes
dc.typeText
dcterms.accessRightsAccess limited to the UMBC community. Item may possibly be obtained via Interlibrary Loan through a local library, pending author/copyright holder's permission.

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