Increase in tropical cyclone rain rate with translation speed

Shifei Tu; Johnny C. L. Chan; Jianjun Xu; Quanjia Zhong; Wen Zhou; Yu Zhang

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-35113-8

Increase in tropical cyclone rain rate with translation speed

Shifei Tu, Johnny C. L. Chan^*, Jianjun Xu^*, Quanjia Zhong, Wen Zhou, Yu Zhang

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

40 Citations (Scopus)

40 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

In general, tropical cyclone (TC) rainfall accumulation usually decreases with faster TC translation speed but increases with heavier rain rate. However, how the TC rain rate changes with translation speed is unclear. Here we show that, in all TC basins, the average TC rain rate significantly increases with translation speed. On average, the rain rate in a fast-moving TC is 24% higher than in a slow one. This difference increases with TC intensity, with category 3–5 TCs having a 42% increase while tropical depressions exhibit only a 9% increase. The increase in the average TC rain rate with translation speed is mainly caused by the TC net inflow in the lower troposphere, as well as vertical wind shear. These findings have important implications not only for a deeper understanding of rain rate changes in a translating TC but also for short-term forecasts of TC rainfall and disaster preparedness.

Original language	English
Article number	7325
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	13
Online published	28 Nov 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-35113-8
Publication status	Published - 2022

Funding

This study was jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42130605), the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Science Research Foundation (2019B1515120018), Project of University Innovation Teams of Guangdong Province (060313452101), Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (JCYJ20210324131810029), the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China Grant CityU11301417, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42105059). We thank Dr. Zhenchen Liu from the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences, Fudan University, for his helpful comments on this work.

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This full text is made available under CC-BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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@article{504f24be45df426eb69327b11054a47c,

title = "Increase in tropical cyclone rain rate with translation speed",

abstract = "In general, tropical cyclone (TC) rainfall accumulation usually decreases with faster TC translation speed but increases with heavier rain rate. However, how the TC rain rate changes with translation speed is unclear. Here we show that, in all TC basins, the average TC rain rate significantly increases with translation speed. On average, the rain rate in a fast-moving TC is 24% higher than in a slow one. This difference increases with TC intensity, with category 3–5 TCs having a 42% increase while tropical depressions exhibit only a 9% increase. The increase in the average TC rain rate with translation speed is mainly caused by the TC net inflow in the lower troposphere, as well as vertical wind shear. These findings have important implications not only for a deeper understanding of rain rate changes in a translating TC but also for short-term forecasts of TC rainfall and disaster preparedness.",

author = "Shifei Tu and Chan, {Johnny C. L.} and Jianjun Xu and Quanjia Zhong and Wen Zhou and Yu Zhang",

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language = "English",

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journal = "Nature Communications",

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T1 - Increase in tropical cyclone rain rate with translation speed

AU - Tu, Shifei

AU - Chan, Johnny C. L.

AU - Xu, Jianjun

AU - Zhong, Quanjia

AU - Zhou, Wen

AU - Zhang, Yu

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - In general, tropical cyclone (TC) rainfall accumulation usually decreases with faster TC translation speed but increases with heavier rain rate. However, how the TC rain rate changes with translation speed is unclear. Here we show that, in all TC basins, the average TC rain rate significantly increases with translation speed. On average, the rain rate in a fast-moving TC is 24% higher than in a slow one. This difference increases with TC intensity, with category 3–5 TCs having a 42% increase while tropical depressions exhibit only a 9% increase. The increase in the average TC rain rate with translation speed is mainly caused by the TC net inflow in the lower troposphere, as well as vertical wind shear. These findings have important implications not only for a deeper understanding of rain rate changes in a translating TC but also for short-term forecasts of TC rainfall and disaster preparedness.

AB - In general, tropical cyclone (TC) rainfall accumulation usually decreases with faster TC translation speed but increases with heavier rain rate. However, how the TC rain rate changes with translation speed is unclear. Here we show that, in all TC basins, the average TC rain rate significantly increases with translation speed. On average, the rain rate in a fast-moving TC is 24% higher than in a slow one. This difference increases with TC intensity, with category 3–5 TCs having a 42% increase while tropical depressions exhibit only a 9% increase. The increase in the average TC rain rate with translation speed is mainly caused by the TC net inflow in the lower troposphere, as well as vertical wind shear. These findings have important implications not only for a deeper understanding of rain rate changes in a translating TC but also for short-term forecasts of TC rainfall and disaster preparedness.

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DO - 10.1038/s41467-022-35113-8

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SN - 2041-1723

VL - 13

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

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ER -

Increase in tropical cyclone rain rate with translation speed

Abstract

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GRF: Understanding the Physical Processes Responsible for Different Rainfall Distributions Associated with Tropical Cyclone Landfall

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Increase in tropical cyclone rain rate with translation speed

Abstract

Funding

Publisher's Copyright Statement

RGC Funding Information

Access Output

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Permanent Link

Other Files and Links

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GRF: Understanding the Physical Processes Responsible for Different Rainfall Distributions Associated with Tropical Cyclone Landfall

Cite this