Warm Ocean Accelerating Tropical Cyclone Hagibis (2019) through Interaction with a Mid-Latitude Westerly Jet

Abstract

One of the remarkable environmental characteristics of tropical cyclone (TC) Hagibis (2019) was the positive sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly observed in the western North Pacific Ocean. In this study, an ensemble-based sensitivity experiment was conducted with a nonhydrostatic model, focusing on the impact of SST on TC motion. The TC with the analyzed SST (warm run) moved faster near mainland Japan than with the lowered SST (cold run), as the TC in the warm run was embedded earlier in the mid-latitude westerly jet located to the north than that in the cold run. The TC displacement was consistent with the large decrease of geopotential height at 500-hPa (Z500) in the north of TC Hagibis during the warm run. Further investigation showed that the approach to the westerly jet presumably induced the low local inertial stability as well as the southwesterly vertical wind shear enhancing the upward mass flux in the north of the TC. They led the enhanced upper-tropospheric northward outflow from the TC energized by the warm SST, and it resulted in the decrease of the Z500 in the north. This study suggests that warm SST can affect TC tracks through interaction with mid-latitude westerly jets.