The East Asian Subtropical Jet Stream and Atlantic Tropical Cyclones

Publication Year
2020

Type

Journal Article
Abstract
Abstract Atlantic tropical cyclones (TCs) can cause significant societal and economic impacts, as 2019 s Dorian serves to remind us of these storms destructiveness. Decades of effort to understand and predict Atlantic TC activity have improved seasonal forecast skill, but large uncertainties still remain, in part due to an incomplete understanding of the drivers of TC variability. Here we identify an association between the East Asian Subtropical Jet Stream (EASJ) during July–October and the frequency of Atlantic TCs (wind speed ≥34 knot) and hurricanes (wind speed ≥64 knot) during August–November based on observations for 1980–2018. This strong association is tied to the impacts of EASJ on a stationary Rossby wave train emanating from East Asia and the tropical Pacific to the North Atlantic, leading to changes in vertical wind shear in the Atlantic Main Development Region (80–20°W, 10–20°N).
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Volume
47
Pages
e2020GL088851