Influence of storm-storm and storm-environment interactions on tropical cyclone formation and evolution

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the development of four tropical cyclones (TCs) in the North Atlantic basin in late August and early September 2010. This period is of interest because four consecutive easterly waves emerged from West Africa and resulted in a multiple TC event (MTCE) over the North Atlantic. The first two TCs-Danielle and Earl-quickly developed into TCs east of 40°W and eventually intensified into major hurricanes. Conversely, the last two TCs-Fiona and Gaston-developed more slowly reaching only weak tropical storm intensity at their peak. The close proximity and differing evolution of these four TCs provides a unique opportunity to examine how these TCs interacted with each other and their surrounding environment, which influenced their development as they moved westward across the North Atlantic. The results showed that concurrent extratropical cyclogenesis events over the western and eastern North Atlantic and the recurvature of TC Danielle produced increased meridional flow over the midlatitude North Atlantic. This increased meridional flow resulted in subsynoptic-scale regions of increased vertical wind shear in the subtropics, which delayed Earl's development and led to Fiona's demise. Additionally, increased meridional flow in midlatitudes contributed to anomalous drying of the subtropics. This dry air was entrained into Gaston's circulation leading to reduced convection and weakening. These TC-TC and TC-environment interactions highlight the difficult challenge of forecasting TC genesis and position posed by MTCEs in a rapidly evolving synoptic-scale flow.