The composite development and structure of intense synoptic-scale Arctic cyclones
Understanding the location and intensity of hazardous weather across the Arctic is important for assessing risks to infrastructure, shipping, and coastal communities. Key hazards driving these risks are extreme near-surface winds, high ocean waves, and heavy precipitation, which are dependent on the...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:wcd103337 2023-05-15T14:32:27+02:00 The composite development and structure of intense synoptic-scale Arctic cyclones Vessey, Alexander F. Hodges, Kevin I. Shaffrey, Len C. Day, Jonathan J. 2022-09-22 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1097-2022 https://wcd.copernicus.org/articles/3/1097/2022/ eng eng doi:10.5194/wcd-3-1097-2022 https://wcd.copernicus.org/articles/3/1097/2022/ eISSN: 2698-4016 Text 2022 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1097-2022 2022-09-26T16:22:41Z Understanding the location and intensity of hazardous weather across the Arctic is important for assessing risks to infrastructure, shipping, and coastal communities. Key hazards driving these risks are extreme near-surface winds, high ocean waves, and heavy precipitation, which are dependent on the structure and development of intense synoptic-scale cyclones. This study aims to describe the typical lifetime, structure, and development of a large sample of past intense winter (DJF) and summer (JJA) synoptic-scale Arctic cyclones using a storm compositing methodology applied to the ERA5 reanalysis. Results show that the composite development and structure of intense summer Arctic cyclones are different from those of intense winter Arctic and North Atlantic Ocean extra-tropical cyclones and from those described in conceptual models of extra-tropical and Arctic cyclones. The composite structure of intense summer Arctic cyclones shows that they typically undergo a structural transition around the time of maximum intensity from having a baroclinic structure to an axi-symmetric cold-core structure throughout the troposphere, with a low-lying tropopause and large positive temperature anomaly in the lower stratosphere. Summer Arctic cyclones are also found to have longer lifetimes than winter Arctic and North Atlantic Ocean extra-tropical cyclones, potentially causing prolonged hazardous and disruptive weather conditions in the Arctic. Text Arctic North Atlantic Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Arctic Weather and Climate Dynamics 3 3 1097 1112 |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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Understanding the location and intensity of hazardous weather across the Arctic is important for assessing risks to infrastructure, shipping, and coastal communities. Key hazards driving these risks are extreme near-surface winds, high ocean waves, and heavy precipitation, which are dependent on the structure and development of intense synoptic-scale cyclones. This study aims to describe the typical lifetime, structure, and development of a large sample of past intense winter (DJF) and summer (JJA) synoptic-scale Arctic cyclones using a storm compositing methodology applied to the ERA5 reanalysis. Results show that the composite development and structure of intense summer Arctic cyclones are different from those of intense winter Arctic and North Atlantic Ocean extra-tropical cyclones and from those described in conceptual models of extra-tropical and Arctic cyclones. The composite structure of intense summer Arctic cyclones shows that they typically undergo a structural transition around the time of maximum intensity from having a baroclinic structure to an axi-symmetric cold-core structure throughout the troposphere, with a low-lying tropopause and large positive temperature anomaly in the lower stratosphere. Summer Arctic cyclones are also found to have longer lifetimes than winter Arctic and North Atlantic Ocean extra-tropical cyclones, potentially causing prolonged hazardous and disruptive weather conditions in the Arctic. |
format |
Text |
author |
Vessey, Alexander F. Hodges, Kevin I. Shaffrey, Len C. Day, Jonathan J. |
spellingShingle |
Vessey, Alexander F. Hodges, Kevin I. Shaffrey, Len C. Day, Jonathan J. The composite development and structure of intense synoptic-scale Arctic cyclones |
author_facet |
Vessey, Alexander F. Hodges, Kevin I. Shaffrey, Len C. Day, Jonathan J. |
author_sort |
Vessey, Alexander F. |
title |
The composite development and structure of intense synoptic-scale Arctic cyclones |
title_short |
The composite development and structure of intense synoptic-scale Arctic cyclones |
title_full |
The composite development and structure of intense synoptic-scale Arctic cyclones |
title_fullStr |
The composite development and structure of intense synoptic-scale Arctic cyclones |
title_full_unstemmed |
The composite development and structure of intense synoptic-scale Arctic cyclones |
title_sort |
composite development and structure of intense synoptic-scale arctic cyclones |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1097-2022 https://wcd.copernicus.org/articles/3/1097/2022/ |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Arctic North Atlantic |
op_source |
eISSN: 2698-4016 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/wcd-3-1097-2022 https://wcd.copernicus.org/articles/3/1097/2022/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1097-2022 |
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Weather and Climate Dynamics |
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3 |
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3 |
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1097 |
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1112 |
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1766305856559775744 |