Dynamical effects of environmental vertical wind shear on tropical cyclone motion, structure, and intensity

Summary A series of numerical experiments on an f plane are conducted using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University-National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model, version 3 (MM5) to investigate how environmental vertical wind shear affects the motion, structure, and intensity of a tropical cyclone. The results show that a tropical cyclone has a motion component perpendicular to the vertical shear vector, first to the right of the shear and then to the left. An initially axisymmetric, upright tropical cyclone vortex develops a downshear tilt and wavenumber-one asymmetry when embedded in environmental vertical wind shear. In both small-moderate shears, a storm weakens slightly compared to that in a quiescent environment. The circulation centers between 300 hPa and the surface varies from 20 km to over 80 km. The secondary circulation becomes quite asymmetric about the surface cyclone center. As a result, convection on the upshear-right quadrant diminishes, limiting the upward heat transport in the eyewall and thus lowering the warm core and leading to a weakening of the storm. In strong vertical shear (above 12 m s⁻¹), the vertical tilt exceeds 160 km in 48 h of simulation and the secondary circulation on the upshear side is completely destroyed with low-level outflow. The axisymmetric component of eyewall convection weakens remarkably and becomes much less penetrative. As a result, the warm core becomes weak and appears at lower levels and the storm weakens rapidly accordingly. This up-down weakening mechanism discussed in this study is different from those previously discussed. It emphasizes the penetrative role of eyewall convection in transporting heat from the ocean to the mid-upper troposphere, maintaining the warm core structure of the tropical cyclone. The vertical shear is found negative to eyewall penetrative convection.