Comparing the spatial extent of Atlantic basin tropical cyclone wind and rain fields prior to land interaction

Understanding changes in the size of tropical cyclone (TC) wind and rain fields before landfall can improve identification of areas that may experience damage. We examine 25 Atlantic basin TCs for 36 h before gale-force winds (R17) cross land. Rain field extents are measured from satellite estimates of rain rates using a Geographic Information System. In each quadrant, R17 is obtained from the Extended Best Track data-set and correlated with the extent of the rain field. In general, both fields expand prior to landfall. The non-linearity of this trend poses problems for persistence forecast models. The largest wind fields are located over the Atlantic Ocean. Correlations between wind and rain field extent are strongly positive for Atlantic cases regardless of whether extratropical transition (ET) occurs and are associated with the direction of vertical wind shear. Poor correlations exist for Gulf observations. Rain fields extend farther towards the east during ET when vertical wind shear is stronger, but wind fields are not significantly different when separating cases based on whether or not ET occurs. As rain fields extend farther than wind fields in 33% of Gulf cases, moderately heavy rainfall may commence before damaging winds arrive, decreasing the time available for preparedness activities.