Precipitation Contribution of Tropical Cyclones in the Southeastern United States from 1998 to 2009 Using TRMM Satellite Data

AbstractThe objective of this paper is to characterize the precipitation amounts originating from tropical cyclones (TCs) in the southeastern United States during the tropical storm season from June to November. Using 12 years of precipitation data from the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM), the authors estimate the TC contribution on the seasonal, interannual, and monthly precipitation budget using TC information derived from the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS). Results derived from the TRMM Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) 3B42 showed that TCs accounted for about 7% of the seasonal precipitation total from 1998 to 2009. Rainfall attributable to TCs was found to contribute as much as 8%–12% for inland areas located between 150 and 300 km from the coast and up to 15%–20% for coastal areas from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, southern Florida, and coastal Carolinas. The interannual contribution varied from 1.3% to 13.8% for the period 1998–2009 ...

[1]  W. M. Gray.  Atlantic Seasonal Hurricane Frequency. Part II: Forecasting its Variability , 1984 .

[2]  L. Bosart,et al.  Precipitation Distribution Associated with Landfalling Tropical Cyclones over the Eastern United States , 2007 .

[3]  R. Adler,et al.  Contribution of Tropical Cyclones to the North Pacific Climatological Rainfall as Observed from Satellites , 2013 .

[4]  J. Janowiak,et al.  GPCP Pentad Precipitation analyses: An experimental dataset based on gauge observations and satellite estimates , 2003 .

[5]  C. Konrad,et al.  Relationships between tropical cyclone attributes and precipitation totals: considerations of scale , 2001 .

[6]  Eric Strobl.  The Economic Growth Impact of Hurricanes: Evidence from US Coastal Counties , 2008 .

[7]  Richard M. Hodur,et al.  The Interaction between Hurricane Opal (1995) and a Warm Core Ring in the Gulf of Mexico , 2000 .

[8]  S. Changnon.  Temporal distribution of weather catastrophes in the USA , 2011 .

[9]  M. Barlow.  Influence of hurricane‐related activity on North American extreme precipitation , 2010 .

[10]  Frank D. Marks,et al.  Precipitation Distribution in Tropical Cyclones Using the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Microwave Imager: A Global Perspective , 2004 .

[11]  Shoshiro Minobe,et al.  Influence of the Gulf Stream on the troposphere , 2008, Nature.

[12]  K. Lau,et al.  Have tropical cyclones been feeding more extreme rainfall , 2008 .

[13]  Shoshiro Minobe,et al.  Precipitation Response to the Gulf Stream in an Atmospheric GCM , 2010 .

[14]  Ricardo C. Nogueira,et al.  Contributions of Atlantic tropical cyclones to monthly and seasonal rainfall in the eastern United States 1960–2007 , 2011 .

[15]  K. Emanuel.  Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years , 2005, Nature.

[16]  C. J. Neumann,et al.  The International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS): unifying tropical cyclone data. , 2010 .

[17]  R. Higgins,et al.  Characteristics of Landfalling Tropical Cyclones in the United States and Mexico: Climatology and Interannual Variability , 2005 .

[18]  R. Murnane,et al.  A globally consistent reanalysis of hurricane variability and trends , 2007 .

[19]  R. Pielke.  Meteorology: Are there trends in hurricane destruction? , 2005, Nature.

[20]  W. M. Gray,et al.  The Recent Increase in Atlantic Hurricane Activity: Causes and Implications , 2001, Science.

[21]  C. Kemfert,et al.  The impact of socio-economics and climate change on tropical cyclone losses in the USA , 2010 .

[22]  K. Emanuel.  Meteorology: Emanuel replies , 2005, Nature.

[23]  W. M. Gray,et al.  Atlantic Seasonal Hurricane Frequency. Part I: El Niño and 30 mb Quasi-Biennial Oscillation Influences , 1984 .

[24]  Thomas J. Douglas,et al.  Geologic, geomorphic, and meteorological aspects of debris flows triggered by Hurricanes Frances and Ivan during September 2004 in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of Macon County, North Carolina (southeastern USA) , 2008 .

[25]  C. Landsea.  Meteorology: Hurricanes and global warming , 2005, Nature.

[26]  Chuntao Liu,et al.  A TRMM-Based Tropical Cyclone Cloud and Precipitation Feature Database , 2011 .

[27]  Lloyd J. Shapiro,et al.  Physical Mechanisms for the Association of El Niño and West African Rainfall with Atlantic Major Hurricane Activity , 1996 .

[28]  G. Holland,et al.  Tropical cyclones and climate change , 2010 .

[29]  Haiyan Jiang,et al.  Contribution of Tropical Cyclones to the Global Precipitation from Eight Seasons of TRMM Data: Regional, Seasonal, and Interannual Variations , 2010 .

[30]  I. Ginis,et al.  Real-Case Simulations of Hurricane-Ocean Interaction Using A High-Resolution Coupled Model: Effects on Hurricane Intensity , 2000 .

[31]  D. Easterling,et al.  Recent increases in U.S. heavy precipitation associated with tropical cyclones , 2010 .

[32]  A. Douglas,et al.  The role of eastern North Pacific tropical storms in the rainfall climatology of western Mexico , 2001 .

[33]  C. Schreck,et al.  Attributing Tropical Cyclogenesis to Equatorial Waves in the Western North Pacific , 2011 .

[34]  Y. Hong,et al.  The TRMM Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA): Quasi-Global, Multiyear, Combined-Sensor Precipitation Estimates at Fine Scales , 2007 .

[35]  A. Barros,et al.  Assessing satellite-based precipitation estimates in the Southern Appalachian mountains using rain gauges and TRMM PR , 2010 .

[36]  J. M. Shepherd,et al.  Quantifying the contribution of tropical cyclones to extreme rainfall along the coastal southeastern United States , 2007 .

[37]  Peiyan Chen,et al.  Verification of Tropical Cyclone–Related Satellite Precipitation Estimates in Mainland China , 2009 .

[38]  C. Konrad,et al.  Relationships between tropical cyclones and heavy rainfall in the Carolina region of the USA , 2010 .

[39]  Edward N. Rappaport,et al.  Loss of Life in the United States Associated with Recent Atlantic Tropical Cyclones , 2000 .

[40]  Mark A. Saunders,et al.  Normalized Hurricane Damage in the United States: 1900–2005 , 2008 .

[41]  L. Pietrafesa,et al.  Climatology and Interannual Variability of North Atlantic Hurricane Tracks , 2005 .

[42]  R. Pielke,et al.  Hurricanes and Global Warming. , 2005 .

[43]  Edward N. Rappaport,et al.  THE DEADLIEST, COSTLIEST, AND MOST INTENSE UNITED STATES TROPICAL CYCLONES FROM 1851 TO 2004 (AND OTHER FREQUENTLY REQUESTED HURRICANE FACTS) , 2005 .

[44]  David B. Knight,et al.  Contribution of tropical cyclones to extreme rainfall events in the southeastern United States , 2009 .

[45]  P. Webster,et al.  Changes in Tropical Cyclone Number, Duration, and Intensity in a Warming Environment , 2005, Science.

[46]  G. Villarini,et al.  Flood peak distributions for the eastern United States , 2009 .

[47]  Peter G. Black,et al.  Environmental Influences on the Rapid Intensification of Hurricane Opal (1995) over the Gulf of Mexico , 2000 .

[48]  J. O'Brien,et al.  ENSO’s Impact on Regional U.S. Hurricane Activity , 2007 .

[49]  L. Pietrafesa,et al.  Evidence of the Gulf Stream's influence on tropical cyclone intensity , 2002 .

[50]  David B. Knight,et al.  Climatology of Tropical Cyclone Rainfall in the Southeastern United States , 2007 .