An Inside Edge to Tropical Cyclone Eye-Wall Dynamics. (credit: Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz)7/8/2018 
DISCUSSION: Over the past couple of days, there is no doubt that the Tropical Western Pacific Ocean basin has continued to impress the world in the context of tropical cyclone development (i.e., which are regionally referred to as typhoons). More specifically, over the past few days, the world observed in unison as Tropical Storm Maria developed into Typhoon Maria before quickly blossoming into Super Typhoon Maria shortly thereafter within the past 24 to 36 hours. Having said that, it is worth noting that the transition from Maria being a weaker-level typhoon to a robust and massive super typhoon occurred within approximately a 24 to 30-hour period. Hence, this was a massive typhoon which likely caught a lot of people living and/or vacationing across various parts of the Western Pacific Ocean by surprise in many cases.
As captured above in the high-resolution satellite imagery (courtesy of Himawari-8’s rapid scan imagery capability), there was also very complex convective activity evolving in and around the heart of Maria’s eye wall as of earlier today (local time). Though, it is important to acknowledge that this is quite common within the core convection near and around the center of a tropical cyclone’s inner vortex due to natural eye and eye wall dynamics which evolve with time. Upon closer inspection, you would be more than likely to first notice how towards the top of the deep convective thunderstorm towers wrapping around the center of Maria, there appear to be ripples emanating outward from the center of this intense tropical cyclone. These ripples being sent outward from the center are scientifically known as gravity waves which is the atmosphere’s immediate responses to more abrupt changes in both convective intensity as well as the corresponding atmospheric sea-level pressure changes between the inner and outer portions of the tropical cyclone. Gravity wave propagation as described here is also incredibly common to observed in powerful tropical cyclones during the majority of rapid intensification periods which occur as well as while the particular tropical cyclone is maintaining its peak intensity for whatever period of time. In addition, you may also notice how within the eye itself, there appear to be very small-scale cloud vortices “dancing around” the outer edges of the eye region. These are quite common since when tropical cyclones ramp up in intensity rather quickly, there is often very strong corresponding low-level inflow to facilitate the powerful and efficient development of more intense convection and maximum wind speeds near the center. Thus, within the eye, there can often be low-level moisture which “squeezes” into the eye of the storm very close to the surface. Moreover, due to the rapidly rotating convection just beyond the eye (and the net cyclonic rotation of the storm itself in the Northern Hemisphere), there can sometimes be tightly-wrapped meso-vortices or miso-vortices spinning around the periphery of the eye of the tropical cyclone. Therefore, the core message here is that even with a predictable tropical cyclone, there are still many aspects of tropical cyclones which can often mesmerize even the most experienced atmospheric scientists anywhere in the world. To learn more about other interesting tropical cyclone-related stories from around the world, be sure to click here! © 2018 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz
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A Tale of Two Tropical Storms on Opposite Sides of the World (credit: Meteorologist Stu Ostro)7/6/2018 
DISCUSSION: Over the past 24 to 36 hours, the international atmospheric science community and millions of people around the world just going about their daily lives observed a true marvel of Mother Nature’s raw ability, to say the very least. Across the Tropical Western Pacific Ocean basin just a little over a day ago, there were concerns regarding the potential for a period of rapid intensification for what was (at the time) a weaker Typhoon Maria. Within just a 16-hour time-span, Typhoon Maria went from a minor typhoon to being just on the cusp of being a Category 5 intensity Super Typhoon with maximum sustained winds of 155 mph during the day on Friday (EDT).
Having said that, it is imperative to acknowledge the fact that Typhoon Maria had been located within a very conducive atmospheric environment for rapid intensification due to a combination of particularly warm sea-surface temperatures and relatively low vertical wind shear. In addition to the presence of the warmer sea-surface temperatures in the general region of where Maria was positioned, there was also a plethora of low-level moisture in and around the developing tropical cyclone. This factor further facilitated the reality of even more efficient rapid intensification processes by providing an abundance of low/mid-level moistened, warm air which is the critical “fuel” which tropical cyclones require for intensification processes to occur at maximum efficiency (assuming all other needed components are present). On the flip-side, across the eastern portion of the Tropical Atlantic basin, people living across various parts of the Caribbean and the contiguous United States watched as what was simply a struggling depression within the past 24 hours became Tropical Storm Beryl as of earlier Friday morning. From there, the initial forecast was for Tropical Storm Beryl to hang on to its current intensity and then gradually dissipate as it headed towards a much less favorable environment for tropical cyclone development and/or maintenance. Therefore, many meteorologists were just about ready to “write the storm off and count it down and out.” However, by early afternoon (EDT), Tropical Storm Beryl had other ideas in mind as it became Hurricane Beryl with a tight zone of maximum sustained winds of right around 80 mph. Thus, becoming the first hurricane of the 2018 Tropical Atlantic hurricane season on 5 July 2018. However, as is captured by the image attached above (courtesy of Meteorologist Stu Ostro), these two respective tropical cyclones are incredibly different in size with Super Typhoon Maria being a monster of a storm and Hurricane Beryl being a tiny little storm which you can almost miss on a basin-wide animated satellite loop of the Tropical Atlantic. It just goes to show that time, tide, and all combined factors/circumstances make all the difference in the world when it comes to anticipating how the “tale of two storms” may evolve. To learn more about other tropical cyclone-related stories from around the world, be sure to click here! © 2018 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz  DISCUSSION: As we get deeper into the 2018 Tropical Atlantic and Tropical Central/Eastern Pacific hurricane seasons, there is always a question which everyone living in or near a coastal area develops soon into the Spring and Summer-time. This heavily-weighted question is if he or she will get struck by a powerful hurricane during that given season. It is a question which plagues many millions of people every year in towns and cities from around the globe. This is certainly not an easy question to answer, but there are many things one can do well ahead of their respective hurricane season to be ready if the time should come that such a situation comes to fruition.
As opposed to taking a more relaxed approach and waiting until an imminent tropical cyclone threat develops, it is always better and much more practical to have a plan in place and at the ready. This is because if you opt to hold off and wait until the worst situation comes to life for your area, this can have terrible consequences on the relative safety of the developing situation. Thus, by having a safety kit and a solid safety plan in place, a person or family will not have to scramble and panic just before a tropical storm impacts their area. Moreover, since many tropical storms will undergo unexpected last-minute changes in forward position, this makes the value of a great hurricane evacuation and safety plan that much more important, so you can always be one step ahead of the storm. Therefore, as we head deeper into the 2018 Tropical Atlantic and Tropical Central/Eastern Pacific hurricane seasons, take this into consideration as you plan for potential tropical storm threats, so you can catch the storm and the storm does not catch you. To learn more about other tropical cyclone-related stories and topics from around the world, be sure to click here! © 2018 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz  DISCUSSION: As we head deeper into the month of July here in 2018 there is no question that many questions remain regarding the remainder of the 2018 Tropical Atlantic hurricane season. Namely, one of the primary concerns is how active the 2018 Tropical Atlantic hurricane season will be as compared to the 2017 Tropical Atlantic hurricane season. The reason for this major concern goes beyond the obvious economic and logistical concerns in the wake of such a prolific and utterly destructive 2017 Atlantic hurricane season. In the wake of such a devastating 2017 hurricane season where in many places, people are still very much in the process of recovering from storms such as Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, and Hurricane Maria. In that light, many such people living across various parts of the Caribbean as well as various parts of the Gulf Coast of the United States are on high-alert this year here in the Summer of 2018.
However, it is always important for the public to be very aware and cognizant of when and where the greatest threats are for tropical cyclone development during various parts of the year. More specifically, during a given tropical cyclone season across the Tropical Atlantic Ocean (or any other tropical ocean basin around the world for that matter), the statistical likelihood and propensity for tropical cyclone development in various parts of different oceanic basins often changes on a week-to-week and more often on a month-to-month basis. Therefore, one should never assume where and when a tropical cyclone may occur based on previous memories from past seasons regardless of the situation at-hand. Alternatively, rather than assuming when or where a tropical cyclone may or may not be likely to develop, one should always first look back at where tropical cyclones have formed in the past during a given calendar month. For example, during the month of July the western and central Caribbean as well as the Gulf of Mexico are often more primary hotspots for tropical cyclone development. That is not to say that tropical cyclones cannot ever form outside of these regions during the month of July since 1851 which is also reflected quite well by the graphic attached above courtesy of Dr. Philip Klotzbach. Hence, it goes without saying that despite the cooler-than-normal sea-surface temperatures and the massive Saharan dust plume which was been recently progressing across a good portion of the Tropical Atlantic basin, this does not necessarily mean that the tropics will stay quiet for much longer. To learn more about other important and relevant tropical cyclone topics and stories from around the world, be sure to click here! © 2018 Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz |
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