Frictional Filling of Hurricanes

As a hurricane moves from ocean to land, the surface roughness and the wind stress increase, which in turn causes the surface wind to blow across the isobars at an increased angle. The resulting increase in mass convergence in the surface friction layer is examined in the light of the Rossby-Montgom...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 1955-11, Vol.36 (9), p.440-445
Main Author: Hubert, Lester F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coasts
Coefficients
Friction
Geometric centers
Hurricanes
Isobars
Land
Oceans
Pressure gradients
Storms
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:As a hurricane moves from ocean to land, the surface roughness and the wind stress increase, which in turn causes the surface wind to blow across the isobars at an increased angle. The resulting increase in mass convergence in the surface friction layer is examined in the light of the Rossby-Montgomery theory on the influence of friction on surface flow, and the results are compared with the analysis of fifty years of hurricanes that moved into the United States. Those hurricanes are also analyzed to study the rate of pressure gradient decrease in the maximum wind zone. The results of this study indicate that frictional effect alone cannot dissipate the dangerous winds of a mature hurricane within the first eight to ten hours after moving onshore, but that dissipation is controlled essentially by the energy budget.
ISSN:0003-0007
1520-0477
DOI:10.1175/1520-0477-36.9.440