Tropical cyclogenesis associated with premonsoon climatological dryline over the Bay of Bengal

• Published in: Natural hazards (Dordrecht) 2022-07, Vol.112 (3), p.2625-2647
• Main Author: Akter, Nasreen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Advection; Air masses; Atmospheric conditions; Civil Engineering; Climate; Convective available potential energy; Convective cells; Convective systems; Convective vortices; Cyclogenesis; Cyclones; Cyclonic storms; Cyclonic vortexes; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Environmental Management; Geophysics/Geodesy; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Hurricanes; Hydrogeology; Inflow; Leading edges; Mesoscale vortexes; Natural Hazards; Original Paper; Potential energy; Precipitation; Seasons; Shear; Storms; Supercells; Thunderstorms; Tropical climate; Tropical cyclogenesis; Tropical cyclones; Vertical shear; Vortices; Vorticity; Wind
• ISSN: 0921-030X; 1573-0840
• DOI: 10.1007/s11069-022-05281-3

Tropical cyclones of the Bay of Bengal (BoB) that formed near the synoptic-scale dryline usually intensified over a distance of 600–800 km within 3 days and caused severe destruction after landfall. High-resolution simulations of very severe cyclonic storms in association with dryline indicate that the meridional shear aids in the development of a linear-shaped group of convective cells that mature as an east–west oriented quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) within the boundary between the dry-moist air masses. The leading edge deep convections are supported by low-level moist southwesterly inflow; however, the typical mid-level mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) associated with these QLCS is unremarkable due to a very narrow trailing stratiform region within the QLCS. Supercells are likely to be organized within the QLCS due to extremely unstable atmospheric conditions resulting from a strong vertical shear of 27–39 m s −1 between 0 and 6 km and large convective available potential energy of > 3000 J kg −1 . The vertical shear veering with height causes several numbers of low-level mesovortices having diameters less than 10 km at the leading edge in the different convective stages of the QLCS. The dryline aloft in the BoB produces horizontal positive shear vorticity of the order 10 –5  s −1 with higher values in the levels 850–600 hPa. The advection of intense cloud-scale cyclonic mesovortices (~ 10 –3  s −1 ) assists and enhances a cyclonic vortex to the rear side of the QLCS that performs as an MCV for cyclogenesis over the BoB.