Hurricane Laura (2020): A Comparison of Drop Size Distribution Moments Using Ground and Radar Remote Sensing Retrieval Methods

Abstract

Landfalling tropical cyclones (TCs) are known to produce catastrophic damage from wind, heavy rainfall, and storm surge (e.g., Rappaport, 2000Rappaport, , 2014. While wind damage is typically the main focus of TCs, Rappaport (2014) found that water-related deaths accounted for 90% of landfalling Atlantic TC fatalities. Therefore, it is important to understand and quantify processes associated with excessive precipitation in TCs.Microphysics in TCs are uncertain and observations often disagree with numerical simulations, which poses a challenge toward understanding TC structure, evolution, and intensity (e.g., Chen & Gopalakrishnan, 2014;Hristova-Veleva et al., 2021). Prior observational studies have shown that collision-coalescence and drop breakup are the dominant precipitation processes in warm rain events such as TCs (e.g., Atlas & Ulbrich, 2000; List

Precipitation Microphysics in Tropical Cyclones: A Global Perspective Using the NASA Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Dual‐Frequency Precipitation Radar

“…When examining slopes of KuPR in the ice phase, all quadrants show negative median slopes implying hydrometeor growth in the ice phase (Figures 9 and 10). While the majority of the profiles are reflective of ice crystal growth, TCs such as Hurricane Laura (2020) have exhibited positive slopes of KuPR in the ice phase in certain regions of the storm, translating to a decrease in hydrometeor size (Brauer et al., 2022). This can be seen by the subtle secondary positive modes especially in the IND basin (Figure 9e), and all quadrants in the NWPAC region (Figure 9a).…”

Tropical Cyclone Supercell Response to the Coast Using a Climatology of Radar‐Derived Azimuthal Shear

“…Supercells in the outer bands of tropical cyclones (TCs) are known to produce tornadoes, severe winds, and enhanced precipitation (Brauer et al., 2022; Edwards, 2012; Rappaport, 2014). The United States National Weather Service issues tornado warnings to the public using a variety of tools to monitor TC supercells, including environmental monitoring (e.g., with upper air radiosondes) and mesocyclone structure using Doppler weather radar (e.g., the United States Weather Surveillance Radar—1988 Doppler or WSR‐88Ds, Crum & Alberty, 1993).…”