On the Roles of Tropical Waves in the Formation of Global Tropical Cyclone Clusters

This study examines the role of tropical dynamics in the formation of global tropical cyclone (TC) clusters. Using theoretical analyses and idealized simulations, it is found that global TC clusters can be produced by the internal dynamics of the tropical atmosphere, even in the absence of all landmass surface and zonal sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies. Theoretical analyses of a two-dimensional InterTropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) model reveal indeed some large-scale stationary waves whose zonal and meridional structures could support the formation of TC clusters at the global scale. Additional idealized simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model confirm these results for a range of experiments. Specifically, the examination of two common tropical wave types including the equatorial Rossby (ER) wave and the equatorial Kelvin (EK) wave shows that ER waves could develop a stationary structure for a range of zonal wavenumbers $m\in[5-11]$, while EK waves do not. This modeling result is consistent with the ITCZ analytical model and suggests that large-scale ER waves could support stationary "hot spots" for global TC formation without any zonal SST anomalies. The findings in this study offer different insights into the importance of tropical waves in producing global TC clusters beyond the traditional explanation based on zonal SST variability.