Hurricane heat potential of the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans.

Abstract

Mean monthly ocean temperature data provided by Fleet Numerical Weather Central were used as a basis for computation of a quantity defined as hurricane heat potential. Warm, deep centers with heat potential values in excess of 32,000 cal/cm² existed east of the Philippine Islands during the months of July through November. In the Western Atlantic warm, deep centers in excess of 24,000 cal/cm² existed south of Cuba during the months of August through October. Correlation studies were made between sea surface temperature and heat potential. A weak correlation was found, leading to the conclusion that sea surface temperature at least at times is a poor indicator of oceanic heat content. Computations were made to determine the effect of average heat less during a severe tropical storm passage to the ocean thermal structure. Twenty-four hour average losses would cause the sea surface temperature to drop as much as three degrees celsius under certain initial conditions. The effects of heat loss on convective layer depth ranged from less than fifteen meters to over ninety meters.