Advances in Understanding the “Perfect Monsoon-influenced Typhoon”: Summary from International Conference on Typhoon Morakot (2009)

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Author
Lee, Cheng-Shang
Wu, Chun-Chieh
Wang, Tai-Chi Chen
Elsberry, Russell L.
Date
2011Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Typhoon Morakot (2009) produced 2855 mm of rain and
was the deadliest typhoon to impact Taiwan with 619 deaths and 76
missing persons, including a landslide that wiped out an entire
village. While Morakot did not exceed the heaviest 24-h rain record,
the combination of heavy rain and long duration that led to the
record accumulation is attributed to the southwest summer monsoon
influence on the typhoon. Thus, a special combination of factors was
involved in the Morakot disaster: (i) Strong southwesterly monsoon
winds; (ii) Convergence between the typhoon circulation and
monsoon flow to form an east-west oriented convective band over
the Taiwan Strait that was quasi-stationary and long-lasting; (iii) A
typhoon in a specific location relative to the Central Mountain Range
and moving slowly; and (iv) Steep topography that provided rapid
lifting of the moist air stream. The contributions of each of these four
factors in leading to the Morakot disaster are reviewed primarily
based on new research presented at the International Conference on
Typhoon Morakot (2009). Historical data sets, new Doppler radar
observations, and numerical modeling have advanced the understanding
of the special conditions of monsoon-influenced typhoons
such as Morakot. This research is also leading to modifications of
existing and development of new forecasting tools. Gaps in scientific
understanding, limits to the predictability, and requirements for
advanced forecast guidance tools are described that are challenges to
improved warnings of these extreme precipitation and flooding
events in monsoon-influenced typhoons.
Description
The article of record as published may be located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13143-011-0010-2
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.Collections
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