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Role of synoptic-scale forcing in cyclogenesis over the Bay of Bengal

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Abstract

The cyclone frequency distribution over the Bay of Bengal during 1990–2009 was distinctly bimodal, with a primary post-monsoon peak and a secondary pre-monsoon peak, despite the very high convective available potential energy (CAPE) during the pre-monsoon. The location of the monsoon trough over the bay is a primary factor in tropical cyclogenesis. Because the trough was in the northernmost bay during the pre-monsoon season, cyclogenesis was inactive in the southern bay, where a strong southwesterly wind shear was found. In this season, moreover, a hot, dry air mass extending vertically from 950 to 600 hPa was advected from northwestern India toward the bay. Moist, warm southwesterly winds penetrating below the deep, dry air mass caused a prominent dryline to form aloft on the northwestern side of the bay. The synoptic-scale hot, dry air forcing to the bay suppressed the active convection necessary for cyclogenesis. The strength of the stable environmental layer, represented by convective inhibition (CIN), was extremely large, and acted as a cap over the northern and northwestern bay. Conversely, during the post-monsoon, there were no horizontal temperature or moisture gradients, and CAPE and CIN were fairly modest. The entire bay was covered by a very deep, moist layer from the surface to 700 hPa transported from the east. The monsoon trough position and the environmental CIN in combination can explain the lower frequency of cyclogenesis during the pre-monsoon compared with the post-monsoon season.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are very grateful to the Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, for providing laboratory facilities. The NCEP Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) data were downloaded from their webpage. Grid Analysis and Display System Software (GrADS) was used for analyzing and displaying data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Nasreen Akter

  2. Hydrospheric Atmospheric Research Center, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan

    Kazuhisa Tsuboki

  3. Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Research Institute for Global Change (RIGC), Yokohama, Japan

    Kazuhisa Tsuboki

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  1. Nasreen Akter
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  2. Kazuhisa Tsuboki
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Correspondence to Nasreen Akter.

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Akter, N., Tsuboki, K. Role of synoptic-scale forcing in cyclogenesis over the Bay of Bengal. Clim Dyn 43, 2651–2662 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-014-2077-9

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