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MRG Interactive DevelopmentsMesoscale Research Group, McGill/SUNY |
The tropical transition (TT) diagnostics presented on this page are part of an ongoing study of the TT process at the University at Albany and the University of Quebec at Montreal. The ultimate goal of this study is to determine a metric for TT that will be used to develop a climatology based on the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis dataset.
The Storm Builder allows for easy access to the storm diagnostics dataset. Simply select the year and first letter of the name of the storm that you would like to investigate, and the animation sequence will be built for you by the engine. Fill out this form step-by-step by completing the selection and pressing the button to its right. If an error page appears, then it is most likely because you have managed to select a storm that does not exist in the database by modifying entries higher up in the form without updating the lower entries (by pressing the appropriate button). If you're having trouble, clear the form and start again.
All NHC-tracked disturbances included in the Best Track analysis from 1948 to 2004 have been ranked according to their TT index values. Thereafter, the storms are binned into categories based on the subjective index thresholds determined from the detailed analysis of the active 2005 season. There are currently four distinct categories that cover all storms over this 50+ year period: "Strong TT", "Weak TT", "Trough Interaction", and "Tropical". Membership of an individual genesis event in one of these categories is determined entirely by the value of the TT index. These plots are statistical summaries of the Best Track derived parameters for the resulting storms, separated by category.