ON THE BALANCE OF FORCES AND RADIAL ACCELERATIONS IN HURRICANES
Abstract
The balance of forces in hurricanes was examined along the radial direction in stationary and moving coordinates; further, the radius of trajectory curvature has been computed in selected portions of ten flight missions. The Coriolis acceleration proved negligible compared to the centrifugal acceleration as expected. But gradient or cyclostrophic balance in general is not achieved by a wide margin, both along the radial axis and in natural coordinates. The pressure gradient far exceeds that required to balance the centrifugal acceleration to the left, and falls somewhat short of the requirement to the right of the direction of motion. In moving coordinates this asymmetry is reduced but by no means eliminated. Hence the maximum wind may be interpreted as produced by 'overshooting' toward low pressure far beyond the point of equilibrium. A similar situation appears to exist with respect to many extratopical wind maxima, especially highspeed centers along jet streams.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1961
- Accession Number
- AD0414642
Entities
People
- William M. Gray
Organizations
- Colorado State University