On the Rapid Intensification of Hurricane Wilma (2005). Part II: Convective Bursts and the Upper-Level Warm Core

AbstractPrevious studies have focused mostly on the roles of environmental factors in the rapid intensification (RI) of tropical cyclones (TCs) because of the lack of high-resolution data in inner-core regions. In this study, the RI of TCs is examined by analyzing the relationship between an upper-level warm core, convective bursts (CBs), sea surface temperature (SST), and surface pressure falls from 72-h cloud-permitting predictions of Hurricane Wilma (2005) with the finest grid size of 1 km. Results show that both the upper-level inertial stability increases and static stability decreases sharply 2–3 h prior to RI, and that the formation of an upper-level warm core, from the subsidence of stratospheric air associated with the detrainment of CBs, coincides with the onset of RI. It is found that the development of CBs precedes RI, but most subsidence warming radiates away by gravity waves and storm-relative flows. In contrast, many fewer CBs occur during RI, but more subsidence warming contributes to the ...