TC Convective Bursts

Air goes many directions in a hurricane. Hurricanes are famous for the air whirling around the center (sometimes called the "primary circulation"), but as the air slowly spirals inward, it then rises in the eyewall and flows out at the top of the storm (called the "secondary circulation"). See the image to the right (from UCAR's COMET program).

Sometimes, there are especially strong currents of rising air (updrafts). These are known as convective bursts (CBs). They are also sometimes called "hot towers" (see image from NASA). My PhD research focused on understanding what causes these convective bursts in hurricanes, what their structure is like, and how they impact hurricane intensity.

The animation on the right shows trajectories, or "parcels" of air, flowing into and out of a CB in a WRF simulation of hurricane Dean. Watch how the air flows around the storm, rises quickly, then flows outward at the top of the storm.

The video on the right is a simulated satellite animation from a model (WRF) simulation of Hurricane Dean. The same simulation data was used to create the video above. Notice all the cold cloud tops (grays and purples) pulsing on and off as the CBs form and decay.