Mean Horizontal Wind

The mean horizontal wind is a measure of the environmental flow in the vicinity of the cyclone, and is comparable in magnitude to the secondary circulation. The vertical variation of this compone nt provides an estimate of the vertical wind shear or baroclinity of the environmental flow. A vertical mass-weighted mean of the mean horizontal wind provides an estimate of the mean cyclone motion. The temporal variation of this component is a measure o f the changing environmental flow in which the cyclone is embedded and is related to the cyclone motion.

Vertical profile of the Mean Horizontal Wind in four hurricanes


Hodograph of the mean relative horizontal wind at each level in the vertical derived from the Doppler wind analyses for Hurricanes (a) Gloria, (b) Emily, (c) Gilbert, and (d) Hugo. Asterisks connected by magenta line indicate speed and direction of the relative mean wind at each 0.5 km in altitude, respectively, starting at 0.5 km and extending to 12.5 km. The orange line (Vs) indicates the storm motion during this time, and the magenta line (V) the mass-weighted deep-layer mean wind from the Dopple r analysis. Velocity intervals are denoted by rings at 5 and 10 m/s.

marks@aoml.noaa.gov

Updated Tue, Nov 14, 1995