As Tomas reintensified into a hurricanes northeast of the Bahamas a NOAA P-3 mission collected airborne Doppler radar data to use in improving our understanding of tropical cyclone intensification, as well as for initializing and evaluating model guidance. Included here you will see images of the horizontal winds within about 150 km of the center of the disturbance sampled from the tail Doppler radar on the P-3 late on 6 November 2010. These images are at three altitudes, 1 km, 3 km, and 6 km, using a composite of winds from four legs oriented southeast-northwest, west-east, northeast-southwest, and south-north. Wind, temperature and relative humidity from GPS dropsondes dropped from the P-3 are also visible at 1 and 3 km altitudes. The circulation was much more organized than the earlier P-3 missions indicative of Tomas returning to hurricane status. Consistent with an intensifying storm the core circulation was nearly vertically aligned in altitude with the peak winds relatively close to the center of circulation. At 1 and 3-km altitude the winds are stronger and the circulation appears less asymmetric about the center than in the earlier mission with the stronger winds east-southeast of the center suggesting that the storm is feeling slightly less southwesterly vertical wind shear of the horizontal wind. Above 3-km altitude the circulation is distinctly more asymmetric with the strongest winds southeast of the center indicative of stronger southwesterly vertical shear of the horizontal wind aloft.
Published on: November 8, 2010